Academic Policies

These policies are updated regularly. Please check back periodically for the most current information.

1. Admission, tuition, refunds, and withdrawal policies

CompuHigh/Whitmore School admits students without regard to race, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or color.
CompuHigh/Whitmore School retains the right to refuse enrollment or re-enrollment from any student whom the Registrar believes will not benefit from, or work well within, the CompuHigh educational system.
Students transferring from schools outside of the USA who wish to graduate from Whitmore School must enroll in the Diploma PLUS program. (see 12 below)
Students with NCAA eligibility wanting to be in our diploma program must enroll in NCAA Diploma PLUS program. (see 14 below)
Students under the age of 14 must be approved by Registrar for admission into the Diploma Program. If a student is granted permission to enroll in the Diploma Program they are required to be in the PLUS program. (see 10 below)
A student enrolled in an individual course may transfer to the Whitmore School Diploma Program. If the conversion is made within one month of the individual course enrollment, then the individual course enrollment fee may be used as credit toward the Diploma Program enrollment fee.
A student may withdraw from CompuHigh/Whitmore School upon written notification to the registrar. Incomplete course work is not considered a cancellation of enrollment.
The enrollment fee (less a $75 administrative fee for the Diploma program, less $125 for the Diploma Plus program) can be refunded if a student withdraws in writing within 10 days of enrollment.
No reduction or refund of fees is given in the case of student non-performance or lack of course completion.
Tuition covers 12 months from the date of enrollment. Students must re-enroll for another year to continue working on coursework/ graduation requirements. No course progress will be lost when the tuition year ends, so students can continue working exactly where they left off.
Tution allows a student to complete up to 6 credits in an enrollment year. Students can purchase two additional courses at the individual rate if they have completed 6 credits and have at least 1-2 months left in their enrollment year. The additional purchased credits do need to be completed within the enrollment year. Student cannot re-enroll early.
One 30-day extension may be purchased in lieu of a year's re-enrollment ONLY IF the student has 5 or fewer lessons/labs/projects to complete in no more than 2 courses. Cost for a 30-day extension is $50 for the regular program and $75 for the PLUS and NCAA programs.
There will be a $25.00 fee for each returned check. If a check is returned Compuhigh will only accept money orders as replacement, and the student's password will be removed until this is received. The money order is to be in the amount of the bounced check plus the $25.00 service fee. The student's password will be removed until a replacement money order is received for the check amount plus the $25.00 fee. We will not contact you if a payment is returned due to lack of funds, closed account, etc.

2. Student Course Work

All students' work must be a product of their own individual effort, thoughts, and skills. All work must be in each student's own words.
Students may submit at most 2 lessons per course per day. The exact course limits will be explained on the introduction page for each course.
Diploma Students may initiate work on any course at any time during their enrollment. Noncompletion of an initiated course carries no penalty and does not appear on the student transcript.

3. Award of Credit

All lessons in a course must be completed to a mastery level before a grade can be given. Mastery is defined as meeting the stated objectives of the lesson and meeting the criteria in the grading rubric.
Upon completion of required work in a course, students must request course credit through the appropriate form, accessed from the student Filing Cabinet.
Students who prefer not to complete each lesson to a mastery level due to time constraints, etc. may arrange to take a proctored exam in lieu of mastery. All lessons in the course must be completed with at least a grade of 5 before the exam can be scheduled.
Course grades are calculated as an average of the grades on the course lessons, labs, and projects. If an exam in required, it counts as 20% (NCAA. see NCAA policies) or 50% (cheating. see disciplinary policies) of the grade with the other percentage being the average of lessons, labs, and projects.
Individual students may be required to pass a proctored exam before course credit is awarded. Exam must be past with at least a grade of 60%. No credit for the course will be awarded if the exam is failed.
Course credit will only be awarded to students who have been enrolled in the course for at least one month.
A maximum of 6 credits can be awarded per year to students in the diploma program for the regular diploma program tuition. Up to 2 additional credits may be purchased at the individual enrollment price upon approval by administration. Total credits per year cannot exceed 8.

