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Chapter 1: A brief overview
Services included in your enrollment
HLA provides record-keeping, counselling services, issuance of Transcripts and Diplomas upon credit completion according to HLA’s graduation guidelines, as well as completing any other documentation needed to verify these documents such as legalization, apostilles, or otherwise.
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Kairos Academy SA provides the following additional support to our enrolled families:
• Facilitation of your family’s initial enrollment as well as the annual re-enrollment(s). • A complementary planner with step-by-step home education guidance (this Blue Book). • Reporting / documentation reminders. • Coordination of shipping of group member documents from HLA in the US (i.e. Diplomas). • Various communication and community engagement platforms. • Priority support to you as a Kairos family for our additional service offerings.
Kairos’ further services offerings
We WANT YOU to succeed in your home education journey! As such, we are continuing to offer the following supportive services to our Kairos families. Note that these are excluded from your enrollment / re-enrollment fees, and are available at your initiation / request (see Appendix A: Kairos Academy SA’s further service offerings 2022 for details):
• Education consultations. • Compilation / updating and execution support of your student’s graduation plan. • Document management support. • Kairos Youth (our The President's Award youth group for 14-19 year old students). • Specific course / webinar / workshop offerings.
Grades R-12 solution
Graduation framework
Freedom and flexibility of choice
Subject presentation format
Online recordkeeping
Access to support
Community
•Cost effective with mastery based outcome •Suitable for @home or @school
•Locally and internationally recognised American HS Diploma •Well established (since 2003)
•You choose which educational philosophy, subjects, subject resources, assessment methodology, and calendar to apply
•You choose best format per subject for your student: in-person, online, blended, and/or independent
•Secure •User-friendly platform
•International and local counsellors •Additional supporting services and discounts offered
•Knowledge sharing groups and platforms •Kairos Youth (our President’s Award Unit for our 14-19 year olds)
Kairos Academy SA
• Based in Vanderbijlpark and established in 2013. • Provides educational guidance and administrative services. • Partnered with HLA in 2020 to offer discounted and local access to a Gr R-12 education solution culminating in the American HS
Diploma. • Kairos Youth (our The President’s Award unit) active since 2017. • Assisted more than 145 families with a 3-5 year Graduation Plan to date.
Our Kairos families
• Diverse, dedicated, and focussed. • Students range in age from 4 to 19 years. • Flexible place of study, educational material, and academic calendar. • More than 300 students distributed across SA (and abroad). • Class of 2022 Gr 12s: 9 students.
Our education partner: HLA
• Based in Jackson, Tennessee, USA and established in 2003. • More than 41,000 students from 108+ countries (7,500+ students abroad). • Graduated more than 1,900 students in 2022. • Widely recognized and applied American HS Diploma. • Locally recognized by our SA Matriculation Board (USAf) for university exemption.
The American High School Diploma is the North American academic school leaving qualification of choice which is both locally and internationally recognized. Our solution provides a flexible, affordable and supportive pathway for Gr R12 students towards HLA’s Diploma. Our graduation requirements define the completion of 22 high school (Gr 9-12) subjects (credits), and are governed by the:
Applicable US State’s Education Department (in our case: Tennessee (Appendix F: HLA’s school statusF). Academy’s additional accreditation bodies and own requirements (HLA is an ASCI member). SA’s Matriculation Board (USAf) for SA (mostly public) university exemption and application. SAQA for a high school equivalency certificate where needed. Standardized tests as required by your tertiary institution of choice for admission purposes.
