Frequently Asked Questions

General Information

• Who may attend PALCS?
  • Any student residing in Pennsylvania may attend the K-12 program offered by PALCS. Students under the age of 21 may attend in order to finish their High School education.
    
    Information on foreign students may be found here.
    
    The PA Leadership Charter School's focus and mission to provide a full educational cyber school experience for students in grades K-12. These policies further the mission of the school by allowing any student to attend PALCS without regard to race, religion, sex or ethnic background or any other factor used to discriminate against groups.
    
    
• What does PALCS cost?
  • PALCS is a public school and, as such, is required to provide a free and appropriate education to any student in Pennsylvania who wishes to attend. PALCS provides at no cost:
    
    
    • Desktop computer, monitor, printer and computer accessories
    • Curriculum (textbooks and online curriculum)
    • Teachers at the school administrative offices providing instruction and interaction with parents and students daily
    • High Speed Internet connections for each student (reimbursable)
    • Student Services staff that archive records and interact with the local school district on behalf of the parent / student
    • Counselors that provide vocational and secondary education counseling, and an Individual Program of Instruction for each student
    • Special Education programs for students with IEP and a Child Find process to identify students with special education needs
    • Periodic on-site instruction for gifted students
    
    
    
• What Special Education opportunities are available at PALCS?
  • For some Special Education students, PALCS is the ideal school. All our teachers are trained to provide an Individual Program of Instruction for every child. This uniquely prepares them for students with IEP PALCS has a full-service Special Education Division with Special Ed teachers working directly with parents / students and other regular ed teachers. PALCS can provide in-home related services throughout the state to students with unique needs and does provide telephone / Internet counseling for needs that can be provided via the Internet.
    
    Please visit the Special Education section of our website for more information. You may also wish to view this informational .pdf document designed for parents, regarding Special Education in Charter Schools: http://www.palcs.org/specialed.pdf.
    
    
• Why might my child do better in a cyber school than in a regular brick and mortar school?
  • Individualized pacing and scheduling
    
    PALCS is an ideal place for students who wish to advance at a pace suitable for their learning needs. Students usually have about a two-week window in which they can complete their work, allowing students to work ahead or spend extra time on assignments as necessary. This setup helps:
    
    
    • Gifted students who wish to advance at a pace faster than other educational settings will allow.
    • Special Education students who need the safety and support of a home environment to succeed.
    • Students who want to take specialized courses we can partner with many colleges and universities to offer courses not normally offered.
    • Children of families that travel often and will have Internet access at their destination.
    • Athletes participating on junior Olympic teams that create unusual scheduling needs.
    • Those focusing on the arts and needing extra time to develop their talents.
    
    
    PALCS is not just a school for students with unusual schedules or needs. It can be a great place for any student who has a supportive Home Facilitator and would enjoy learning via the Internet.
    
    Because we have combined the best interactive curriculum with teachers online every day, students are engaged more with the material and with their teachers than in the more traditional brick and mortar setting. This is why students may progress faster than in other settings.
    
    Health, Safety and the Home Environment
    
    PA Leadership minimizes harmful socialization. We reduce the risk of drugs, alcohol, gangs, fights, unhealthy teasing and the fear associated with an unsafe environment. Our school is optimal for students who may have trouble attending school for health reasons.
    
    PALCS is also an advantageous choice for young parents. We provide a support group for teenage parents with both an online component and, for those living near our Pittsburgh office, in-person group meetings.
    
    Cyber school provides the home-based educational environment that many families value, but without the pressure of parents creating the lessons, grading the work, and doing the paperwork required by the Commonwealth in order to homeschool. Qualified, experienced teachers work over the Internet to bring the instruction right into the safety and comfort of the student's home. Parents or other guardians serve as Home Facilitators (HFs) and monitor student progress providing basic guidance.
    
    By eliminating time zappers like busing, changing of classes, lunch, homeroom and discipline issues students are able to complete their schoolwork in a fraction of the time it would take to do the same work in a brick and mortar school, so families have extra time to network with their community. Students may build friendships with the faith-based community, community sports teams, neighbors and other home based learning groups.
    
