Parent Involvement - PA Leadership Charter School – Cyber School Education - The Pennsylvania Leadership Cyber Charter School: (PALCS) is a public (tuition-free) K-12 Cyberschool, approved by the PA Department of Education and open to all students in the state of Pa.
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Parent Involvement

What is a Home Facilitator?

Each student at PALCS is required to have a Home Facilitator (HF) to partner with the school and ensure that the student is attending classes daily and completing assignments on time. This person may be a parent/guardian or someone the parent/guardian designates. The HF is an important part of each student’s success. Without the full commitment of the HF, a student’s academic success will suffer.

 

What Are the Primary Responsibilities of the Home Facilitator?

The Home Facilitator is the essential link between the teacher and the student. By accepting the position of Home Facilitator, the HF (and the student’s parent, in the case of a non-parent HF) agrees to the following responsibilities:

  • Comply with basic steps such as arranging for a high-speed Internet connection in-home before enrollment, attending orientation, and completing an introduction to online learning course.
  • Assist with student learning by making sure the student is logging in daily and has enough time and information to complete assignments.
  • Provide supervision for the student at all times when he/she is logged on to the PALCS site.
  • Log in to the HF’s account and check PALCSmails, as well as your student’s attendance and assignments.
  • Comply with state testing requirements by participating in all required activities, including state-mandated testing.
  • Communicate with your student’s teacher regularly and PALCS administrators and staff as needed.

 

What Technological Knowledge Is Needed to be a Home Facilitator?

The Home Facilitator must have a basic understanding of technology to provide supervision while the student attends PALCS. If the HF does not have a sufficient understanding of computer technology, PALCS will provide training until the HF is able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge. Basic knowledge includes: email, basic use of Microsoft Office (or similar software), Internet, and Moodle navigation. Tutorials are provided to families prior to enrollment at our Tech Support site.

 

What is the Home Facilitator’s Involvement?

The requirements for the HF vary with the age and motivation of the student and involve a commitment that goes beyond a traditional public school. Students in lower grades (K-8), students with lower motivation levels, and students with special needs require more direct involvement.

Each course at PALCS has been assigned a suggested level of involvement for the Home Facilitator from one to five. The guidelines for HF Involvement levels can be found here, and the Home Facilitator’s level of involvement is indicated in each course in our online course catalog.

All Home Facilitators must be fully engaged no matter what the specified level of involvement indicates.

 

What are the additional non-parent/guardian Home Facilitator requirements?

All non-parent Home Facilitators must provide the school with a current (within the last year) Criminal Record Check ($10 fee) and Child Abuse Clearance ($10 fee) before working with students. Originals of these documents must be witnessed by a PALCS employee. Such witness may be done during the required face-to-face interview, or at another time as arranged by non-parent Home Facilitator and PALCS. Copies of each document should be submitted to PALCS and kept on file.

The Act 151 form (Child Abuse Clearance), the Act 34 form (Criminal Record Check) are available at both PALCS offices. You may also call (717) 783-6211, or visit the PA Department of Education website for more information.

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