4. Graduation Requirements

Students wishing to graduate from Whitmore School must enroll in the diploma program.
Students pursuing a diploma from Whitmore School, who transferred from an accredited or public school, must complete at least 4.5 credits at CompuHigh/Whitmore School. These credits must include 2 core* courses from 2 different subject areas, and Test Prep through CompuHigh/Whitmore School. (*core subjects are English, math, science, and social studies)
Students pursuing a College Prep track diploma from Whitmore School must acquire 22 credits including the following:
4.0 credits of English
2.0 credits Social Studies
3.0 credits Science (2 lab sciences)
3.0 credits Math
1.5 credits PE
0.5 credit Speech (Communications)
1.0 Test Prep CP
7.0 credits Electives (2 Foreign Language)
Students pursuing a General Studies track diploma from Whitmore School must acquire 18 credits including the following:
4.0 credits of English
2.0 credits Social Studies
2.0 credits Science
2.0 credits Math
1.0 credit PE
1.0 Test Prep GS
6.0 credits Electives
Students pursuing a diploma from Whitmore School are required to complete Whitmore's Test Prep Course. Students must have completed one year with Whitmore before entering the course. Test Prep will be mandatory for all students graduating with Whitmore, starting with the graduating class of 2015-2016 year. Incoming seniors will be required to complete Test Prep, after they have completed their core courses.

5. Grades

Numerical grades for lessons range from 5-10 with the following numerical grade equivalencies:
10 = A
9.5 = A
9.0 = B+
8.5 = B
8.0 = B-
7.5 = C
7.0 = C-
6.5 = D
6.0 = D-
5 = F

As of 2015, CompuHigh offers weighted honors courses and transfers honors and AP courses with a 0.5 point weighting. The following grade scale is applied to transcripts:

Grade	Percentage	Grade Points	Weighted*
A.	93-100	4.00	4.50
A-	90-92	3.67	4.17
B+	88-89	3.33	3.83
B.	83-87	3.00	3.50
B-	80-82	2.67	3.17
C+	78-79	2.33	2.83
C.	73-77	2.00	2.50
C-	70-72	1.67	2.17
D+	68-69	1.33	--
D.	63-67	1.00	--
D-	60-62	0.67	--
E.	0-59	0.00	--

*Whitmore School offers Honors courses in some subjects with a 0.5 weighting. AP and Honors courses from other schools are also transferred in with the 0.5 weighting regardless of the weighting at the previous school.
Whitmore School does not transfer grades of F from other schools. Only courses in which credit was earned are transferred and calculated into the GPA, including high school level credits earned in the eighth grade.

6. Attendance

CompuHigh offers a great deal of flexibility to families and students. Students are responsible for setting their own pace and time schedule for work in their courses. CompuHigh does not maintain requirements for ‘seat time’, rather quantity and quality of work mastered. That being said, students should plan to work on their school work daily to keep on track toward graduation.

CompuHigh will only confirm full time attendance (20 hours per week) upon request if the student is submitting a minimum of 1-2 lessons, in 3 courses, 4-5 days a week. Students needing DMV forms, Social Security forms, or other attendance verification forms filled out must meet this criteria for at least 2 weeks before the form will be sent. If the student stops submitting work, a cessation form will be sent. See attendance chart
On the first day of each month, messages are sent out to the parent of any student who has not submitted anything in CompuHigh for 5 or more days. The message notifies the parent of the inactivity and reinforces the need to submit work regularly to be successful.

7. Disciplinary Measures

School administrators may lower a course grade by up to one full letter grade in instances of repeated plagiarism.
Students may be suspended or expelled for offenses including cheating, plagiarism, harassment or disrespectful behavior toward students, staff or teachers. In suspension or expulsion, a student’s access to their online account is removed temporarily or permanently, respectively.
If a student cheats; plagiarizes; is disrespectful toward a student, staff, or teacher; or fails to follow repeated instructions, that student will need to complete a Principles lesson. Students referred to a Principles lesson from a particular course will be unable to work on academic lessons in that course until they have completed the Principles lesson.
Students cannot begin a new course while they have a Principles lesson pending.
If a student is assigned two or more Principles lessons for the same type of infraction, the student may be suspended for up to one month without a tuition refund.
If a student is assigned three or more Principles lessons for the same type of infraction, the student may be expelled without a tuition refund.
If a student is assigned three or more Principles lessons for cheating or plagiarism the student may be required to pass a proctored final exam to get course credit.
If a student re-enrolls after being assigned two or more Principles lessons, the student must re-enroll in the CompuHigh Plus program.
If a student is suspended, the Principal will explain the suspension in a phone call to the student or the student’s parent/guardian.
The Registrar reserves the right to refuse the enrollment or re-enrollment of any student.
School administrators and guidance counselors must be allowed direct phone and written contact with a student. If direct contact with a student is refused, the student’s enrollment may be terminated.
If there is suspicion or evidence of cheating Whitmore School has the right to require the student to pass a proctored test to obtain a final grade for the particular course.
Proctored exams that are given because of repeated plagiarism or suspicion of cheating will be worth 50% of the student's overall grade and must be passed with a grade of 60% to get credit for the course.