Our flexible, affordable and supportive Gr R-12 pathway is offered through our affiliation and partnership with HomeLife Academy Global (HLA). Our Diploma is often best understood by comparing it with the SA CAPS:
Criteria The SA CAPS
What is it? The National Senior Certificate is South Africa’s school-leaving certificate
Governing body The Department of Basic Education (DBE) with Umalusi
Minimum requirements Subjects: at least 7 subjects for Gr 10-12, including per year: • 2 official South African languages • Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy • Life Orientation • 3 Electives
Pass grade: 30-40% for standardized Gr 12 Exam subjects Matriculation offered on 4 levels (Bachelors NSC Pass) • Standardized Gr 12 exams • NBT might be required for local university admission • SAT might be required for international university admission For local tertiary study, a matriculation Certification issued by Umalusi with specific pass rates for: • Higher Certificate • Diploma • Bachelor’s Degree
Our American High School Diploma
It is a North American academic school leaving qualification of choice awarded upon high school graduation Tennessee’s Education Department + the Diploma’s recognition with various accreditation bodies + the DBE with the SA’s Matriculation Board for SA university exemption / SAQA for NQF equivalency Subjects: typically 6-8 subjects per annum during Gr 9-12 with a specified minimum number of credits per subject: • 4 English • 4 Math • 3 Sciences • 3 Social Studies • 1 Physical Education • 0.5 Health & 0.5 Personal Finance • 6 Electives Pass grade: 60% per subject from Gr 9-12
7 matriculation routes offered
• No standardized testing for graduation required • NBT might be required for local university admission • SAT might be required for local / international university admission Matriculation Diploma issued by HLA with Tennessee’s Education Department For local tertiary study: • SA’s Matriculation Board for your foreign
‘Exemption Letter’ or • SAQA for your NQF 4 ‘Equivalency Certificate’
Our education solution is built on trust, relationship, and support. Various quality controls are in place – not to restrict your freedom and flexibility, but with the aim to support and ensure a high quality and trustworthy outcome. These include:
All new families commit themselves to HLA’s Code of Ethics when enrolling for our Gr R-12 education solution.
The student’s education plan and grades are captured onto our secure and user-friendly record keeping system.
Past high school records (either from a public, private or homeschool) is uploaded by HLA following our evaluation.
HLA counsellors provide guidance and perform annual transcript reviews of our high school students’ records.
The student’s GPA is typically validated by the results of the College Entrance Exams.
HLA as an internationally recognized service provider issues the student’s transcript and Diploma.
Our Legal Framework
When you enrolled with Kairos Academy SA and our partner HLA, you agreed to uphold HLA's Code of Ethics, as well as legal and other requirements:
HLA’s Code of Ethics for students and parent-teachers
Since 2003, HLA has worked to build a reputation to place students in universities throughout the world. HomeLife Academy’s program is geared toward student success and we have developed processes to ensure academic placement within these post-secondary institutions. HLA reserves the right to require a specific academic curricula if the student is not scheduled to graduate on time or if there are disciplinary, academic, or legal issues with the students.
All students and parent-teachers of HLA are required to uphold the Code of Ethicsii . HLA’s foundation is built on trust and relationship with our families, and the HLA staff are here to support you on your homeschooling journey. This requires honesty, commitment, and communication.
HomeLife Academy reserves the right to dismiss a family for personal and/or academic misconduct that takes place either inside or outside of the teaching home at our discretion. Fees will not be refunded.
If HLA is given reason to suspect educational neglect or that a student’s grades or records have been falsified, HLA reserves the right to evaluate the situation and/or require students to complete end-of-course exams or other testing to validate grades and/or credits earned. Specifically:
• Any activity which compromises the academic integrity of HomeLife Academy and undermines the education process will not be tolerated and will be grounds for dismissal. This sort of academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, unauthorized use of resources, violation of published academic regulations, and facilitating academic dishonesty. Educational neglect or falsifying student’s grades or records will be grounds for dismissal. • Physical or verbal threats, abuse, and/or bullying of HLA staff will be grounds for dismissal. This includes hateful speech, cursing, yelling, accusations and/or being generally uncooperative or argumentative. HLA staff are here to serve our families and as such should be treated with respect. • Conviction for violating Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, or Colorado criminal codes or those of your residential jurisdiction will be grounds for dismissal.
HLA’s bylaws and policy, as prescribed by our Board of Directors, restricts the enrollment of students where the following applies: truancy, suspension, expulsion, and misdemeanours. HLA reserves the right to deny enrollment or may place your student in our Archway Program with conditional enrollment and requirements if any of these apply.