    
• Why attend PA Leadership Charter School?
  • Several factors make PALCS a unique cyber school experience:
    
    
    • We have PA certified teachers, many with life experience in the subject they teach, who actually provide instruction. All assignments are created by teachers, which are posted for students to complete in a three-week time period.
    • Our families have daily interaction with teachers. Teachers host live classrooms, provide individual instruction and send daily mail to students.
    • Most course work is instantly graded. For written lessons, assignments are graded and responded to by teachers. Grades are electronically recorded in a continuous gradebook that is accessible to students and parents at all times.
    • Our curriculum comes from a variety of publishers and has been carefully chosen to work best in the home setting. We partner with the finest online curriculum resource companies in the nation, and many of our textbooks have online components.
    • PALCS teachers design their own courses, drawing upon the best resources available. Our courses are enhanced with the teacher's personal style.
    • Many courses have guest lecturers who are experts in their field.
    • PALCS provides a challenging, complete course of study for students in grades K-12. Many of our courses are more rigorous than a normal school course and all of our courses provide extra curricular opportunities.
    
    
    PALCS believes that good communication skills are important for effective leadership. Our program of instruction emphasizes computer skills, typing skills and writing skills from an early age.
    
    PALCS is an independently run cyber charter school, as opposed to some charter schools which are run by specific school districts.
    
    
• What are the parent and student policies at PALCS?
  • You may view our 2008-2009 Parent/Student Handbook here.
• What is the history of PALCS?
  • The Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School began its first school year on September 13, 2004. The school is in its sixth year of operation for the 2009-2010 school year.
    
    The Pennsylvania Department of Education established Legistlation for Charter Schools in 1997. It was on October 1, 2002 that Dr. James Hanak, PALCS CEO, submitted the charter for the PA Leadership Charter School, adhering to the new law geared specifically toward cyber charter schools.
    
    After a lengthy application and approval process, the PA Leadership Charter School was granted a charter on January 23, 2004. The staff of PALCS spent the next eight months preparing the school office in Frazer, PA, working out the logistics of acquiring, shipping and utilizing computers and materials, and getting ready to begin a new school. On September 13, 2004, PALCS opened its (digital) doors to 253 students.
    
    Initially utilizing a course management system provided by Digital Schooling, PA Leadership welcomed 458 new students to the school during the first year, closing the inaugural year with 711 students and congratulating its first graduating class.
    
    On July 14, 2005, PALCS opened its Western Regional Office at the Pittsburgh Mills, helping put the face of PALCS in Western Pennsylvania. Over winter break 2005, the main Frazer office relocated to West Chester, enabling tremendous growth of faculty and staff to meet the growing number of students (1427 students by June 2006 - double the number from the same time the previous year.)
    
    Also in the 2005-2006 school year, PALCS introduced the University Scholars program (opened September 6, 2005) and the Performing and Fine Arts program (opened November 2, 2005.) Both programs use a "blended" approach, where students physically attend classes several days a week while completing other schoolwork in the cyber environment.
    
    The 2006-2007 school year brought an additional 446 students to PALCS, bringing the total to 1873 at the end of the third school year. The year also brought an additional office in the Pittsburgh area in December 2006, on Hite Road in Harmarville (north of Pittsburgh,) due to the growth of Western Regional Office staff.
    
    During the early fall of 2007, PALCS decided to switch to Moodle as the school's main course management platform. The switch allowed for greater customization of the site, such that the school's platform is now owned by PA Leadership. 1950 students were enrolled in PALCS at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.
    
    The PALCS graduating class of 2009 consisted of 360 students - one hundred more students than the entire K-12 student body when the school opened. In the summer of 2009, the Western Regional Office grew again, condensing its two smaller offices into one large office for all western faculty and staff at The Landings. As of February 2, 2010, PALCS enrollment stands at 2022 students.

