Frequently Asked Questions

Questions? You can learn more about our various programs by exploring our list of frequently asked questions.

What sets us apart

The foundation of a Sevenstar Education is built on intentionally crafted courses taught by solidly vetted instructors. But those courses are of little use if they aren’t accessible to the schools and homeschool families who need them. 

This is where Sevenstar shines. With experts trained to walk both schools and homeschoolers through the process, you can build a solid course structure that meets your unique needs and ensures a quality education for your students.

Course FAQ

Course development

We offer high-quality courses adopted from leading online course providers and release our courses to students only after carefully reviewing and modifying them to match our biblical integration standards. With few exceptions, every course we offer goes through the following process: initial planning, assessment, design and development, implementation, and final review.

We purchase our courses already developed from award-winning course developers like Florida Virtual School and eDynamic, who use sound pedagogy and learning theory to create online courses. Our team then carefully reviews and modifies the course material to match our biblical integration standards. We strive to design dynamic, engaging, and relevant courses for students; therefore, courses receive live updates as needed. New versions are released every 1-5 years depending on the need to revamp the scope and sequence, address learning activities, or stay aligned with appropriate national and state standards.

All of our core academic courses are currently approved by the NCAA and UC. Our AP courses are approved by College Board. Please review our course sheet to view specific course approvals.

Course Implementation

The majority of our courses do not require additional course materials. All course materials are available inside the course. English courses usually require students to secure novels that can be purchased or borrowed from the library. If a course requires an etextbook, software, or other devices (e.g., a camera for Digital Photography), that requirement will be included in the course description.

Course assignments are developed to engage students with the learning objectives through authentic and rigorous assessments such as homework assignments, quizzes, collaborative and individual projects, hands-on activities and labs, oral assessments, multimedia presentations, essays, research projects, discussions, live conversations with instructors, and cumulative exams.

Quizzes and tests draw from a large bank of questions. Each student’s assessment is unique in the sense that different questions from the question bank will appear, and similar questions will be ordered differently on each quiz or test. Instructors conduct discussion based assessments which are one-on-one conferences with each student prior to taking tests to confirm that students are ready for their exam and also that they are knowledgeable of the course materials. Instructors also use a plagiarism detection tool and look for content that appears to be copied and pasted from an online source. The integrity of semester exams is protected through the requirement of an exam proctor.

Yes, schools, families, and students with login credentials can view demo courses. Schools may share the demo course log in information with students and parents before they commit to the online course. Our demo courses are full versions of the course and include all videos, lessons, interactives, and project details minus the assessments.

Custom partners who use their own teachers to facilitate courses may reorganize, add to, or remove content of the online courses. Direct school partners cannot alter course content.

Sevenstar courses and grading are done by semester. Schools needing quarterly grades for report cards may either indicate “in progress” for online courses or use the student’s current grade in the course to put on their report cards.

Student Interactions

Students can begin courses each Monday. Students may work at an accelerated pace to complete a course early. The shortest time period permitted is 6 weeks for a 1 semester or 0.5 credit course and 12 weeks for a 2 semester or 1.0 credit course. Students must submit work every week of the minimum time requirement. If a shorter period is required, please contact us at to discuss your situation

Quizzes and module tests do not require a proctor. Only the semester exams are password-protected, and the instructor will email the exam code to the designated proctor.

Courses are available to students 24 hours a day once the course start date has arrived. Students may log into their courses to access materials and complete assignments. There are no live lectures or a specific webinar to attend. Students asynchronously complete their courses. Students may schedule an appointment with their instructor or email him/her at any time to ask questions or to get help with their assignments.

Some courses include video lessons and lectures. All courses require students to communicate with their instructor in a live, synchronous environment regularly throughout the semester, but there are no live sessions that students attend.

Course Options

Yes, we offer credit recovery options for many high school core academic course titles. These courses are for students that have already completed the course and have either failed the course or want to earn a better grade. The specific course titles are noted on our course offering sheet. Credit recovery courses run for 10 weeks and are NOT eligible for NCAA approval.

We offer core academic courses for K – 12th grade, electives, Bible courses, world languages, credit recovery courses, honors courses, AP® courses, and dual credit with partnering Christian universities.

Yes, all 1-credit courses can also be purchased just for semester 1 or semester 2.

Schools will order the dual credit courses through Sevenstar, and we take care of the details of working with the partnering universities. All coursework for dual credit is completed on the university’s technology platforms, not Sevenstar’s, so schools cannot view students’ courses and grades or monitor progress in the SIS and LMS for these courses. When the course is complete, the student will receive their final grade from the university for the college credit, and Sevenstar can issue the high school credit on a transcript.

Instructor FAQ

Instructor Qualification

Yes, all of our instructors are subject-certified for the courses they teach.

Our instructors all profess faith in Christ and agree to abide by our doctrinal statement.

When using your own teachers to facilitate courses, your school will determine the acceptance criteria for your teachers. Sevenstar is not involved in this process.

