5. How it works

An online course uses the Internet to deliver course materials and allow communication between the teacher and student. Online courses use text, graphics, video clips, audio clips, animations, and interactive assessments. Communication between students, teachers and staff is done through messaging in our closed, secure platform.

AccelerateU has served thousands of students across New York State. Some take AP courses not offered locally, while others are trying to recover credit. Others take courses for convenience/scheduling purposes, and others are accelerating. Some districts enroll entire classes of students because of teacher shortages. Whatever your district's need, we would like to be part of the solution. 

Yes. All of our courses are led by NYS certified teachers, as per NYSED regulations. As with other asynchronous online programs, our teachers do NOT teach directly. Instead, students work independently, while teachers answer questions, suggest resources, provide supplements, grade assignments, and provide feedback.  Our online courses are NOT Zoom-based. 

The district is responsible for technical support to ensure that its devices can run AccelerateU courses. Most courses run on various devices including Chromebooks and iPads, while a few require actual Windows PC's or Apple Macintosh computers.

For second-tier tech support, students contact Mike Morone or Kelly Zimmerman, info can be found on the Contact Us Page

For academic support, students contact their online teachers.

For other support, students should contact their school - usually their counselor. 

Districts are required to designate a local advisor/coach. This individual is responsible for monitoring progress, and meets with online students regularly. This coach collaborates with AccelerateU teachers and staff to support the students' progress.

The more structure a district adds to the online experience, the more successful students will be. This structure can be in the form of scheduled times during the day, weekly check-ins, an active coach, peer groups, teacher assistant, and possibly a tutor or teacher to assist when necessary.

Districts are responsible for most IEP or 504 Plan modifications. 

A modern computer with updated plug-ins and a reliable Internet connection is required. Chrome is the preferred browser. Chromebooks work as well, but some courses require a Windows PC or Apple Macintosh.

We do NOT recommend smartphones to access course content. 

Students successfully completing an online course will get credit for the course. The credit awarded will be determined by the local school district. Each of our one-semester (20-week) courses is worth 0.5 credit.

Probably not, but it's appropriate for more students than you might think.

Students who are independent and self-motivated tend to do well in online courses.

Students with IEP's and/or 504 Plans also tend to do well because they are well-supported locally. 

To be successful, students need to work in their courses at least 3+ hours per week. For AP courses, students need to work in their courses at least 5-6+ hours per week.

If you have concerns about the potential success of a student, please contact us to discuss. We can provide course previews, conferences with online teachers, references, and readiness tools such as the following:

Virtual Virginia Readiness Questionnaire

Michigan Virtual Online Learning Readiness Rubric

Community College of Baltimore Online Learning Readiness Quiz

Los Angeles City College Online Learning Readiness Assessment

Penn State University Online Learning Readiness Questionnaire

We enroll students on a rolling basis, all year long.  Once enrolled, students have 20 weeks to complete their one-semester (0.5 credit) course. 

Course requests received in June are pushed to a July 1 start date.

Students have 20 weeks to complete a course. This can be flexible to align with district calendars.

With district approval, a four-week extension is available at no additional cost. 

Most of our online teachers teach during the day. They check email and respond to students at night and complete grading over the weekends. In most cases, teachers will respond within 24 hours. Students are encouraged to consult other resources and to move on in their courses while waiting for their teacher's response.