Academics

• How do I attend school?
  • Our school is run on a password-protected website, accessible by any computer with Internet access, anywhere in the world. You do not need any special software - just an Internet connection and a unique username and password that will be provided to every student and parent.
    
    Our unique website, referred to as "Moodle" (the company that provides our learning management system,) was designed from the ground-up to provide full interaction between students, home facilitators and teachers. Moodle provides:
    
    
    • Teacher-created lessons that take full advantage of the Internet, with embedded images, sound, and video, as well as links to external educational websites
    • Multimedia classrooms with real-time features:
    • voice and text chat
    • interactive whiteboard
    • synchronized web browsing
    • Flexible testing that is able to challenge even the most gifted student
    • Automatically graded tests that produce instant results and explanations of correct answers; also, the ability for teachers to grade and respond to open questions
    • Instantly updated grades to a student online progress report, viewable to the parent and student alike
    • Access to the most complete, up-to-date curriculum through digital versions of many of our textbooks
    • The ability to communicate with each teacher and student in several modes:
    • Lectures
    • Guided discussion
    • Free discussion
    • PALCSmail (internal and protected from spam)
    • Multimedia Classroom
    
    
    
• Is there an online time requirement?
  • Students are required to log on every school day.  This is typically every Monday through Friday, with exceptions for holidays and in-service days. There is no set hourly time that a student must attend school.
    
    When a student logs on, attendance is recorded for the day. Then he or she should check announcements, PALCSmail, and lessons for all classes. Once lessons are complete, a student can be finished with school for the day or choose to work ahead.
    
    A student is not required to log on at any particular hour of the day, so long as he or she logs on at some point during the school day. This is particularly convenient for students who have part-time jobs.
    
    While weekends and school holidays do not make up for missed days, students may even do schoolwork on the weekend or a school holiday if he or she is behind on work or will be going on a trip. Absences work just like in a public school excuses must be submitted by parents for missed days.
    
    The one exception to flexible online time is for multimedia chats on the web portal. These take place at a time set in advance by teachers however, in most cases, are not mandatory and are recorded for students unable to attend. Certain elective classes like journalism and foreign languages do require chat attendance, but a student will be aware of such a requirement when he or she completes course selection.
    
    
• What courses are offered and what curriculum is used?
  • Please visit our curriculum page for full details about our curriculum.
    
    
• Does PALCS offer a diploma similar to other public schools?
  • Yes. Academically, PALCS is a full curriculum, full service K-12 school and offers High School diplomas that are equivalent to other public High Schools.
    
    In order to be eligible for graduation, students shall meet PA Academic Standards with graduation requirements listed here .
    
    Credits will be counted for courses passed in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade. Students transferring from home school programs will be awarded credits based on previous evaluations.
    
    
• What is the school calendar for PALCS?
  • As is typical of any public school, PA Leadership is open 180 days and runs a schedule similar to other public schools with holidays, winter break and spring break. Our first day is in September and the school year ends in June.
    
    
  • 
    2010-2011 Calendar (Adobe .pdf file.)
  • 
    
    PALCS does NOT currently offer summer courses.
    
    
• May students take some courses at PALCS in addition to courses at another public, private, home or charter school?
  • Students are not permitted to be enrolled in two schools simultaneously, be it public, private, home, or charter school. Students who chose to enroll in PALCS become full-time students of PALCS and meet all PA State Standards through our courses. There are, however, certain exceptions: some local school districts will permit a student to take a course at the school. This requires the active participation of the local district, school and teacher and will often involve a fee. This partnership must be arranged by the parent.
    
    
• How does PALCS perform on standardized testing?
  • As a public school, PALCS must participate in the yearly PSSAs. Information regarding our placement may be found here.
    
    The Pennsylvania Department of Education has more information about PSSAs and Adequate Yearly Progress here.
    
    
• What is Title 1 and does PALCS provide Title 1 services?
  • Title I is a federally funded grant that must be used to improve the academic achievement of students at risk for failure in Reading and/or Math. The percent of PALCS families living at or below the poverty level is below 40%, therefore, PALCS has implemented a targeted assistance Title I program. Funds received from this grant may not be used to supplant services required by law. Rather, Title I funds may be used to coordinate and supplement services otherwise required for students in a Title I program.
    
