The MorningStar Academy
Premier Private PreK-12 Christian School since 2001
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I chose The MorningStar Academy ?
We are the best, most experienced virtual schooling provider. We do it all for you. We make homeschooling EASY. We keep students engaged with SMART SCREEN TIME.
What is your REFUND POLICY?
We want you to be 100% THRILLED with your choice of education for your children. If you do not com0letely LOVE what we offer, you will get a 100% REFUND of any tuition payments you have made - in the first 14 days. After 14 days, kindly gve us 30mdays notice for any cancelations. Life is uncertain, we want you to know you have ZERO RISK with us.
What is The MorningStar Academy ?
With Teacher Support:
The MorningStar Academy is an independent private school, accredited by the National Private Schools Accreditation Alliance and registered with the Florida Department of Education. This accreditation and compliance with all applicable Florida laws allow us to offer the wonderful curriculum and online delivery which meets or exceeds various U.S., state and local standards. The Cambridge Academy offers the most comprehensive online private education program available. Credits can be transferred and awarded, transcripts can be issued and students can receive a diploma from the academy upon successful completion of the high school requirements. For a comprehensive overview of the academy program, please visit www.TheCambridgeAcademy.org.
Without Teacher Support:
The MorningStar Academy is accredited through the National Private Schools Accreditation Alliance, and is a curriculum provider for PreK-12 homeschoolers. Daily lessons with videos, pictures, coloring pages, recipes, websites, and audio links keep preschoolers engaged and help them to develop an early love of learning. For K-12 students, The Cambridge Academy offers curriculum of up to six courses, including online daily assignments, a customized calendar, automatic grading of most tests, answer keys, and a community message board. Most importantly, The Cambridge Academy is a complete, parent-led homeschooling resource. The parent as teacher heads all classes and teaches all subjects, and has the use of parent-password-protected answer keys. While many assignments are graded automatically, others are graded directly by the parents, enabling the parent to have control over the student’s grades, while maintaining daily support and guidance to insure their student’s academic progress and success. If any issues or problems occur, you may contact Member Services at 1-(887)-TCA-1994. The Cambridge Academy does not award/transfer credits, issue transcripts, or award high school diplomas. All attendance/graduation requirements are mandated by your local school district. For more information please visit www.ChristianK12OnlineSchool.com
Do you offer a FREE TRIAL?
You get a 100% REFUND of your tuition when you cancel within the first 14 days after you enroll. CANCEL ANYTIME
Is The MorningStar Academy an accredited or licensed school?
The MorningStar Academy is accredited by the National Association of Private Schools Accreditation Alliance and is registered with the Florida Department of Education.
Since your Academy is accredited, does that mean it offers credits?
Yes. Courses with Teachers grant credits.
At what age can my student start?
We are happy to enroll children ar any age.
What academic resources are included with my enrollment?
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A comprehensive selection of grade-appropriate courses covering many academic topics, including exciting electives. Choose up to 6 each year.
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Online ebooks, printable workbooks and offline projects.
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Assignments, tests, quizzes and interactives.
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Record keeping programs for documentation to verify enrollment, attendance and instructional time in the program.
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Students are awarded credits, issued transcripts and earn a High School diploma upon fulfilling all Academy requirements.
What is the parent's role in Courses with Teacher Support?
Because The MorningStar Academy is an online private school, it provides comprehensive lessons, teacher instruction, grading, and record keeping. Since students are learning at home, The Christian K12 Online School depends upon parents to ensure that their student is attending class each day and will meet all attendance requirements required by private school law. We also encourage parents to foster extra-curricular activities for their students.
What is the parent's role in Courses Without Teacher Support?
The first and primary teacher of every student is the parent(s). We have taken all of the busy work out of homeschooling by providing a complete solution from which parents can pick and choose, including Academic Counselors available every school day via the Message Center and our online Live Operator system. Our goal is to allow parents the time to really enjoy teaching and learning with their students while being freed from the anxiety of having to create a comprehensive educational program from scratch.
When does the school year begin?
The MorningStar Academy has rolling enrollment of 365 days of the year. There is no set beginning to the school year. Students will have 365 days from the date of enrollment to complete their assignments.
What is a typical daily schedule at the academy like?