Legal & other requirements
In addition to the above, further requirements which apply include:
National, provincial and local laws
Homeschooling (or home education) is legal in South Africaiii. Our legislation provides the framework from which you should operate. Please reflect on Pestalozzi Trust's Legal Considerations for further details an ensure compliance.
Being enrolled with Kairos Academy & HLA does not exempt your family from any national, provincial or local laws that impacts your homeschooling. Neither Kairos Academy SA nor HLA is responsible to cover you legally or is liable if you choose to homeschool where homeschooling is considered illegal.
Neither Kairos Academy SA nor HLA will be held liable or at fault for any laws or other issues resulting from information not provided by the parents to Kairos Academy/HLA or obtained by the parents for their understanding.
Tertiary institution's requirements
We established a good standing with SA’s Matriculation Board (USAf), and the HLA Diploma is considered for USAf exemption. Furthermore, evaluation of and engagement with various SA tertiary institutions have indicated that they make provision for the American High School Diploma as an international qualification.
It remains your responsibility to check with your intended tertiary institution / workplace of choice as to whether they will accept any or all of the HLA documents as completion of education for purposes of furthering education or graduation from the high school level.
Academic calendar
It is your responsibility as parents to take note of and apply the HLA reporting and re-enrollment dates and deadlines.
Parents understand that re-enrollment must happen each year by January 15 (Alpha group) or August 15 (US calendar group), and parents must notify the Kairos Administrator if they do not plan to re-enroll with the group for the new school year.
The grades & attendance of your family’s students are due to HLA twice (2 times) a year. It is your responsibility to ensure that these are submitted annually via your student’s education plans (on Applecore) by January 15th and June 15th.
Transfer student’s records
It is your responsibility to obtain your student(s) past high school (Gr 9-11) education records and provide them to the Kairos Administrator who will then evaluate before forwarding it to HLA for evaluation and transfer to the HLA Diploma.
HLA has the right to determine which credits will count toward HLA’s graduation requirements when transferring from another school.
HLA is for families who intend to home-educate through graduation. If your child chooses to transfer to a public or private school, that school may require placement tests to determine the student’s grade placement and may or may not accept all credits completed while homeschooling.
Record management
Parents are responsible for: • The child’s education but may hire tutors or participate in co-ops, tutorials, etc. as needed.
• Ensuring that the student is on track for graduation. A HLA counsellor will complete an annual high school transcript review for Gr 9-12 to assist. It is the parent’s responsibility to check the review for accuracy and that all necessary changes and corrections are made to the student’s plan. An additional Transcript Review can be requested at an additional fee. • Reading the high school information on the HLA website and complete the High School Planning Sheet for all your high school students. • Keeping all information in their account up to date (especially email address) and read all emails and broadcast information from HLA and Kairos in order to keep current with important information.
Students must complete the minimum graduation requirements in order to be awarded an HLA diploma.
HLA does not: • Require annual standardized achievement testing and therefore does not offer annual standardized achievement testing. • Provide curriculum or assignments, and parents are responsible for locating and ordering curriculum resources.
HLA Global staff will work throughout the year to make sure that high school students are on target to graduate. If, during the process of evaluating the student’s transcript, we see that the transcript is missing courses or grades, we will put the student’s records on hold.
Failure to stay current with high school reporting can result in delays with transcripts, graduation, diplomas or other official documents.
Fees
Our fee structure was outlined in our enrollment form and in Appendix A for additional services. Thank you for your prompt payment of invoices. Please take note that these fees are subject to change (especially as it is currency dependent), but changes will be communicated timeously.
Partial refunds and/or adjustments to the payment plan for families who withdraw after enrollment will only be granted if the family withdraws from Kairos or HLA within 30 days of enrollment.
Representation
As a member and representative of Kairos Academy SA, you will not misrepresent any aspect of Kairos Academy SA and HLA, including but not limited to areas regarding fees, policies and procedures, or impersonating a staff member. Any misrepresentation of Kairos Academy SA or HLA could prevent future enrollment.
Copyright
As a new member of Kairos Academy SA, you have received this complementary Blue Book. Please take note of the copyright associated with this document.
