VAVA Academic Policy 2025-2026

Welcome to the ‘25-’26 school year at Virginia Virtual Academy!

The below document will provide very important academic policies that directly affect all students.  Please read this carefully and be sure to complete the OMHS graded assignment verifying you received this information (found in your ELA course).

Contacting the Teacher

Teachers’ primary and preferred method of contact is Outlook email.  If you have an urgent need that cannot be addressed through email, please call your teacher.  Note that teachers allow their phones to go to voicemail so they may research questions and call back or send information via email. Teachers return all calls/emails by the end of the next school day.  Please confine phone calls to business hours (8 AM to 5 PM, Monday-Friday).  You can find teacher contact information within the online course. 

We will NOT be utilizing the online course messaging app. Please only send emails via Outlook.  Here are the steps to access your student outlook email. 

When leaving a message please be sure to leave your full name, student name*, class day and time, description of your question, and a number to call back. 

Course Attendance and Activity

Students are expected to log in to the OLS each school day and complete the assigned course work.  Both planned and unexpected absences must be reported to VAVA staff.  Learning Coaches are required to notify staff of absences via email.  Teachers must be notified anytime a student misses a live required class in addition to marking days off in the online school.  The length of time spent working on the OLS will vary from student to student.    

Due Dates and Late Policy

The calendar in the OLS will list which lessons and assignments you need to complete each day.  You can find due dates for any graded items in several places. All items with due dates will be shown on your course Calendar. Check the Syllabus as well for a list of all graded items and their due dates. Finally, navigate to Modules where you can find your lessons and assignments with due dates.  Staying on schedule allows you to learn along with your classmates. 

Assignments must be completed and submitted no later than 5 PM on the due date provided.  Any work that is not received by 5 pm on the due date will be considered missing and an overdue notice will populate.  Each Friday, if assignments are not submitted a grade of zero will be entered. Students may, however, submit late work without penalty following the schedule listed below.  No credit will be given for any work submitted after the final deadline. 

Live Classes - Attendance

Students should attend all required live sessions for their courses.  Live classes with teachers occur within our interactive platform called Engageli.  Engagement activities will occur during live class and count towards the course grade.   Students who are unable to attend a live class session are required to notify their teacher of the absence via email, view the recording, and complete the engagement assignment within one week of the live session date.   

NOTE: Some classes will be held in the K12 Zone.  Students will enter classes, whether held in Engageli or the K12 Zone, by clicking on the Class Connect session link on their OLS schedule. 

Academic Integrity (Cheating and Plagiarism) 

All assignments are assumed to be the student’s original work. Therefore, if the student utilizes any ideas that are not their original thoughts, the student must cite their sources using MLA format (or other specific format if required by the course teacher).  A student who fails to abide by these standards will be subject to disciplinary action and a possible reduction of points. 

Please Note: Our Online School (OLS) utilizes plagiarism/AI (artificial intelligence) recognition software that identifies potential incidents of plagiarism.  Student submissions generated or altered by AI are considered to be plagiarized. 

Microphone and Camera Requirements

Microphone and cameras are required to participate in live class connect sessions. It is the responsibility of the student and Learning Coach to ensure the camera and microphone are working properly. Students will be required during live classes to turn on both their camera and microphone to fully participate in lessons.  Please note, tablets and hand-held smart devices are not compatible with our platform.  Click here for Stride/K12 computer technical requirements.  

Number of attempts

Students are allowed 2 attempts on quizzes.  Students may utilize the second attempt on quizzes after reviewing content on their own, re-watching Class recordings, attending an additional Class session for review and/or utilizing resources provided by the content teacher.   

Students will have 1 attempt at Unit Assessments.  An additional attempt on a Unit Assessment may be granted by the teacher for students who follow the course specific Unit Assessment retake procedures. 

For all graded assignments, the grade earned on the last attempt is the final grade scored in the gradebook. 

Submitting Assignments and File Types

Names of files you submit
For any work submissions, please be sure to include your first and last name as well as the assignment title in the file name. 

Always use the Assignment tool   
Teacher graded assignments are submitted through the Assignment tool within the course.  Please submit your file using the “upload button” within the assignment for any teacher graded assignments. Assignments sent through email will be returned to be submitted in the OLS.   

File type and size
At all times, attempt to keep the size of files you submit less than 3 MB. Unless otherwise indicated in the assignment directions, the only file types you should submit to me are .doc, .docx, .ppt, .pdf, and .txt.  Assignments in other formats will be returned for resubmission. 

Grading Policy

When you click the Grades tab in our Course Home Page, you’ll notice that our grades are split into categories. Some categories are worth more points, overall, than others. For example, it is very possible to complete only computer-scored lesson quizzes in this course and get an A on each one, but still fail the course because computer-scored quizzes make up a small percentage of the total grade of the course.

Teachers will grade and return all teacher-scored assignments regularly. When these assignments are returned, you are expected to open them and read the feedback provided. Use this feedback to improve your work on future assignments.

Please see each course specific information document for categories and weights.

Grading Scale:  

A: 90-100

B: 80-89

C: 70-79

D: 60-69

F: 0-59

Grade Reporting

You will always have access to your current grades. You can access a detailed breakdown of your individual course grades by clicking the Grades tab in each course.  Learning coaches and students are expected to review grades for all courses regularly. 

Please use the grades link as a tool to evaluate what lessons and assignments might need to be reviewed, revisited, and retaken (if applicable).  You can click directly on any assignment to view the Submission Details page and access the assignment details, attempt history, and rubric if applicable. 

Technology and Support

K12 offers advice on what technology will work best with our program, click here for more information. Most mobile devices such as tablets, phones, and Chromebooks cannot be used as a primary device for accessing the Online School because they do not support all the necessary software products.  

If you are working and run into a tech problem, please contact our helpdesk that is available 24/7 at http://help.k12.com/ or by calling 866-512-2273. 

If you want to ensure you have all your computer settings at optimal levels or wish to check out a variety of other support topics, go to http://help.k12.com/support/computer-equipment.