Frontier Charter Academy
Frontier Charter Academy
Grades K-12
All online live classes, Frontier teacher created
Stipend: none
Curriculum: Online with some activities provided for hands-on
High School: Online, or community college
Meetings: None, aside from daily classes
Sponsoring school district: Gervais (near Woodburn)
Office location: Gervais, serving students statewide
Size: 400 students
In operation since 2017
Web site: https://www.frontiercharteracademy.org/
None
All grades and classes use curriculum developed by Frontier teachers, in a live online format.
Grades K-5
Students in grades K-5 spend more time in live sessions in Zoom and with activities involving an adult at home. There is a variety of assignments, some are online and some are physical. The students receive a box of texts, workbooks, handwriting practices (grades K-2) and math manipulatives for the physical assignments, and then have live sessions four days a week, with some online tasks as well. Some assignment submissions are done in Canvas, some send a picture or video, and some are done in real time during live sessions (which can be full class, small group or 1:1 as a help session). Elementary students use Google Suite for education (docs, slides, sheets) like the older students. Live classes for this age are about 30 minutes, four times per week.
Grades 6-12
Students in middle school and high school spend more of their day completing independent work online and some time working with teachers in Zoom class sessions.
Live classes for this age are about 60 minutes, five or six times per week, depending on course enrollments. Students can also work in small group or one-on-one sessions, too.
Attendance in Live Classes
While it is an expectation that students attend live instruction sessions, this will not always be possible due to conflicting appointments or technology issues. Therefore, it is a parent or guardian’s responsibility to contact the teacher before a live session regarding the absence so that accommodations can be made. Live instructional sessions are always recorded for an absent student to watch before contacting the teacher afterward.
None
Monthly field trips around the state of Oregon, for social time and academic enrichment. These are always on Fridays and are optional.
Frontier offers the typical Language Arts, Science, and Math courses through 12th grade; they also will have AP Literature and AP Human Geography next year. For electives they offer the following courses:
Discovery Hour
Creative Writing
Digital Photography
Intro to Visual Arts
Design and Illustration
Yearbook
Frontier students can participate as either part-time or full-time Expanded Options students. The school will pay for up to 12 credits (full-time status) each term, including textbooks.
Participating community colleges are all around the state, including:
Blue Mountain
Chemeketa
Clackamas
Columbia Gorge
Lane
Linn Benton
Mt. Hood
Portland
Southwestern Oregon
Special education needs are evaluated by Frontier staff and services are provided either by staff or via eTherapy.
There are no in-person meetings or check-ins, since the kids meet virtually every day in their live online classes. No reports – all student progress is tracked through the online portal or in live online classes.
SBAC annually, in person at various locations sites across the state, within about a 30 minute drive for each student.
The first step to enrolling a new student is to submit a lottery application form to be waitlisted for enrollment in the next upcoming lottery. The lottery drawing happens in July for the coming school year. The selected families are notified and have the option to either accept or decline their enrollment within 48 hours of notice. If further spots become available, more names will be drawn at random from the wait list.