All daily lessons are delivered online via our secure school site. Students log in to the computer each day to their Homeroom, which stores all of their classes and lessons. They go into the Classroom (course) that they would like to work in, and then click on the lessons they need to complete. Lessons are written to the student (not the parent, or class, etc.) and contain about 45 minutes of work. Lessons are comprised of content readings, engaging activities, colorful graphics, animated materials, and the infusion of multimedia, such as digitized sound and videos.
Is your program flexible?
Families are in charge of their own daily schedule. Students can do all their work at one time, or can space it throughout the day. Some students enjoy working on one subject each day, while others enjoy moving though all of their subjects every day. The The MorningStar Academy curriculum offers a mixture of online and offline assignments. Middle and high school students typically spend 2 to 4 hours online per day and elementary students spend about half that time. The student’s schedule can be easily adjusted to accommodate family matters, extracurricular activities and unexpected events such as illness, still leaving plenty of time for the student to complete all courses within the 365-day period.
We live in a different time zone! How will this work?
That’s the beauty of virtual schooling! Almost everything at the academy is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You have access to your classes to complete your work anytime you are most comfortable, even at night! Cambridge Academy students may email Academic Counselors anytime. (Of course, emails are only reviewed during normal school hours, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, EST) Please note that the Live Operator (or Raise-Your-Hand) feature is available from 9:00 am to 5:00pm, EST.
How can I find out what my state’s homeschooling requirements are?
With Teacher Support:
Because The MorningStar Academy is a registered private school, your student should be registered as a private school student in your state, not as a homeschool student.
Without Teacher Support:
You should contact your local school district to learn about your state’s homeschooling requirements.
How much time should my student spend online every day?
Each student learns at a different pace, and these differences should be considered when determining if your student is spending enough time on schoolwork. A guideline would be two hours for Elementary students and two to four hours for Middle school and high school students. Two hours of online work in a 24-hour period constitutes one “day” of attendance. Additional time is often spent on offline activities, such as viewing videos or visiting museums.
Where can we track our student’s attendance records?
Log on to your homeroom page, then click on Your Timelog on the right side of the page to view the number of hours you have accumulated thus far. You may also click on Grade Book and access Your Timelog from there.
What is the policy for a student graduating and receiving a diploma from The MorningStar Academy?
With Teacher Support:
If a student is enrolled in at least six full time courses with teacher support, they can receive a high school diploma from The MorningStar Academy. If their roster has less than six classes, they are considered part time and should transfer the credits to another school as they will not be able to graduate from our academy.
Students up to 19 years of age can earn a high school diploma from The MorningStar Academy by demonstrating they have fulfilled our high school graduation requirements. To obtain a standard high school diploma from The MorningStar Academy, students must successfully complete at least 19 credits of high school coursework. If a student is college bound, it is strongly recommended that they complete 23 credits or more in order to receive a college preparatory diploma.
What do we need to do to graduate?
If a student is planning on graduating from The MorningStar Academy, we will need to have a record of your previous schooling. This includes:
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If a student has previously attended a public or private institution, they must submit an official transcript, which should include a signature and school seal.
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If a student has previously attended a home schooling program, they must submit a home school portfolio, documenting the student’s grades, subjects, and attendance as well as provide examples of lessons, assignments, tests, quizzes, etc.
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Without Teacher Support:
The MorningStar Academy without Teachers does not award/transfer credits, issue transcripts, or award high school diplomas. High school students who have completed the required work and have met any attendance requirements may graduate under the provisions of their state-of-residence's home school laws. Some high school students choose to work with one of the private schools or homeschooling umbrella organizations that offer diplomas.
Can I transfer my student’s credits from a previous high school?
With Teacher Support: YES
Your student’s credits from their previous school, combined with your credits at The MorningStar Academy will make up their total credits. We require your official transcript(s) from your previous high school in order to evaluate the number of credits that will transfer to our academy. The The MorningStar Academy does not award credits for other schools; if the previous high school did not award credit for a particular class, than we cannot award credit. All awarded credits (including half credits and quarter credits) are transferrable. An official transcript is defined as a document that is signed by a school official and bears an embossed corporate seal of the institution. If you took high school level courses in 8th grade, and would like to have these included in our evaluation, please send a record of those as well. You may fax a copy of your student’s transcript in order to expedite the evaluation process; however, we will still need a copy of the official transcript from your previous schools. Our fax number is (888) 329-0909.