    The student selection process is based entirely on the achievement level of the students, not on the income level of the students. Students are selected based upon criteria chosen by the Local Education Agency (LEA). To qualify for the Title I program students must achieve at a below proficient level in two (2) assessment criteria. These criteria for grades 3-6 must include students performing below proficient on the PSSA and may include the following: attendance/suspension, retention, report card grades, anecdotal records, teacher recommendation, and other appropriate assessments. Criteria for students in K-2 must include developmentally appropriate assessments and may include teacher recommendation, parent recommendation, anecdotal records, and other non-paper/pencil assessment tasks.
    
    The Fresh Start K-2 and Moving Forward 3-6 Title I Language Arts/Mathematics program is designed for children in grades K-6. The Title I program collects initial student assessment data and works collaboratively with the teacher to diagnose areas of weakness and prescribe a plan of action. The students continue to receive instruction in their regular education Math/Language Arts class with the support of the Title I teacher. Other curricular possibilities available to the Title I students include Soliloquy, Imagination Station, and PLATO. A Resource Center is being developed by the Title I team for teacher, home facilitator and student use.
    
    Parent/Home Facilitator trainings held across the state are a very important component of the Title I Program. These trainings are in the form of workshops (live) and web chats. They cover topics such as organization of the cyber student, use of technology and enhancing academic skills.
    
    For more about Title 1, visit our Title 1 page.
    
    
• How do I get my transcript from PALCS?
  • Requests for high school transcripts for Juniors, Seniors, or Graduates who are college bound should be made by completing this form.
    
    All other transcripts or release of records can be requested at 610-701-3333 X 1168.
    
    

Socialization

• What opportunities does PALCS provide for students to interact?
  • One of the most often-asked questions we get from those unfamiliar with a cyber charter school is, What about the socialization issues? What will the school do to ensure that the students learn how to interact with the world around them?
    
    Students at PALCS are participating in interactive learning every day. They interact with the curriculum, teachers, and their classmates in a digital medium. Grade-level based open chats (as opposed to subject-based educational chats) are hosted for students roughly once a month in the multimedia classrooms so students can talk freely to their peers.
    
    PALCS holds exciting and educational monthly field trips and events for students. Some examples of field trips we have held or are currently planning:
    
    
    • Museums (Natural History; Art; Science; History Center; Children's Museum)
    • Zoos
    • Renaissance Faire, Fall Fests, and other outdoor events
    • Kennywood and Hershey Park Science Days
    • Circus, Stars on Ice, and other shows
    • Fiddlesticks Symphony, Shakespeare plays, and other cultural events
    • Miniature Golfing
    • Movies (Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte's Web)
    • Picnics
    • Workshops
    • Meet & Greets with teachers
    • Senior High Prom
    
    
    Regional activity coordinators in various parts of the state will organize events for students state-wide that will be conveniently located.
    
    Additionally, home facilitators are encouraged to enhance a student's learning experience by having them participate in community activities - sports, youth groups, extracurricular activities, volunteering, jobs, etc.
    
    
• May PALCS students participate in local school district extracurricular activities?
  • Yes, according to BEC 24 P.S. 17-1719-A (14,) students are permitted to participate in extracurricular activities offered by their home school district provided that they are not offered by PALCS. Students must comply with the policies and meet the specific eligibility requirements established by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. Students who are members of a sports team with their home school district must continue to meet grade requirements to be part of the team. Coaches needing academic information from PALCS must make a request in writing to the Student Services Director and provide their e-mail addresses. PALCS will only notify the home district when grades fall below a "C." Weekly updates cannot be accommodated. Whenever possible, PALCS will assist students and parents to secure the opportunity to participate in the extracurricular activities for which they are eligible.
    

Enrollment

• What is the enrollment process?
  • • Complete an Application of Intent and Receive a Registration Packet
    • Our Application of Intent indicates that you are interested in enrolling in PALCS and would like to receive a Registration Packet. You can complete this information online at our Registration Packet page.
      
