Frequently Asked Questions
There are a lot of questions that people have about the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School. Below, we will list some of the main ones we get asked. Hopefully it will help you understand how this all works...
Who can take Cyber School classes?
Our Cyber School can offer Saskatchewan credits to, literally, anyone in the world. Our online courses and classrooms allow students from remote locations, those with learning disabilities, students and adults that may not feel comfortable participating in face-to-face situations, those who need to fulfill other commitments during schools hours, and those who may not be able to attend classes because of physical problems, the opportunity to contribute actively in class discussions and complete courses.
Do we offer elementary classes online?
During the pandemic we offered elementary online education in real time (asynchronous) meaning that the teachers and students were online at the same time every day. Moving forward, we will only be offering grade four to eight elementary courses to students asynchronously, or on the students own time, where a student can work on their own time and on their own schedule. There is a teacher assigned to each class for students, but the education will not be in 'real time'. This allows for complete flexibility in programming for our elementary students.
How does Cyber School work?
Our school doesn't work on a semester time frame, which means that a student can register for a class at any time of the school year (Sept - June) and start their classes shortly after they sign up.
Students work entirely at their own pace according to their own individual schedule. Students have 150 days from the first day they have access to their course to finish approximately 100 hours of online content. All assignments, exams and finals are done online and can be done from where ever you have an internet connection. You can do the work in the middle of the night from anywhere in the world! Complete flexibility, 24/7!
What about July and August?
Students who have registered with us for a class during the school year will have a 'pause' placed on their course(s) for July and August. When the regular school year finishes at the end of June, the Cyber classes are unavailable until September, allowing the students to pick up exactly where they left off before the summer.
What if I want to take Cyber School classes over the summer?
We do offer all of our courses over the summer for students who want to complete a credit in July and August. The cost of the class is $400 and anyone can take it. Please refer to the Summer School section under "Our Programs" for more information.
Is online schooling more difficult than a classroom?
That depends... If you are a motivated learning who can work independently, it should be a great fit. There is a great deal of flexibility afforded to our online students, so it is important that they work hard even when no one is standing over their shoulder!
Is there help when needed?
Of course. There is an experienced online teacher assigned to every one of our classes. These teachers can be reached by telephone, voice mail, e-mail, instant messaging, internal course communication, and in some cases, Skype. All of our teachers regularly log in so you can expect an answer to any question you have in a timely manner.
One of the key aspects of online learning is consistent and quality time spent on the courses themselves. At the Cyber School, we have an Activity watch list which will flag any student who has gone 15 days or longer without logging in to their courses. Once placed on the Activity watch list a student is suspended from accessing their course and has to contact either their teacher or the Cyber School office in order to be reactivated in the class. If the student does not respond within the 7 days placement on the Activity watch list, they are required to drop the course and will be removed.
Repeated placements on the activity watch list may also result in the removal of the student from their course(s).
