Policies and Procedures

PLEASE NOTE: Any exceptions to Blueprint Education’s procedures will be subject to additional fees.

Blueprint Education provides nontraditional educational options for students.

DISTANCE LEARNING EDUCATION IS DIFFERENT FROM LEARNING THROUGH A TRADITIONAL SCHOOL. IT REQUIRES GREATER DEDICATION AND DISCIPLINE BY THE STUDENT.

Submitting Print Based Lessons

All print based lessons must be submitted to Blueprint Education.

No more than four lessons may be submitted during a one-week period for any print based course. Students may not deliver or mail lessons directly to the teacher. Students should MAKE COPIES of ALL work submitted since lessons can be lost in the mail. Blueprint Education is not responsible for lessons lost through the mail system.

Students should ensure that their envelope has a clear return address and sufficient postage. Students may fax print based lessons to 602-943-9700. There is a fax fee of $30 per course which needs to be paid prior to faxing. Students must attach the correct bar-coded Lesson Cover Sheet supplied with their course materials, otherwise lessons will be returned. If a student requests additional cover sheets, there is a fee of $5 per course. Additional course guides are $15. Graded print based lessons are usually returned to the student within ten working days of their receipt.

Submitting Internet Based Lessons

Students enrolled in Internet based courses can move as quickly as they feel comfortable with the subject matter. There are no restrictions on the number of lessons a student can complete per week.

Students cannot email assignments or projects directly to their teacher. All assignments or projects must be uploaded in the course.

Instructions for submitting Internet lessons can be found in your Internet course.

Grading Scale

The minimum passing grade is 60%. All graded lessons and exams will be used to compute the course grade. Lessons will count for 40% of the overall course grade, and exams will count for the remaining 60%. Additionally, students must score at least 60% on both the midterm and final exams to receive credit for the course, and they must complete all lessons, averaging an overall 60% with all lessons combined.

Honor Code

The Honor System

Blueprint Education values integrity and accountability in the completion of all courses. The lessons are designed to prepare the student for the exams, and must be completed independently without cheating, plagiarizing or knowingly giving false information. Students may discuss the content of lesson material with others, but the actual responses or submitted work must be their own.

All exams must be taken under the supervision of an approved proctor. Students may not use course notes, textbooks, workbooks, manuals or electronic devices to assist them in the completion of an exam unless otherwise stated on the exam or proctor guideline sheet.

If evidence of academic misconduct is established on lessons or exams, students will be given a failing grade for the course and any refund will be forfeited.

How To Avoid Academic Misconduct

• When researching a content related topic, collect the ideas and make notes in your own words.
• Use your OWN IDEAS AND WORDS for all assignments unless specifically told to do otherwise in the assignment.
• Use quotation marks around any information that you copy word for word. Then cite the source of the quote. Your whole assignment (or large parts) should NOT be copied and pasted.
• Do not copy and paste any piece of information from another source (book, website, encyclopedia, etc.) without citing the source.

Transferring Credit

Acceptance of any transferring credit is determined solely by the student’s school of attendance. Th e student is responsible for verifying with his or her counselor that courses will transfer for credit.

BLUEPRINT EDUCATION IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS OR ERRORS IN ADVISEMENT BY ANY INDIVIDUALS NOT DIRECTLY EMPLOYED BY BLUEPRINT EDUCATION.

Graduation Deadlines

Students who anticipate graduating from their respective school in May must have completed the course(s) with a course grade no later than April 20th. Blueprint Education is committed to having grades processed in time for graduation if the April 20th deadline is met. If the deadline is missed, however, grades may not be processed in time for graduation.

Transcripts

A transcript, with either a letter grade or a withdrawal, is sent to the school of attendance or the residence of the home-schooled student after completion of each course. Students may request that Blueprint Education send a transcript of credits earned to the college or university of their choice.

Tuition Fees

The tuition cost is $149 per 0.5 credit course. This tuition fee includes course guides, grading, test scoring, all progress reports and fi rst-class postage costs for returning graded lessons to the student.

Tuition does not cover the cost of textbooks or workbooks.

TUITION COSTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Textbooks & Materials

Textbooks and workbooks are NOT included in the tuition fee. Students may purchase required textbooks and workbooks from Blueprint Education’s virtual bookstore (www. BlueprintEducation.org/books) or from other sources.

Book costs are those given at the time of purchase on the website and are subject to change without notice.

Course guides and materials will be mailed to the student after tuition payment is received.

