Frequently Asked Questions

All of our courses are asynchronous, student-led classes. These asynchronous classes will be facilitated by teachers and students may arrange live meetings or email for help as needed.

Students may work on their classes anywhere there is wi-fi as long as they are located within the United States. Access is blocked to Gilbert Public Schools systems outside of the country. 

Prior to receiving classes, students will be required to complete a 30-45 minute orientation course within Buzz, our learning management system. This course will cover the basics of online learning, how to navigate our courses, the basics of submitting attendance, and more!
In order to stay up-to-date with any updates or changes to our courses and systems, students will be required to take this orientation course once each school year. 

Additionally, all new full time Global students will meet with their counselor prior to getting started.  She will do a live overview of how to access our systems and the most important items for online students.

Full-time students:

After students complete the Online Enrollment process, all applications will be reviewed for acceptance to Global Academy. Once students are notified of being accepted into our program, and the enrollment process is completed, students will meet with their Global Academy counselor to design their academic plan. As part of this planning process students will prioritize which courses they want to take, including deciding whether to take on-level or honors classes or if credit-recovery classes are needed. Once the Orientation course and all required forms are complete, students will be immediately scheduled into their first 5-6 courses. 

Concurrently-Enrolled students:

As part of the concurrent enrollment process, students and parents will be sent a link to request the class(es) they wish to take. These requests will be sent to their counselor at their home school who will review and make any adjustments needed. Once students complete their orientation course and any needed paperwork/forms, their course will be scheduled at the beginning of the next enrollment period, which take place every two weeks throughout the year.
 

Junior high and high school students are given a maximum of 18 weeks (which includes holidays and school breaks) to complete each semester class. Students work at their own pace and may finish sooner if they wish, with many finishing in 9-12 weeks. All students are required to work for an average of 5 hours per week and make about 5% progress, per class. However, students may choose when and where (in the United States) they would like to complete their work each week.

 Attendance for online classes (this part is all new for 24-25, so if you've been a student with Global before, please notice these changes!):

This is the biggest change this year, and while it will require a little bit different type of attention, we hope that you find it easier to manage throughout the year.

Unlike in the previous couple of years, there will be NO ATTENDANCE BUTTONS or activities embedded in your classes. We know this was a big pain for some of you, but it was the best way we had to report to the State that you were part of Global, so that we could get funded to pay for Buzz, for teachers, and for all that goes into supporting your learning. However, as a program, we will shift into a new direction.

There are three components to maintaining attendance and enrollment at Global:

1. Logging into Buzz every school day: Students will be required to log into Buzz at least once every regular school day by 11:59 pm to register attendance. You can do this from your phone, Chromebook, or computer pretty quickly.
   👉You may still make your own schedule throughout the week for your learning, but we need you to at least log in to Buzz on every regular school days for just a couple seconds so we can report you are part of our flexible learning program. It's a little wave hello to us that let's us know you are still with us.
   👉At noon, students who have not logged in to Buzz yet will get a reminder email (parents get it too) that you will need to do so by 11:59 pm.
   👉 For FULL TIME Global Academy students: at 4 pm the attendance auto-dialer will phone and email parents to let them know an unexcused absence has been recorded, but it will automatically be removed if you login by 11:59 pm.
   👉For CONCURRENT Global Academy students: at 7 am the following day, parents will be notified via email that an unexcused absence was recorded, if you did not log in by 11:59 the previous day.
   👉 To excuse an absence after it is recorded, or ahead of time-- especially if you know you'll need to be away from your computer on certain dates-- parents may do so 24 hours a day through the Infinite Campus parent portal (super easy!), but they may call in to your brick-and-mortar school's attendance office if they wish as well. If you get stuck and aren't sure what to do, are team at GAonline@gilbertschools.net is happy to help!
2. Working 5 hours per week per course: Working in an online class takes dedication and motivation. While we know each student has different responsibilities and availability, to stay enrolled at Global you'll need to be consistently working in each class each week. You can balance that however you like throughout the week, but staying committed to this time is important.
3. Maintaining adequate progress in your courses-- about 5% per week. We will be uploading course progress regularly as documentation that students are making adequate progress In order to finish on time and demonstrate that you are actively participating in our flexible learning program.

The maximum course length we provide is 18 weeks, and students are provided with this amount of time when they begin their class. A 1-week extension will be considered if highly extenuating circumstances exist.

At the end of each semester course,  7th-12th grade students will be required to take and pass a final exam. These exams are taken in-person at the GPS Global Academy campus and cover all of the standards learned in the course.

The prerequisites and requirements for taking the final exam are detailed in our final exam policy.

All students are required to use an internet-connected personal computer or Chromebook. We do not support mobile phones or tablets. We very highly recommend that students use the Google Chrome browser to ensure all features work properly.

GPS Global Academy will check out Chromebooks to students upon request, or students may use their personal PC if they prefer.

Click for information about the Chromebook check-out policy and procedure.

Parents can access Buzz via their Infinite Campus parent portal. Click to view the instructions. 

In credit recovery courses, students take a pre-test at the beginning of each unit. Depending on their pre-test result, the student may be exempted from some lessons covering content they already have mastered.

Credit recovery classes are only available to students who have previously failed an original credit course. When students finish, their original grade on their transcript is replaced with an X and the credit recovery class grade is posted. Thus, the final transcript will reflect that the student completed this version of the course.

Instead of credit recovery, students do have the option to retake the original course they failed. Upon completion, the lesser grade on the transcript will be completely replaced with the higher grade.

All GPS Global Academy students must participate in state and district assessments. Participation in these exams is a condition of enrollment (as detailed in state law), and students who do not participate may be subject to withdrawal from our school.

These assessments provide parents and teachers with valuable information about student's learning and some even provide opportunities for college scholarships!

Students will participate in district benchmarks online, from home. All state assessments, including the required Civics Exam, must be taken on-site at the GPS Global Academy campus.

Yes! Students may simultaneously attend the East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) while taking classes through GPS Global Academy. Transportation is provided through our district high schools.