8. Grade Levels

Grade 9 encompasses all students with less than 5 course credits.
Grade 10 encompasses all students with at least 5 but less than 11 course credits.
Grade 11 encompasses all students with at least 12 but less than 16 course credits.
Grade 12 encompasses all students with 16 or more course credits.

9. Credit Transfers

General policies regarding all transfer students.
1. The registrar evaluates all requests for transfer credit.
2. Transfer credit is only awarded for high-school level courses.
3. Courses are awarded 1 credit or 0.5 credit based on the Carnegie Unit system.
4. No more than 1.0 credit will be recorded on the student transcript for each course, even if the course is taken in different schools.
5. Transfer credits are accepted for all courses on transcripts from public high schools.
6. Students pursuing a diploma from Whitmore School must complete at least 4.5 credits at CompuHigh/Whitmore School. These credits must include 2 core course credits* - from 2 different subject areas, .5 credit of Test Prep and 2 additional elective or core course credits. (*Core course subjects are English, Math, Science and Social Studies.)
7. Whitmore School may accept credits from non-accredited schools when validated by one or more of the following procedures:
  - A review of the student’s academic record
  - An analysis of a sending school’s curriculum
  - A review of a Homeschool Association portfolio of student work
  - An assessment of scholastic performance

Transfer credit may be recorded with a grade of P (pass).

No more than 8.0 total credits per year will be recorded on the student transcript once the student has enrolled at CompuHigh. This includes a combination of credits earned at CompuHigh and other schools.

Policies regarding students with course credit from public high schools and other accredited sources.
1. CompuHigh/Whitmore School recognizes accreditations from
  Advanc-Ed
  NCA - North Central Association
  SACS - Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
  NWAC - Northwest Accreditation Commission
  WASC - Western Association of Schools and Colleges
  NEASC - New England Association of Schools and Colleges
  MSA - Middle States Association
  NCPSA- National Council of Private School Accreditation
  IB - International Baccalaureate
  GAC - Georgia Accrediting Commission
2. Students must be enroll in the diploma program.
3. Transfer credits are accepted for all courses on transcripts from public high schools or high schools accredited by one of the above-listed organizations.
4. Credits are transferred with the letter grade awarded by the previous high school.
5. Transferred credits will count toward the total number of credits required by CompuHigh-Whitmore School, but may not fulfil specific course requirements for graduation.
Policies regarding students with course credit from high schools outside of the USA.
1. Transcripts from outside the USA must be translated into English and include a course-by-course USA credit equivalent and grade equivalent. Whitmore School will review transcript evaluations from the following resource: www.naces.org.
2. When specific core course credit is not indicated on a transcript, or more than seven courses are listed in one year, Whitmore School will award 1 credit for the student's native language, 1 credit for mathematics, 1 credit for English, and 0.5 credit for other courses.
3. Non-native English speakers may be required to take a TOEFL examination in order to determine course placement.
4. Non-native English speakers are required to enroll in the Diploma PLUS program.
Policies regarding students with course credit from a non-accredited homeschool program not affiliated with a homeschool association.
1. At the discretion of the Registrar, some credits may be transferred when validated by the methods listed in A-6. However, the following additional limitations may apply to non-affiliated homeschool credits.
- Transfer credit may be awarded in English courses if the student earns a passing grade in the next sequential English course from CompuHigh/Whitmore School.
- Transfer credit may be awarded in mathematics courses if the student earns a passing grade in the next sequential mathematics course from CompuHigh/Whitmore School.
- Transfer credit may be awarded in Science and Social Studies upon taking and passing an assessment of scholastic performance in the subject.
1. Transfer credits are recorded with a grade of P (Pass); no letter grade will be recorded.
Credits taken from other schools or colleges while students are enrolled in Whitmore School must be pre-approved prior to being taken to ensure they will be transferred to the Whitmore School transcript. Approval for outside courses will be on a case-by-case basis.
College courses may be transferred to fulfill high school graduation requirements on a case by case basis using the following "Carnegie student hour" to Whitmore high school credit conversion:
3-4 credit College courses = 1 credit at Whitmore School;
2 credit College courses = 0.5 credit at Whitmore School;
1 credit College courses = 0.25 credit at Whitmore School.