Exams

Every course requires proctored exams. Once a student has submitted the required lessons, he or she must contact Blueprint Education via website, email, phone, or fax to request an exam. Please provide the following information when requesting any exam:

• Name
• Course
• Type of exam (midterm, fi nal, midterm retest, fi nal retest)

Once an exam is started, it is subject to grading. No “split” or “continued” exam sessions are allowed. Students may not use course notes, textbooks, workbooks, manuals or electronic devices to assist them in the completion of an exam unless otherwise noted on the exam or proctor guideline sheet. Calculators may be used on exams only if noted on the exam or proctor guideline sheet. When the exam has been graded, a progress report will be sent to the student. Students may also contact Blueprint Education to find out their grades. If a student fails an exam, he or she has one opportunity to retake that exam. A fee will be assessed for each retest. Please “Tuition and Fees" page.

Internet Based Exams

Internet based courses have online proctored exams. The exam password will be sent directly to the proctor at a business or institution via email. Passwords are emailed within two business days after the request has been received.

Print Based Exams

Print based courses have written proctored exams. These exams will be sent directly to the proctor at a business or institutional address only. Exams will be mailed within two business days after the request has been received. Students should allow up to one week for the proctor to receive written exams. After this time, the student may contact the proctor to schedule the exam. All exams must be completed promptly. All written exams need to be returned to Blueprint Education. Graded exams are not returned to the student.

Proctors

A proctor is a neutral person who oversees a student taking an exam.

Proctors are required to administer and supervise ALL exams for students through Blueprint Education. Blueprint Education will have fi nal approval of all proctors. All students must submit a proctor approval form.

Please the proctor page for more information on proctoring.

Progress Reports & Updates

Blueprint Education will send an initial email to the student and his or her counselor confi rming successful enrollment. Progress reports are sent to the student at the completion of each exam. Students are sent their fi nal progress report containing their course grade via mail.

Time Frame For Course Completion

Students have a maximum of six months from the date of enrollment to complete any Internet or print based course. Students can complete a one semester print based course in a minimum of four weeks. If a student is enrolled in a print based courses, he or she may turn in a maximum of four lessons per course per week. If lessons are mailed, a course may take longer to complete because of the variance in mail services.

Students who are enrolled in an Internet course may complete the course as quickly as they are able.

Extensions

If a course is not completed within the required six months form the date of enrollment, a student may request a one-time, three-month extension for an additioanl charge of $50. Extension time will start from the original date of expiration, not from the date of payment. If the extension fee is not paid for prior to the expiration date, students will automatically be withdrawn from that course until payment is received.

Change of Course

Students may transfer their enrollment from one course to anotherr for a fee of $25. Only one transfer per course is allowed, and it must happen within 20 business days from the date of enrollment for that course. Students may not transfer courses if they have already turned in more than four lessons.

Tutition Refunds

A student who drops a course may be eligible ffor a tuition refund as follows:

Acceptable Use Agreement for the Internet

All students enrolling in a Blueprint Education online course shall abide by the following policy.

• Email teachers and/or staff members of online courses
• Research major news sources: (newspapers, magazines, US Congress)
• File Transfer (FTP) - transfer files between computers in either direction
• Research - research databases, image files, weather maps, (U.S. Weather Service, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian)

Course websites may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that Blueprint Education is not liable for the privacy practices or content of other sites. We strongly encourage you to be aware when you leave the course site. You should read the privacy statements of every website that collects personally identifiable information.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed herein by the author of the curriculum content do not necessarily express, state, or reflect the opinions of Blueprint Education or its employees.

Network administrators may review files and communication to maintain system integrity and ensure responsible use. Teachers may monitor students’ Internet use by requesting a search history of websites visited to be sure you use the Internet as a tool for academic purposes. Students should not expect that files stores on Blueprint Education servers are private.

Appropriate Internet Use

Communication, webpages, and email are often public in nature. With independent study, families must bear the responsibility for appropriate guidance and Internet behavior. All students enrolled in any Blueprint Education online course will adhere to the following rules:

OBEY COPYRIGHT AND PERSONAL PROPERTY LAWS - Students shall not:

• Invade or compromise another person’s privacy or files.
• Use copyrighted software.
• Use someone else’s account or password, nor share your password or account with anyone else.

USE APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE AND BEHAVIOR - Students shall not:

• Encrypt communications to avoid security review.
• Use the system to access, store or distribute inappropriate material.
• Use offensive or inflammatory speech or written text.
• Seek to gain unauthorized access to resources over the Internet.
• Use any computer for illegal purposes.

ASK FOR HELP - If you do not understand or are unclear about instructions, please contact Blueprint Education.

SHOW CONSIDERATION AND RESPECT -Students shall not:

• Knowingly post or forward any information that is not true.
• Disrupt the intended use of the Internet.
• Use a computer to harm other people.
• Destroy the integrity of computer based information or operating systems.
• Destructive of technological property.
• Employ the network for commercial purposes.
• INAPPROPRIATE MATERIAL - Notify an adult or your teacher if you come across any inappropriate material.