    • Alternatively, you may contact the PALCS office nearest you for assistance completing an application:
    • West Chester (Eastern PA) Office: 610-701-3333
      
    • Pittsburgh (Western PA) Office: 412-828-3331
      
    
    
    • Complete and Return the Packet
    • The packet includes instructions for completion. Please be sure to follow these directions and include all additional documentation with the packet. We cannot complete your enrollment without complete documentation.
    
    
    • Attend Orientation in a City Near You
    • Upon receiving your packet, we will call you to verify processing. Students in certain grades may be placed in a lottery system if those grades reach capacity. As space becomes available, we will set up an orientation for your family. Orientations typically take place at our West Chester or Pittsburgh offices, though we occasionally have on-the-road orientations. Orientations can take place several weeks after receiving your packet at busy times of the year - please keep your child in school until the orientation.
      
    • At the orientation, students and home facilitators will meet with an interviewer who will help arrange an Individual Program of Instruction for the student. Students take placement testing and meet with guidance for courses. Families learn to use our school website and receive their books and computer in the mail.
    
    
    • Become a Student!
    • Provided all paperwork is in order, children leave orientation as students of the PA Leadership Charter School. Parents must remember to visit the local school to sign withdrawal papers after the orientation; we handle the rest. Families go home, log on, meet their teachers and explore classes, start working and enjoy being a part of PALCS!
    
    
    
• How long must I wait to enroll?
  • The period between PALCS receiving your enrollment packet and your student being enrolled in PALCS changes throughout the year.  Students are typically enrolled as soon as an orientation can be scheduled.  However, certain grades can reach capacity levels, at which time, we may implement a lottery system.  Our current enrollment availability is posted on our admissions information page.
    
    Orientations are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis - the more registration packets we have received, the longer a family will wait for an orientation slot. Wait times may reach four to five weeks in August and September, our busiest months of the year; we reach smaller peaks at the ends of marking periods. Orientations may be scheduled within a week during other times of the year.
    
    Students are not officially enrolled in PALCS until after an orientation has been completed. In order to avoid truancy, a student must remain in attendance at his or her current school until the orientation date.
    
    Online classes may be activated immediately. Textbooks may take days / weeks to arrive depending on availability. PALCS has agreements with IBM, HP and NCS to provide computers to the school. Many students go home with computers upon leaving the orientation. If a school computer is not available, students may use a home computer. Computers may be shipped within days if immediately available and may be shipped within weeks if they need to be ordered from the manufacturer.
    
    
• Does the parent have to notify the local school district that their student is enrolled in PALCS?
  • In the enrollment process, the parent will sign a form that enables the school to contact the student local school district to notify them concerning enrollment and to have the student records sent to PALCS.
    
    Within 15 days of enrollment, both the parent/guardian and the cyber charter school shall notify the student's school district of residence of the enrollment through the enrollment notification form, included in the enrollment packet.
    
    PALCS does not request student records (transcripts, medical records) from your former school until after a student is enrolled. As these documents are required for the enrollment packet, families should contact the school and request these documents before beginning the enrollment process.
    
    
• Do I have to travel to the office?
  • Students complete all schoolwork from home, so office trips are not often necessary. However, there are two situations that we request your presence in a location other than your home:
    
    
    • State-mandated PSSA testing must be administered every year for selected grades. PALCS will set up multiple locations throughout the state for the convenience of families so they should not have to travel further than one hour to reach the testing site.
      
    • When a student applies to PALCS, students and Home Facilitators (HFs) must attend an orientation. If families travel to the office nearest them (West Chester or Pittsburgh,) orientations may be processed as soon as openings are available. For families unable to travel to the West Chester or Pittsburgh offices, PALCS will also conduct regional orientations on a quarterly basis.
    
    
    Though optional, PALCS offers many field trips and activities that you may wish to attend. Transportation will often have to be provided by the family, though we have divided the state into six regions to provide interactive opportunities for all students.
    

