Schoolwide Policies
This article outlines policies that relate to all students at Kolbe Academy in all formats.
Schoolwide Communication Expectations
Parent Responsibilities
Kolbe Academy is in partnership with families to educate the students enrolled in our
program. This partnership relies on parents taking an active role in the student’s formation. Parents are essential to the success of the program as this program was designed with the understanding that parents are the first educators of their children and the hero of their child’s formative journey to salvation.
Educating a student at Kolbe Academy is founded on a strong relationship between the parents and the school. The parents always have a right to withdraw their child. The school also holds the right to require the withdrawal of a student if the administration has determined that the parent-school relationship is beyond repair.
Here are ways to ensure the partnership remains intact:
Maintain up to date contact information.
Note: Kolbe is only permitted to share student information with those listed as a contact on file with us. If you need to update contact information, the primary contact should reach out to customer service.
Respond to school communications in a timely manner (24-48 hours, on business days).
Keep feedback focused on academics or professional matters and deliver with respect and charity.
Provide the level of facilitation for student success in your chosen course format.
Review feedback with your child
Provide support on self-graded assignments
Proctor exams
Assist in at-home organization and requirements
If further support is needed for your student, enroll in support programming such as:
Accountability
Tutoring
Content Labs
Resource Labs (when applicable)
See our Help Center article for more information on course format specific parent expectations.
Faculty & Staff Responsibilities
Kolbe Academy is committed to providing ongoing training and professional development for all faculty and staff. Our managers and department chairs conduct evaluations, give constructive feedback, and encourage collaboration and continued growth.
Kolbe employees are expected to uphold the same timely communication expectations as our parents (24-48 hours on business days).
Class Cancellations & Substitute Teachers
Kolbe Academy prioritizes consistency and uninterrupted learning for online students and recognizes the need to have qualified teachers provide instruction for students.
In the event that a teacher has a planned absence or last-minute family emergency or illness, best efforts will be made to place a qualified substitute in the class. If a qualified substitute teacher cannot be placed, the teacher is required to reschedule live class during normal school hours (Mon-Fri) as soon as it is feasible. Students not able to make the rescheduled class can watch the recording. In some circumstances, the teacher may be given permission to post a recording on the day of live class if no other option is feasible.
Please note for asynchronous courses, not all courses will have the same instructor for recorded content and course execution.
Contacting Course Instructors
Teachers should only be contacted during the normal course term for which your child is enrolled. Teachers are not expected to check email during the months when classes are not in session. Families should contact Kolbe Academy Staff or Administration for all issues not pertaining to a current course in progress.
Teacher Office Hours
Students may request office hours with their teacher on an individual basis. Teachers are required to offer that office hour to the entire class. Students who need repeated individual support from a teacher may be referred to tutoring.
Student E-mail Policy
Kolbe Academy provides students with a MyKolbe email address. Students are required to correspond with all Kolbe Academy faculty and staff using their MyKolbe.org email address. While online K-5 students are given a MyKolbe account, they are not given access to send and receive emails.
Kolbe Academy takes student privacy very seriously. Our email security policy is intended to protect students. As such, our rules will block all inbound and outbound email from external domains that are not on a Kolbe approved list. MyKolbe email addresses are to be used for school and educational purposes only. As such, students are only allowed to communicate with the following:
Parent email address(es) on file
Primary educator email address on file
Kolbe Academy administrative and support staff
Teachers regarding schoolwork
Other Kolbe online students regarding school related matters
Other educational institutions (.edu email addresses)
Kolbe approved domains (i.e., Schoology, Sadlier-Oxford, etc.)
Students are not allowed to use their email addresses for the following:
Correspondence with external email addresses other than parent email address(es) on file
Registration for services or subscriptions for personal use unless school related
Additionally, the following precautions have been taken:
Email filters will notify admins of things including profanity, malicious files, or other inappropriate content.
Copies of all incoming emails received at a MyKolbe email account will be forwarded to the parent email address on file.