10. Special Admissions: Under Age Students

9th graders will be admitted who have completed the 8th grade and are 14 years old. Younger students wishing to enroll in Whitmore School must articulate the reasons why in a written petition for admission. The School Director and Educational Director shall review the petition written by the student and decide on special admissions.
Students younger than 14 years old who have been granted permission to enroll shall be required to enroll in the Diploma Plus program.
Students (under the age of 14 or not completed 8th grade) who would like to enroll in an individual course as a trial prior to enrolling in the diploma program shall be required to pay $400 per course for additional monitoring by a guidance counselor.

11. Proctored Exam Policy

CompuHigh’s unique mastery education system allows us to provide accredited online courses without tests and exams in most cases. However, there are special cases that require a student to take a proctored final exam for a course.

A proctor is someone who you have arranged to watch you take the exam, confirm your identity, and confirm that you have not cheated on the exam. The proctor must be a professional such as a school teacher or librarian. The proctor may not be your friend, family member, or tutor. The NCAA also has guidelines that forbid a coach or gym teacher from proctoring an exam.

Proctored final exams are required for

NCAA approved credits, (see NCAA policies). These exams are worth 20% of the student's grade.
students caught or suspected of cheating in a course. (see discipline policies). These exams are worth 50% of the student's grade.
if requested by the registrar, to tranfer credit from non-accredited schools

In all cases, Proctored Test Procedures must be followed.

Before taking a proctored exam, please note the following:

Proctor must be approved by CompuHigh / Whitmore School administration.
All course work must be completed and a grade given for each lesson prior to taking the proctored exam.
Student must send all information required for the proctored exam at least 1 week in advance of their desired exam date.
You must score a minimum of 60% on the exam to pass it. You cannot re-take the exam. If you don't pass the exam you will not be award credit for the course.
Taking a proctored exam does not exempt you from any CompuHigh policies such as completion of all course requirements, or the 2 post per day limit.

12. Students in Nations Outside of the United States

Students who speak English as their second language must be enrolled in our Diploma Plus Program.
If a student’s written English skills are not sufficient for course work at CompuHigh, enrollment may be denied. If student has already been enrolled, CompuHigh administration may choose to cancel the enrollment within one month. In this case, a refund will be given minus a $125 processing fee.
Credits from schools outside of the United States will be considered for transfer to CompuHigh on a case by case basis. Transcripts sent to CompuHigh must be certified and translated into English. International NCAA students are required to have a credit by credit credetial evaluation completed by a company listed by www.naces.org
Students enrolling in individual courses will be required to enroll in the Indivdual PLUS program.
Upon completion of courses with CompuHigh, student will be responsible for extra fees involved with preparing and mailing documents to the student’s home nation. Costs to be paid by student include:

Payment to cover cost of using FedEx to have documents sent from WV Secretary of State to their Apostille ---they must provide this information.
Payment to cover cost of certifying the documents: The original document with proper official signature & seal. $10 for each certification required, unless the order includes multiple documents certified by the same public official. In that case the first document by certified by one official is $10, and all additional documents are $5 each

Student is responsible for providing the mailing information to receive his/her documents.
Additional requirements made by the student will be charged accordingly.

13. Tutor Policy

CompuHigh provides a teacher in each course. The teacher is there to help you understand the lessons and guide you to mastery of the course content. Still, some families have chosen to hire tutors not affiliated with CompuHigh. If you are working with a tutor on any of your CompuHigh classes, notify ‘Admin-Marianne’ through the link on your student desk.You are also required to inform your CompuHigh teacher and your guidance counselor that you are working with a tutor. In order for the tutor to be approved by CompuHigh, the student, parent, and tutor must all sign the “Statement of Understanding for Tutors.” Print out the letter for your tutor and the “Statement of Understanding” Return it with all 3 signatures to CompuHigh via mail, fax, or scan. Your tutor will not be approved until we receive this signed form. Failure to return the signed “Statement of Understanding” could result in being asked to take a proctored exam.