Technology

• What kind of computer / equipment is provided?
  • PALCS provides a Windows XP Professional-based desktop computer (usually HP brand) with software and internal storage sufficient to hold all school programs / materials. Laptop computers may be provided to families with special circumstances upon request.  Additional equipment includes:
    
    
    • Monitor
    • Keyboard & mouse
    • Headphones / microphone
    • 3-in-1 printer for printing, scanning and copying (Lexmark or HP brand)
    • A webcam (only used with certain courses)
      
  • 
    
• • PALCS is pursuing an open-source initiative, utilizing programs such as Mozilla Firefox and OpenOffice, to help train students for future software developments. These programs can be used on home computers as well as the school computer.
    
  • 
    The school warranties the computer / equipment for normal wear and tear. Parents are responsible for paper / print cartridges and damage to the computer for software not provided by the school.
    
  • 
    At this time, PALCS computers are not available for purchase. Students who withdraw or graduate from PALCS must return all equipment to the school, including computer system and textbooks. PALCS will providea pre-paid return label, enabling the parent to return this equipment / material with no cost to the parent.
    
    
• If I do not know much about computers, can I effectively serve as the Home Facilitator?
  • A basic understanding of computers is necessary to get set up and functioning, but Home Facilitators without prior computer training can still be effective if willing to seek assistance and spend extra time to learn.
    
    PALCS provides detailed instruction on how to set up the school computer and has a phone Help Desk to answer any questions. An online tutorial and FAQs are constantly available to explain how the school works. The PALCS Help Desk and Student Services are always available from 9 AM - 4 PM daily (usually earlier and later) to answer any questions you might have. Teachers are also available daily to help explain classroom material.

Other

• Can religious studies be provided?
  • As a public school, PALCS may not teach sectarian religious instruction. Any public school may teach courses such as Comparative Religions and The History of (name of religion). In addition, parents may request an opportunity for religious instruction for their children that is facilitated by the school but not paid for by the school. Parents are also free to provide any instruction in their home that they believe complements the curriculum taught by the school. Parents may form groups separate from the school to facilitate this instruction. The role of the PALCS teacher is to neither encourage nor discourage any expression of religious thought that is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
    
    
• Can individual religious practices be accommodated?
  • PALCS will attempt to accommodate any reasonable request from parents. For example, parents who do not believe in teaching music may opt their child out of any music courses. Core courses, like Kindergarten reading, will not be replaced. It will be the parents' responsibility to adapt the curriculum to their own religious beliefs.
    
    
• What opportunities for participation are there for parents beyond the Home Facilitator?
  • • PALCS networks parents both geographically and across grade levels. Parents are asked to provide leadership for these groups to encourage field trips, study partners / groups and other activities designed by parents for the benefit of the student(s). PALCS has hired parent representatives to facilitate this process.
    
    
    • PALCS Board of Directors holds their meeting once a month. Parents are welcome to attend, but should contact the school in advance of the meeting to obtain meeting times and agenda(s). Please Click Here to see our Board Meeting Schedule.
    
    
    • Parents can be hired by the school as:
    • Teachers - on-site only
    • Teacher aides - generally on-site only
    • Support staff - on-site only
    
    
    • Parents can be very helpful with public relations for the school.
    • State legislators need to know that their effort(s) to provide this alternative form of education is appreciated.
    • Local newspapers like to cover the stories of local families that have broader policy implications.
    • Most students attending PALCS have discovered the school via word of mouth.
    • Parents with artistic abilities could help design materials / website(s).
    • Radio talk shows are glad to have guests with unique stories.
    • Many communities have public access cable television for the local community.
    • When media outlets call us, we like to have parents to refer to them enabling them to see the school from the student's point of view.
    
    
    • Parents can be helpful with fund raising for the school. Various programs / grants are available to enable local PA businesses to contribute to projects for the school and receive up to 90% tax break on their donation(s).
    
    
    • Building on the strong emphasis on the participation of the Home Facilitator, PALCS encourages parents to provide any ideas that could help strengthen the school.