Please email your official transcript to: info@eschoolhouse.org
The MorningStar Academy
24 N Bryn Mawr Ave
Suite 210
Bryn Mawr PA 19010
Without Teacher Support:
The MorningStar Academy without teachers does not award/transfer credits, issue transcripts, or award high school diplomas. High school students who have completed the required work and have met any attendance requirements may graduate under the provisions of their state-of-residence's home school laws. Some high school students choose to work with one of the private schools or homeschooling umbrella organizations that offer diplomas.
What is the fee associated with transferring credits?
After we receive your student’s official transcript from your previous school(s) or your portfolio from your previous homeschool program(s), an evaluation is prepared. This document encompasses both the credits transferred to our academy, as well as the courses that are still necessary according to our high school graduation requirements. The evaluation will be emailed to the address we have on file for you for your personal records, while a copy will be stored in your student’s file.
Each completed and passed, full-year course is given one (1) full credit. Semester courses are given a half (.5) credit.
The fees to transfer credits in to The MorningStar Academy are as such:
Public/Private School$15.00 each
Home school$27.00 each
Please note: It is very important to provide all previous school records to the Office of the Registrar, so that the student stays on track during his/her high school years. If you should have any questions or concerns, please contact our Registrar by e-mail at mminahan@learningbygrace.org
How many years must my child attend your academy in order to graduate with a high school diploma?
Your student must be enrolled as a full time student (six courses) for at least one school year with teacher support, with The MorningStar Academy in order to graduate with a high school diploma.
Do you accept students with special education needs?
Yes, we do accept students with individualized Education Programs (IEPs), although we do not offer Special Education Services. It is important for parents to review the offerings of our academy and determine whether they would meet your current needs. If our program appears to be able to meet your student's needs, you may wish to include our academy as a part of your special education program along with other resources in your community.
Does your program work well for gifted students?
Our program works extremely well for gifted students as we allow them the flexibility to move at their own pace through our curriculum. This prevents the common issue of boredom in a traditional classroom setting where gifted students feel they have already grasped all the material being covered yet have to wait for their instructor to teach everyone in the class. Gifted students benefit from our “any time, anywhere, any pace” system as they may opt to complete multiple assignments in one subject area per day versus traditionally doing one assignment per course per day. Gifted students can choose higher-level courses from our 150-course offerings, add additional courses if they finish early, and challenge themselves through our lessons.
Will your program work for my dyslexic student?
Dyslexia has so many forms and levels that it is difficult, if not impossible, to respond properly to this question. The best advice would be to show the diagnosing physician our academy's curriculum and work together to decide whether or not our academy would be a good choice.
How do students with ADD/ADHD perform with your program?
Because of our online environment and multimedia-rich curriculum, students with attention disorders seem to do extremely well at our academy. Our unique online learning system allows students to work quietly, accommodate rapidly changing energy levels and work at their own unique pace. Although we do not offer special education services, the very nature of our engaging curriculum has been a wonderful solution to many students with attention disorders. We suggest that parents of students with special needs consult their health-care provider about our academy’s learning environment to determine if it may be helpful.
How do I register my student for The MorningStar Academy?
Log on to our website, www.TheMorningStarAcademy.com, click on Enroll Now, and then follow the links to fill out the enrollment application.
How long will it take to enroll my student?
Once the initial application and registration fee are received, we are usually able to process an application within 24 business hours.
How will I know if my student has been accepted at The MorningStar Academy?
All enrollment steps are verified through email confirmations.
How do I remit my application/registration fee?
Enrollment/registration fees can be paid by check, money order, Visa, or MasterCard.
What is your Refund Policy?
If you disenroll beforre the first 14-days, you will recieve a full refund of your tuition payment.
What does it mean to be a part-time student verses a full-time student?
A part-time student takes five or less courses per year; a full-time student takes six classes or more per year.
If we withdraw after enrollment, but before the school year begins, which monies will be refunded?
Your tuition payments are refunded if you disenroll within the first 14 calendar days. The first of the 14 days begins from the student’s first login to the school system.