Here are some Do’s and Do Not’s of working with a Tutor:

Do ask your tutor to help you word more specific questions to your CompuHigh teacher.
Do ask your tutor to give you additional examples.
Do ask your tutor to explain concepts in different ways.
Do ask your tutor to help you identify appropriate resources where you can find information you need.
Do NOT ask your tutor for any form of help on any of the Review Lessons.
Do NOT ask your tutor to help you get the right answers in your assignments.

It is vitally important that your lesson assignments reflect your own independent work! CompuHigh’s is able to offer an accredited high school program without exams only if our students truly work through our unique mastery curriculum. If the assignments you submit reflect your tutor’s skill and knowledge more than your own, then our mastery system will not work as it should.

If your tutor has any questions, he or she may contact the office and speak to Jeannette by calling 1-866-859-0777 between 9am to 2pm EST.

If CompuHigh administration suspects that the work you submit is not your own, you may be required to take a proctored exam.

Here are the links you need:

14. NCAA Policies

No changes or modifications may be made to the course material or to the school's policies and procedures.
Student may designate one additional contact person, other than the parent or guardian, to receive information regarding the student. The student is to provide us with the person's name, email address, and telephone number on the enrollment form.
Courses may not be completed and given credit in less than 30 days from the date that the first lesson is submitted.
Student may submit no more than 2 posts per day in the course he or she is working on with CompuHigh. This may be 2 new lessons, 1 new lesson and 1 revision, or 2 revisions.
NCAA diploma students may take 4 core courses and 2 elective courses per year for a totla of 6 courses per year at the tuition cost. 2 additional courses can be transferred in, or paid for 'a la carte'. No more than 8 credits can be taken per year.
All course requirements/lessons must be completed and met before the student may take the proctored exam. Exams will not be provided if course work is still in progress.
The student will set up the exam date and time with the proctor and provide that information by writing to Proctored Exams from the student desk, so that the exam may be sent to the proctor in a timely fashion. The student must give at least a one week notice providing all required information. The proctored exam also cannot be taken after 4pm EST or over the weekend or holiday.
The student is to provide CompuHigh with the name of the proctor, the proctor's phone number, and email address. The proctor must be a professional such as a school teacher or librarian. The proctor may not be a coach (any coach--not just your coach), gym teacher (any gym teacher--not just your gym teacher), friend, family member, or tutor. This is an NCAA requirement.
The student is to provide a photo I.D. confirming his or her identity to the proctor as the student who will be completing the exam. A copy of the student's i.d. is to be returned with the exam for CompuHigh records
Once the student receives the exam from the proctor, he or she must complete it in black ink only. No outside sources may be used to assist the student in answering exam questions. This includes, but is not limited to, the internet, books, translators, calculators (unless otherwise specified), other people, computers. Scrap paper may be used by the student to work out problems.
The student is to complete the exam the same day it is administered. It may not take place over a series of days or over the weekend. It is to be returned to CompuHigh via fax no later than 4 pm EST time. The hard copy is mailed to the school. The student is to return the exam and all scrap paper used to the proctor. Please use the exam time wisely.
The proctor will be required to sign the proctor form, provide a photocopy of his or her I.D. and send it along with the student's exam and other documents to CompuHigh
A passing exam score is 60%. No credit is issued for the course if the student earns lower than a 60% on the exam. If the student passes the exam, the exam counts for 20% of the student's final grade for the course.
If a student does not pass a proctored exam, that course can be retaken one time for an additional fee. All of the student's coursework will be removed from the Student Desk, and students must do all of the course lessons. When the coursework has been completed, students must take another (different) proctored exam and pass with a 60% to earn credit for the class.

15. Adult Program

CompuHigh offers adults over the age of 18 the opportunity to enroll at the regular program tuition cost.
Adult students can complete up to 5 elective credits of 'Life Experience'. In order to complete Life Experience credits, adult students must complete the following:

Submit to the Life Experience teacher a proposal of the experience for which each credit is being requested.
Submit an essay for each credit being requested of no less than 700 words describing the experience and the skills learned from the experience.
Provide the date range and a contact person for each Life Experience activity
Attest that at least 180 hours per credit was spent on the Life Experience activity. Be able to provide verification upon request by the Life Experience teacher.