Silicon Valley High School (SVHS)

• Biology—Biolgy Kit available through QSL 

• Chemistry—A lab kit is required for this course. This kit has been designed by SVHS and QSL to accompany the course. Students taking both parts 1 and 2 of Chemistry only need to buy one kit. It must be purchased from QSL (Quality Science Labs)

• Astronomy—Labs are done online. No lab kit is required.

• Environmental Science—Labs are done online. No lab kit is required.

*If a student does not take the final or misses any unit assignments, they may not earn AG credits and can only earn a D or an F in the course.      

What course credit is offered?

UC and NCAA approved

• Majority of courses are UC approved for A-G credit but some non “a-g” courses are also offered. 

• A-G courses are identified on their course catalog with a green check mark. 

• NCAA courses are identified on their course catalog with a yellow star. HSTs with students needing their courses for NCAA eligibility should follow the NCAA policy in the HST Handbook.

Where can I see all available courses?

Silicon Valley High School (SVHS) 

Why is it Popular?

• Cost effective 

• Video-based learning (new content is provided in the video)

• Linear flow: students work top to bottom in straight-forward, well organized units; students are not prompted to click on a large number of embedded links for further learning 

• Quizzes are not timed and are designed to reinforce and enable the student to master what they have learned. The final is multiple choice and has a 3 hour time limit. 

• Adding new courses every school year; check back!

Who corrects the student’s work?

All work is corrected/graded by a Silicon Valley instructor. 

What support will my student with an IEP or 504 plan receive?

Please see the Supporting Students with Disabilities page. Parents are encouraged to reach out directly to Caitlin with SVHS to request accommodations based on the student’s IEP or 504 plan.

Caitlin Aguero

Customer Support

Silicon Valley High School

Caitlin@svhs.co

Please include the following in your email to Caitlin:

• The student’s first initial, last name, and current courses

• A list of the accommodations (utilizing the IEP/504 and below) the HST would like SVHS to make for the student. 

• The  student's specific  needs

Sample of accommodations SVHS is able to make:  

• Extend the time the student has to take unit tests and final assignments.

• Allow as much time as needed to do an assignment (offline or online).

• Allow the student to resubmit an assignment for a better grade.

• Modify the offline assignments: while SVHS will not modify an offline assignment for the student, they will allow the HST to modify the assignment. In this instance, the HST is responsible for grading the modified assignment and the final grade book will need to be edited to reflect this grade. To do so, the HST should contact Caitlin at Caitlin@svhs.co who will update the grade book in the course so that the student can access the final.

Good to know:

• This is a video-based program option; advertisements do pop up in videos because they are playing from YouTube.  

• SVHS chooses videos for their courses from recognized publishers who make educational content targeted at high school students. Their goal is to find videos that are interesting and will keep the student engaged, but delivery of the content may not be appealing to all. SVHS favors the company Crash Course, which creates videos made specifically for high school students and covers the subject matter in detail while remaining engaging.  SVHS collects feedback from all users and has found videos produced by Crash Course are extremely popular with their students. 

• Student enrollments are based on the first day of the Fall semester for our school. Students receive their welcome email on day one of our semester and they will then be ready to start school on the next day.  

• PACING: SVHS courses are set for one-year access. However, our students are to complete their semester-long courses within our school’s semester A or B dates and HSTs are to verify their student paces their course based on our school’s end semester date. SVHS provides the student with a suggested timeline in the course and this is set up so the student can complete the course in one semester, 18 weeks. This helpful chart is found within each course under the heading “Suggested Timeline for this Course.” SVHS suggests a pace of completing a unit every 2-3 weeks, spending a minimum of 4 hours a week on the course, when there are 18 weeks for the student to complete their course. If your student has less than 18 weeks to complete their semester course, please work with the parent and student to help them create a new helpful pacing chart to re-pace the course based on the number of weeks left in the semester.

  • It is recommended that all coursework is submitted two weeks before the semester end date, allowing for grading and access to the final exam.

• SVHS is a private “online high school” which is a comprehensive school offering a diploma. During fall and spring semesters, students may only purchase their supplemental courses and not enroll in their comprehensive school. See below ordering information to ensure appropriate enrollment. During the summer months, students enroll directly into SVHS’s comprehensive school to ensure they receive a transcript with a final grade and credits.

• Almost all new learning is wrapped into the video content. Reading material, presented in links below the video, is supplemental and used to further the student’s understanding of the concepts. The quizzes will be generated from the material presented in the videos and readings.

• To keep costs down, instructors do not hold regular office hours. Instead, students have access to ask questions through the internal “Ask the Teacher” page. SVHS also offers online tutoring services if needed. Hours for the service never expire. 

• At the end of their online course, students will find a link that will enable them to download a certificate of completion as a PDF document. HSTs will enter this final grade and credit onto the student’s report card exactly as awarded.   

• See SVHS Information for answers to frequently asked questions and course details. 

• Each class has 5-6 units and each unit consists of: 

• multiple Lessons and Quizzes

• 1 Assignment (science classes also have 1 Lab)

• 1 Unit Test

• Students have to complete every Quiz before the Unit Test will open. SVHS recommends retaking the Quizzes until the student earns a B or higher. All Unit Tests, Assignments, and Labs must be submitted and graded before the Final Exam will open (please note, the last few weeks of the semester are very busy for instructors, so all assignments should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the last day of class, ensuring there is time to complete the final).

What can I expect in my SVHS course?

See YouTube for How to Take Silicon Valley High School Courses