MyKolbe emails are the property of Kolbe Academy and may be monitored by our admins at any time. Students should not expect email privacy when utilizing their MyKolbe email account.
We strongly discourage students from using their MyKolbe email address during college application processes as students will lose email access after they graduate from Kolbe.
Schoolwide Student Behavioral Expectations
Schoology Profile Requirements
The purpose of Schoology profiles is to allow students to provide other students with general information about who they are, what their interests are, etc., in order to foster community among students. Students should be conscientious about appropriate verbiage on their profiles and should be sure not to include lengthy diatribes on divisive matters. Students should be conscious of being responsible digital citizens.
Students should ensure that Schoology profiles include things such as a brief bio and summary of interests, hobbies, sports, favorite books, societies, etc., and do not include the following content:
Hyperlinks or instructions on how to access online content (e.g., sharing social media handles)
Links to other student profiles
Quotations from teachers that paint them in a negative light
Lengthy explanations of positions on divisive matters
Negative references to other students
Rating other students
Any other information that Kolbe deems to undermine the stated purpose of Schoology profiles
Personal information such as: date of birth, phone number, personal email address, street address
Any profiles that include prohibited content may be revised by Kolbe and locked.
Profile Picture Requirements
1. Profile pictures must be yearbook style, meaning an up-close, "professional" style picture of yourself (usually shoulders and above).
2. Group pictures, silly faces, memes, pictures of others, etc. are not allowed.
Microphone & Webcam Requirement
When participating in live sessions, students will frequently be asked to go on microphone and webcam and need to be prepared to do so. Not all class activities involving webcams or microphones will be announced, so students should always come prepared to participate on webcam or microphone during live sessions.
See our Help Center article on succeeding in online courses for more microphone and webcam recommendations and requirements.
Dress Code
Remember you should always come to class prepared to be on webcam. The dress code for being on webcam is as follows:
No pajamas
No sunglasses
No low-cut shirts or blouses
No spaghetti straps
Any clothing items that appear on webcam may not display images, logos, or writing that would pose a distraction to others in the online learning environment. Kolbe Academy spirit wear is welcomed and encouraged!
Student Etiquette Expectations
Students are expected to be true to our Catholic faith and Kolbe’s mission during live sessions. Should a student deviate from this, he or she may be removed from the live session by the teacher. Students removed from class may need a parent phone call with the Dean of Students before returning, depending on the infraction. A student who is removed repeatedly from live sessions may end up with a live class suspension or expulsion from Kolbe. Situations that can lead to a student’s removal from a live session include but are not limited to:
Frequently coming to class unprepared or without required materials
Persistent unresolved technology disruptions
Spamming of off-topic conversations in the chat box
Lack of participation when called on
Being disrespectful to the teacher or fellow students
Using inappropriate, vulgar, or violent language or gestures
Use of inappropriate, vulgar, or violent symbols or pictures
Inappropriate dress or gestures while on webcam
Parent interference - parental involvement beyond basic observation or assistance with tech issues
Live Session Privacy Policy
All live classes and sessions are recorded per Kolbe Academy policy. Students are prohibited from recording video or audio of live class. Class recordings in whole or in part may not be used in any way by an individual without expressed, written permission from Kolbe Academy. Kolbe Academy has the right to use class recordings for training purposes, as well as to help prospective families understand live class methods. Any recording used for marketing purposes will have the students’ names and/or faces removed for privacy.
Students may take screenshots of live class for their own personal use, but no images or recordings of live classes may be posted on any platforms including Schoology profiles or other social outlets.
Please note a student may be removed from a course as the result of disciplinary action as determined by Kolbe administration.
Bullying
Cyber-bullying is the use of electronic information and communication devices to harm a person through the medium of electronic text, photos, or videos. Examples of this behavior include but are not limited to:
Sending unwanted texts or emails.
Sending inappropriate, false, or vicious texts or emails.
Creating profiles or websites that have stories, cartoons, pictures, and jokes ridiculing others.
