As an online public school, Agora Cyber Charter School is required to monitor student attendance in accordance with all applicable statutes and State Board of Education Rules. Agora teachers and administrators monitor student attendance daily. Students are required to follow the school calendar, which includes a minimum of 180 school days. Attendance only occurs on “school days” as listed on the school calendar. Agora will identify the best learning path, either Synchronous or Asynchronous, for each student’s academic success. Synchronous students are expected to attend all assigned sessions scheduled each school day. Students working asynchronously will be responsible for completing lessons from their daily schedules each school day. All students begin as synchronous learners.

• Virtual Class Attendance – To be marked present in a class, students are required to be in the virtual session from the scheduled start time until dismissed by the instructor.
• Daily Attendance – Students will only be considered present for the school day when they are counted as present for a minimum of two-thirds of all required virtual sessions. Asynchronous students are expected to log in to online coursework each school day before 11:59 PM. Asynchronous students are encouraged to attend virtual sessions daily.

The school calendar includes school “holidays” or vacation time. Whenever possible, family vacations should align with school vacation days. If a student skips a day during the week, he or she will be marked absent. Vacation is not an approved reason for absence in the state of Pennsylvania. Parents can apply for “Educational Leaves of Absence” during the school year. Requests must be submitted to the Principal 10 days prior to the absence. Leave will be approved based upon consistent student progress and attendance. No educational leave will be granted in any of the testing windows for state mandated testing.

The enrollment process depends on the timeliness in receiving the required documents and attending an information session. Families that have as many of the required documents readily available speed the process along. This is especially the case in the summer months  where some schools close and house the documents required to complete enrollment.

The student will need to meet the age requirement, and be a resident of the state of Pennsylvania. Residence is defined by the address submitted for our school files, and where the family and student is physically located.

Students must be at least 5 years old as of the enrollment date set by their local school district. Students can enroll up to the age of 20 and can finish the school year after turning 22. However, they cannot start at Agora after 22 years of age.

Once the initial enrollment process has begun, the parent/guardian will need to notify the local school. The parent/guardian should notify within 15 days of enrolling with Agora. Agora staff also contacts the school to assist in gathering required documents to help complete the enrollment process.

Once your student(s) is approved at Agora, you can withdraw the day prior to the first day of school. Since students must be in an educational setting during the academic year, withdrawing prior to their Agora start date result in truant status in their local district, and make you subject to truancy fines.

Any or all of your children from kindergarten through grade 12 can attend Agora Cyber Charter School.

Please call 1-855-748-4735 for assistance with the Enrollment process.

The core subjects taught at Agora Cyber Charter School, as in all public schools, are: English/language arts, math, science, history, and the arts. Your child will study other subjects based on grade level and state requirements, such as elective courses.

We embrace a collaborative partnership between teachers and parents to empower students to reach their personal potential. Teachers give feedback on student assignments, and use multiple instructional strategies to ensure that all students achieve mastery.

Students in kindergarten through the 2nd grade have one teacher.  Students in grades 3 through 12 will have one teacher for each of the core instructional areas.

When students are identified as gifted and talented, an individualized education plan is developed to support their needs. An instructional team may use existing curriculum components and supplemental activities, as well as set-aside time for enrichment activities, to challenge and support gifted students’ needs.

Yes! Approximately 35% of our students are special education students. We follow all federal and state regulations and standards to develop and implement Individual Education Plans (IEPs) to address each student’s unique needs and challenges. As a public charter school we implement Chapter 711 for special education and Chapter 15 Section 504 for protected handicapped students.

As a public charter school, Agora follows Pennsylvania law and offers at least two world language options to students in grades 9-12. World language options may change, but current offerings including Spanish, French, and Mandarin/Chinese.

Yes! Live online classes are held to ensure student academic growth and achievement. Students will interact with their teachers and classmates in real time, every day. Students will also have the opportunity to receive additional supports and enrichment in various subjects in live sessions.

The specific time spent on the computer varies based on the grade level of the student. In general, students are expected to spend the following amount of time each day in a combination of live classes and supplemental work: Elementary — 4-6 hours; Middle School and High School — 5-7 hours.

Agora Cyber Charter School is a mastery-based program, which means students master concepts and lessons before moving on to the next lesson. Students submit assignments to their teachers for evaluation and feedback.For kindergarten through grade 5, we use standards-based grading. Each quarter, students receive a standards-based report card that shows the parent/learning coach how the student is performing based on grade-level standards.

For grades 6 through 12, we use quantitative grading on a 0–100% grading scale. Teachers assess mastery and provide quantitative feedback.

• Lesson assessments/quizzes
• Unit assessments
• Semester assessments
• PSSA
• Diagnostic / progress monitoring assessments
• Keystone exams
• AIMSweb
• Standardized tests
• Online synchronous conferencing with the teacher
• Phone conferencing with the teacher

All students are required to participate in state testing.

No. Each student will be loaned a computer system (including a laptop computer, printer, and software) to support the learning process. Middle and high school students receive laptops to use while attending Agora Cyber Charter School, along with a scanner and fax/printer. These items must be returned when the student leaves the school. Agora Cyber Charter School will arrange for technical support and troubleshooting for these systems. Your family will need to secure an Internet service provider, and Agora will provide a stipend for the cost of the Internet service. The stipend is disbursed twice each school year.

The parent/learning coach needs to have basic computer skills. Use of the computer is an important part of the program, but in the early grades it is mostly the parent (or other responsible adult) who interacts with the computer. The program is user-friendly.

Technology’s portability is increasing and many families have iPads and other Android tablets or phones. We understand the need for our systems to be ready for the future and to support mobile devices. At this time, we do not guarantee that our programs will work with mobile devices. Mobile support is in the roadmap and will be supported in the near future.