On January 6, 2011 the Putnam County School Board made history. The board revised the Graduation Requirements (4.605) to reflect the following requirement regarding the new Personal Finance graduation requirement:
For all students entering 9th grade in 2009-2010 and thereafter, the required one-half (.5) credit of Personal Finance necessary to meet the Tennessee Ready Core requirements must be earned by successfully completing the course online.
Upcoming Sessions and Dates for VITAL Personal Finance2011 - 2012 Regular Term RegistrationApril 15 - July 25OrientationScheduled at individual schools each nine week term - check with your Onsite Facilitator
| What are the procedures for signing up? Registration for VITAL Personal Finance is handled within each school by the guidance counselors and our VITAL Onsite Facilitators. Once you have determined that VITAL Personal Finance will meet your needs, check the dates for the available sessions on the left of this page.Your next step is to request the course through your guidance counselor.
The Onsite Facilitator will contact you to complete the registration process and turn in the required forms. Students must also complete and submit the VITAL Letter of Agreement and VITAL Academic Integrity Policy. A parent signature is required on both forms. You can download both by clicking on the links on this page or at the bottom of the Request Course page. All of the guidelines for course participation outlined in the VITAL Letter of Agreement and VITAL Academic Integrity Policy apply to the VITAL Personal Finance course. The drop policy for the Personal Finance is the same as for regular high school courses. Once registration is completed, your child will be assigned to an online section of VITAL Personal Finance. Your child will then be required to attend an orientation at school to help get started and be successful in their course. Attending an orientation is not optional. Failure to attend the orientation could result in the student being dropped from the class. Students can expect to spend a MINIMUM OF 72 - 90 hours of work to complete the course.
Special Needs Students:
Individual schools are responsible for identifying students and
providing accommodations for VITAL courses as needed. The registration
form provides an opportunity to identify students as special needs and
list modifications required by an IEP or 504 plans. Any changes in
modifications will be communicated to the Virtual Learning Coordinator
who will notify the online teacher. To further assist special needs students, the VITAL Personal Finance course will be available in a lab setting with a teaching assistant available to help make modifications and assist students as needed according to their IEP or 504 plans. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Melanie Bussell, SPED Supervisor (931-526-9777 or bussellm@k12tn.net).
Student Attendance and Participation VITAL students are expected to attend and participate in the VITAL Personal Finance course as fully as they would attend and participate in a traditional classroom course. At a minimum, students are required to login and perform work in the course at least five times a week, dispersed throughout the week (i.e. not five visits in one or two days) totaling an average of 10 hours per week per course. The actual amount of time required to successfully complete a course varies depending on the pace of the individual student.
If a student fails to login and participate in the course for seven (7) class days, that student may be dropped from the course, unless prior communications have been received from the Onsite Facilitator regarding the student's absence. Onsite Facilitators in conjunction with Lab Facilitators when the student is in a lab setting are responsible for managing any additional attendance procedures or requirements that were arranged between individual students and their online instructors.
Homework and Absence Policy Students are expected to log into their online course at least five times a week, spread throughout the week, unless otherwise indicated by the instructor. Homework is to be completed by assigned deadlines. If work is going to be late, it is the responsibility of the student to contact the instructor. It is the responsibility of the student to make up work missed due to absence.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances, work should be made up within one week of the student's return to school. In cases of extended student illness (five days or more), the student may either contact the online course instructor directly to notify the instructor of any delay in providing assigned work or the parents may contact the Lab Facilitator or Onsite Facilitator as appropriate to make arrangements for work that will need to be made up.
Suspended Students Students who are suspended from school and are enrolled in courses in the VITAL program are expected to continue their participation at home during the period of suspension. If students do not have computer/internet access at home, it is the responsibility of the student and parent to provide access at the public library or other site. All policies concerning attendance and participation in virtual courses apply during suspensions. |