Hacking into an email account and sending vicious or embarrassing materials to others.
Engaging someone in electronic communication, tricking that person into revealing sensitive personal information, and forwarding that information to others.
Posting of a student picture without their permission.
Kolbe Academy has the authority to apply reasonable consequences or disciplinary action to a student:
Who bullies another student within Kolbe’s school infrastructure related to classes or school sponsored activities.
Who bullies another student outside of Kolbe’s infrastructure if the conduct interferes with a student’s educational opportunities, creates a hostile environment for that student, or substantially disrupts the orderly operations of Kolbe Academy.
Academic Honesty Policy
All students are expected to behave with integrity and honesty as members of the Kolbe Academy learning community, including and especially when it comes to academics. Plagiarism and cheating are contrary to virtue and counterproductive to the aims of education, so students must always produce and submit work that is original to their own learning and achievement from minor homework assignments to major papers and exams.
A student has behaved with integrity when he or she:
Completes homework using assigned course materials unless otherwise directed by the instructor and does not allow it to be copied by other students.
Completes assessments such as quizzes, tests, and exams without using course or online materials or resources, unless otherwise directed to do so by the instructor, and does not reveal the substance of the assessments to other students.
Submits written works such as lab reports and papers that are original to the student and acknowledges other contributors through proper citation of sources.
A student has behaved without integrity if he or she has engaged in:
Plagiarism – submitting written work that is not original to the student, that has been copied from other sources, or that intentionally omits proper citation for another’s ideas or writing or fabricates sources for another’s ideas or writing.
Cheating – using unauthorized resources, such as notes, books, internet sources, another person’s work, artificial intelligence writers (e.g., ChatGPT), online equation solvers, online language translators, etc., to complete homework, quizzes, tests, exams, and papers, unless otherwise directed to do so by the instructor, or gaining access to assessment materials or contents prior to the time authorized by the instructor.
Supporting Dishonesty – encouraging, supporting, or helping other students to engage in the forms of academic dishonesty described above, such as sharing answer keys for homework or assessments, sharing Schoology login information to allow access to graded assessments, or sharing written work to allow a classmate to submit as his or her own work.
Academic Honesty Disciplinary Measures for Grades 3-12
Kolbe Academy teachers, administrators, and staff operate on the assumption that each of our students will behave with integrity as virtuous members of the learning community. However, we also know there are occasions when a student will give in to the temptation to cheat. Teachers may make use of plagiarism and artificial intelligence detection programs as tools to evaluate students' work, and Kolbe Academy staff will occasionally screen whole classes' worth of papers in an effort to deter and detect cheating across the institution. When a student has been suspected of violating Kolbe’s Academic Honesty policy, an investigation is conducted by the instructor under consultation with the Team Lead or Department Chair and an Academic Dean.
Students who have been found to have violated Kolbe’s Academic Honesty policy may face one or more of the following consequences, depending on the particular circumstances of the infraction:
Meeting with Kolbe administrators and/or the instructor
Re-do of the Academic Honesty module
Academic Probation
Re-do of the assignment or assessment in question, with or without penalties to the grade
Loss of financial aid
Withdrawal from the course
Expulsion from Kolbe Academy
Note that the severity of consequences will increase with each infraction. For students in grades 3-8, infractions accumulate within a given academic year but reset at the start of each year. For students in grades 9-12, infractions accumulate across years—they do not reset at the start of each year.
Proctoring (K-12)
Proctoring is defined as a parent or guardian (college-age sibling is acceptable) physically checking in on the student while an exam is being taken to help deter the student from the temptation of academic dishonesty. The proctor should be present in the student’s home and be aware of all honesty statements that the student and/or proctor must sign at the beginning or end of the exam. The proctor should be aware of whether an exam is open book or if any outside resources are allowed by the teacher. While the proctor is not required to sit next to or be in the same room as the student during the entirety of the exam, periodic physical check-ins while the student is taking the exam are required.