Sevenstar instructors receive oversight from our Instructional Services Specialist. They have monthly meetings for professional development, and virtual walkthroughs are periodically conducted to assess how the instructors are facilitating courses.

Instructor Roles

Before the course begins, students receive a welcome email from their instructor with important information about the course, contact information, and how to schedule appointments online. Students must schedule a welcome call (by phone or video conference) within the first two weeks of the course to speak with the instructor. Throughout the duration of the course, instructors will conduct one-on-one conferences to discuss the course material, to answer questions, provide feedback on assignments and to help students prepare for exams.

Sevenstar instructors grade student assignments, provide feedback, and answer student questions to succeed in their courses. Instructors reply to student emails within 24 hours, and submitted assignments will be graded within 48 hours (not including weekends or holidays as noted in our policies). Unlike in a traditional classroom, our online instructors do not lecture, and there is no live classroom component.

The contracted instructor is not the lecturer or tutor, but they answer questions for the students. Also, the instructor grades assignments and gives constructive feedback to each student. Instructors provide students with office hour information, and students may schedule phone calls or online meetings with their instructors. Our instructors are eager to connect with your students and facilitate their learning. Instructors will have at least two personal communications per month with students. For this to happen, students must be proactive and responsive to instructor inquiries.

Instructor Options

Yes, custom partners have the option to use their own teachers to facilitate courses. Direct partners must use Sevenstar instructors.

Your school is responsible for hiring and paying your teachers to facilitate Sevenstar courses. Using your own teachers affords a $100 tuition reduction for 0.5-credit courses and a $200 reduction for 1-credit courses.

Program FAQ

Technology

Our learning management system (LMS) is Buzz, provided by Agilix.

When you create the student’s account in the SIS, you’ll designate one parent/guardian to have a SIS account that allows them to view their student’s grades and progress. Parents do not have access to the LMS, but they can view their child’s gradebook through their child’s account.

Students will need to be able to access their online courses using a computer or mobile device. You may require students to use the school’s equipment or to provide their own. Students who will use the school’s equipment may need to have their device configured to allow access to some course materials and emails added to the whitelist to permit communication with course instructors and/or our enrollment team. If students are on campus, your school will need to consider where students will be working while online and sufficient bandwidth to cover the increased use of internet access during high volume times.

To be successful with our online courses, students should have a computer or mobile device with a high-speed internet connection. We highly recommend that students maintain a direct connection and not use WIFI during quizzes or semester exams. Students should have the ability to save work to a local or cloud storage and have a minimum operating system of iOS 6 or greater, Andriod 2.2 (Froyo) or greater, Windows Phone 7.5 or greater. 

Branding

Custom partners can brand our SIS with their school’s name and logo. Direct partners will have the Sevenstar name and logo appear on the SIS.

Custom partners go through a personalized series of onboarding meetings and training with our School Services Specialist. These meetings are conducted through an online conferencing platform that allows for video and screen sharing. Direct partners receive a welcome email with training videos and resources, along with an open invitation for personal one-on-one training sessions if desired.

Student Support

Our School Services Specialist is available to meet to discuss program goals, needs, ideas, or changes. If staff members involved with managing your online program leave your school and you hire new staff, we can help you by training the new staff members as well.

If you need an additional person at your school to be able to add students to the system, order courses, pay for courses, or monitor student progress, you can complete a form to request that a SIS account be set up for that person.

If your school is not accredited or does not currently have a high school but would like to offer an online high school option, your students can earn an accredited high school diploma through our Sevenstar Academy while still attending your school and working in their online courses on your campus.

When a Sevenstar course with a Sevenstar instructor is completed by a student, the school will receive an email with a grade report for the course. Your school can take the grade and manually add it to your own school’s SIS, report cards, and transcripts. Families may request an official transcript for completed courses at any time.

Whether in the U.S. or abroad, students can work in Sevenstar courses. To be successful, these students must possess English proficiency and have unhindered access to a secure internet connection.

AP® exams are completely separate from the AP® courses that Sevenstar offers. Schools need to make their own testing arrangements for students who desire to take the AP® exam. Sevenstar does not coordinate or set up AP® exam testing locations for students.

We’re happy to speak with you to learn more about your school, your students, your goals, and your needs. Please contact , and we can discuss which option would best serve you.

Financial FAQ

Please contact , and we can discuss which option would best serve you.

Please view our refund policy that is located on the School Pricing document and Course Tuition and Fees document.

Schools can pay for student registration and tuition by credit card through the SIS, by check, or by setting up a FACTS payment plan.

Using your own teachers to facilitate courses affords a $100 reduction in tuition for 0.5-credit courses and a $200 reduction in tuition for 1-credit courses. There is a fee of $125 per teacher that includes the necessary technology setup in our systems and training from a Sevenstar mentor teacher. This is a one-time fee per teacher, regardless of how many courses or subjects they teach. This fee is not transferable to other teachers.

Yes, we are happy to provide course extensions free of charge within the parameters of our enrollment policies (6-month maximum for a 0.5-credit course and 12-month maximum for a 1-credit course).