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Summer 2024 High School Original Credit Briefing

MTDA Announcement

Summer 2024 High School Original Credit Briefing for
Counselors, Administrators, and Site Facilitators

Updated 02/01/2024

Notice to students and parents: This information is intended for distribution to public school districts and may contain details that do not apply to your local district’s program.  If you are interested in enrolling in courses with Montana Digital Academy, your first contact should be with the counseling department or administration of your local school to discuss what is available locally.

Montana Digital Academy is pleased to announce details about our Summer 2024 program for high school original credit.  If you intend to use the program, please take ten minutes and review the information below.  We encourage you to connect with MTDA staff right away if you have questions or unique situations you would like to discuss.

Notes:

  • This information is accurate at the time of publication.  We will make changes to this page as details change.

Cost-Sharing Statement

On June 14, 2021, the MTDA Governing Board exercised its authority granted by MCA 20-7-1202 to begin cost-sharing with districts. This applies to the MTDA original credit program. Before enrolling any student for the upcoming term, please review our information page regarding payment: link.

  • A PO number will be requested upon enrollment for billing.

Special Notes for Summer 2024

  • The MTDA Original Credit program is not intended to be a credit recovery program, and districts are advised against placing students in original credit programs if they aren’t able or willing to be active, independent participants in their MTDA courses.  If you are enrolling students who need additional adult assistance, you should have local adult resources available (tutors, facilitators, etc.) to provide extra support to high-need students.
  • A cost-sharing fee of $123 per course enrollment will be billed to the enrolling school.
  • Schools should take heightened notice of our entrance counseling forms, and vet students carefully to ensure that they have the appropriate access.  As a distance learning program, consistent Internet and computer access are a minimum requirement on the first day of the course.  We are not able to renegotiate summer program requirements due to a lack of consistent Internet access.
  • We are sensitive to the time-sensitive credit needs of some students, especially the Class of 2024 seniors.  We strongly recommend that local districts start to find low-tech alternatives for students who lack technical resources or opportunities due to their circumstances.

Summer 2024 Resource Kit

  • Summer 2024 academic calendar: link.
  • Summer 2024 entrance counseling form: link.
  • Summer 2024 parent checklist: link.  This is a newer resource for counselors and administrators discussing the summer program with parents.

Registration

  • Please review our student registration page for information on data collection, entrance counseling, and student registration for the Summer.  That page is located here: link.
  • Registration for Summer 2024 courses will be available on April 1, 2024.  We will enforce our “Initial Enrollment Request” deadline on June 7, 2024, to have sufficient time for teachers to prepare materials.  We will guarantee placement for students enrolled on or before this date but will not add new sections after.  This deadline covers both summer sessions.  Please plan your local enrollment around this deadline, as we can offer no flexibility on these dates.
  • Two classes per session are considered “full-time” during the summer session.  This is a firm limitation of the summer program.
  • Please use the enrollment counseling forms when enrolling students and give a copy of the form to the student after enrollment.  This form helps decrease confusion on behalf of the student and their parents and opens up communication lines.  Our enrollment counseling page is here: link.  A quotation from one of our experienced facilitators in a recent semester… “The entrance counseling tool is perfect for communicating requirements to students and parents!” The entrance counseling form is especially essential for the summer original credit program as students and parents often report to MTDA that they felt unprepared for and unaware of the intensity of the summer schedule.

Summer Program Best Practices

MTDA strongly recommends these best practices for a successful summer program:
  • Students participating in the summer program must express interest and motivation to complete the summer course.  To help conserve resources, MTDA asks that districts not place students into MTDA summer programs who aren’t interested in the program or supported either at school or home.  Please consider using tools like our student readiness survey to help determine if the student has enough support to succeed in an online course: link.  Students who are not up and running during the first three days of the class will be dropped, with no exceptions. There is no cost-sharing fee for students dropped during the initial drop period.  The summer original credit program is NOT a good fit for a student who is retaking a course.
  • Enrollment officials should consider the availability of computer access in the homes of students taking courses.  Students will need access to a computer for an average of 3-5 hours per course, per day, for original credit courses. We require that students secure multiple means of computer access as the lack of access will not modify course expectations or deadlines.
  • Due to the tight schedule of the summer session, students must start and stop courses on schedule.  Local assistance may be required to help guarantee student success.
  • Please be clear to students that this program is not designed to work around camps or vacations if the student cannot work in each course for 3-5 hours per day.  The significantly compressed schedule is not as forgiving as a typical semester format.

Important note for districts: Don’t hesitate to contact MTDA staff in Missoula if you want to walk through setting up a summer program for your students.  We would love to chat with you about what you can expect and what you might consider setting up locally to help your students succeed!

Program Information

Summer Course Availability

Session 1 (June 12, 2024, to July 16, 2024)

  • Algebra I A
  • American Government Full Year A
  • American Government Single Semester (single semester)
  • Biology A
  • Criminology (single semester)
  • Earth Science A
  • English III A
  • English IV A
  • Geometry A
  • Health (single semester)
  • Personal Finance (single semester)
  • US History A

Session 2 (July 17, 2024, to August 16, 2024)

  • Algebra I B
  • American Government Full Year B
  • Biology B
  • Digital Photography (single semester)
  • Earth Science B
  • English III B
  • English IV B
  • Geometry B
  • Sports Officiating (single semester)
  • US History B

Other Details

  • Our Summer 2024 Academic Calendar is located here: link.
  • Students will be expected to get started in courses per the MTDA calendar, even if your local school is still in session.  Starting a week or two late in the summer program is not an option due to the tight timelines.  Please discuss this with interested students before enrollment.
  • Our course catalog is located here: link.
  • The drop deadline for the summer program is June 13 (session 1) and July 18 (session 2).  We understand that most programs do not have summer staffing available to facilitate drops through our typical process.  We will attempt to connect with programs with staffing but will otherwise drop at student/parent request.