Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What are the credentials of NorthStar Academy teachers?
2. Does NorthStar Academy support both Macintosh and PC users?
3. Does NorthStar Academy issue transcripts?
4. Is NorthStar an accredited school and able to grant diplomas?
5. Would NorthStar Academy allow students to take only one or two "specialty" courses while they attend day school?
6. What advantages are there for this type of education?
7. Does NorthStar Academy support homeschooled students?
8. What is the grading scale used at NorthStar Academy?
9. When does NorthStar Academy start?
10. What are the timelines for completing a course and the individual assignments?
11. How many credits may a student transfer in to NorthStar Academy and still receive a NorthStar diploma?
12. Who can be the student's supervisor?
13. Does NorthStar Academy have a faith statement?
14. What about the student's socialization?
15. Could existing schools which are having difficulty in offering a full program partner with NorthStar such that NorthStar Academy would provide individual courses to complement the school's program?
16. Would there be a certain schedule each day for working online, or would we just download our assignments and work on them at our own pace?
17. Are students able to select their own classes, or is there a mandatory program or course schedule that they must follow?
18. Is the interaction with teachers just through e-mail, or could their be real time chatting?
19. How much actual Internet time can we expect the courses to use? we live overseas and our internet service is sometimes sporadic, so we are a little nervous about something that would require many hours online.
20. If our son/daughter wants to take an elective from another online or day school, is that transferable?
21. If our son/daughter has taken classes elsewhere or at home and we want to transfer credits to NorthStar, what type of transcript do you need for registration?
22. How do students find and purchase the needed class resources for their NorthStar class(es)?
23. Will much of the course work be done on-line, or will we be able to download the material and work off-line?
24. Do you explain how students and parents/supervisors can enter into the group discussions for the computer illiterate?
25. In which countries does NSA have students?
26. How important is it that a student taking NorthStar courses have his/her own computer as opposed to trying to share a computer with the parents?
27. Is NorthStar "just another dressed-up home schooling program"?




1. What are the credentials of NorthStar Academy teachers?
NorthStar teachers hold a bachelor's degree from a four-year university as a minimum. Teacher certification and experience information is found in our “Meet the Teachers” section.
2. Does NorthStar Academy support both Macintosh and PC users?
Yes. The school's conferencing and productivity software may be used by both Macintosh and Windows users. Some classes are restricted to students who use Windows computers. Please see the class descriptions for such details.
3. Does NorthStar Academy issue transcripts?
Yes. Transcripts may be mailed directly to the student or to the school or university of his/her choice. To order your transcript, download the transcript request form and then email this form to the registrar whose name will be given within the NSA online school environment.
4. Is NorthStar an accredited school and able to grant diplomas?
NSA is accredited by CITA (Commission on International and Trans-regional Accreditation) and by SACS (Southern Association of Colleges & Schools).  To order your diploma, download the diploma order form and then email this form to the registrar whose name will be given within the NSA online school environment.
5. Would NorthStar Academy allow students to take only one or two "specialty" courses while they attend day school?
Yes. NorthStar Academy is very open to partnering with other schools by providing individual courses to the host school as a way to complement their existing program and course offerings.
6. What advantages are there for this type of education?

We have realized the following advantages for an online school:

  • students who are tutored or who study individually or in very small groups have been found to achieve close to two standard deviations above the mean of comparable students in grouped instruction*
  • students who study independently are better prepared for post-secondary studies**
  • students are more likely to edit and refine their work when using a productivity tool like word processing software than if they were using pen and paper.
  • students are not inhibited by time or shyness factors of a traditional classroom environment
  • students can review every aspect of their class activities to include class lectures, presentations, assignments, and group discussions because all of these items have been digitally recorded, a clear benefit over oral communications that can easily be forgotten.

*Bloom, B.S. (1984, June/July). The 2-Sigma problem: the search for methods of group instruction as effective as one-to-one tutoring. Educational Researcher, 13, 4-16.

**Hathaway, W.E. (1993, April). Rural education: Challenges and opportunities. The Canadian School Executive, 12 (10), 3-9, 42.

7. Does NorthStar Academy support homeschooled students?
Absolutely! Educators at NorthStar Academy understand the demands of homeschooling and realize that parents will need assistance from time to time. NorthStar Academy welcomes those families who may only need one or two individual courses to complement their homeschooling program.
8. What is the grading scale used at NorthStar Academy?
NorthStar Academy uses a 100 pt. scale as opposed to a 4 point scale or a letter scale. The grading scale is available in our "General Information" section of this catalog.
9. When does NorthStar Academy start?
NorthStar operates on an August to June calendar. See our Course dates for more info.
10. What are the timelines for completing a course and the individual assignments?
Because NorthStar exists to help meet the needs of families, our policy promotes flexibility within reason. We do not have "due dates" in the traditional sense of the term. Rather, we have suggested turn-in dates that are offered to students to help them gauge their pace so that they may finish their course within a traditional 9-month school year, but with 10 months to do so. Please see the School and Course Completion Dates section for detailed information.
11. How many credits may a student transfer in to NorthStar Academy and still receive a NorthStar diploma?

A student may transfer into NSA no more than 18 credits toward his/her graduation requirements. For a student to earn a NorthStar Academy high school diploma, he/she will need to satisfy one of the several flexible diploma "options" offered by NorthStar, please contact us to request your copy of our diploma options, which include dual enrollment at a junior college to choices in the type of diploma.

* NSA defines one credit as either a full-year course or two half-year (one-semester) courses.

12. Who can be the student's supervisor?
The parent or a designated adult, 20 years of age or older. The supervisor does not need to be a certified teacher or hold any post-secondary degree.
13. Does NorthStar Academy have a faith statement?

Yes. Each staff member must sign the following statement of faith:

  1. I believe in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired word of God (Exodus 24:4; Psalms 19:7-10; Luke 24:44; Matthew 5:17-18), without error in the original writings (Deuteronomy 4:1-2), the complete revelation of his will for the salvation of man, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith, life, and conduct (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
  2. I believe in one God (John 10:30), creator of all things (Genesis 1:1), infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
  3. I believe that Jesus Christ, without change in his eternal deity (John 10:31-38); Hebrews 1:3), became man through conception of the Holy Spirit and virgin birth (Luke 1:31-35), that he died on a cross (Mark 15:23-26; John 19:16-18), a perfect and complete sacrifice, in our stead and for our sin according to the Scriptures (Hebrews 9:13-15; Ephesians 1:6-7).  He arose bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:6-11) where, at the right hand of God, he is now our high priest and advocate (Hebrews 2:16-17).
  4. I believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:13-14) and, during this age, to convict of sin and regenerate the sinner upon belief in Christ (John 16:7-12; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:11); at the time of regeneration baptizing the believer into the one body of which Christ is the head (Galatians 3:26-28) and to indwell, guide, instruct, fill, and empower the believer for godly living and service (Romans 8:26-27 & 15:13; Proverbs 3:5-6).
  5. I believe that man was directly created by God in his own image Genesis 1:27), but fell into sin (Genesis 3). The entire human race is, therefore, lost and only through repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10), faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:4-9), and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, can salvation and spiritual life be obtained (Romans 8:13-14).
  6. I believe that the atoning death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection provide the only ground of justification and salvation for all who believe (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), and that only such as receive Jesus Christ by personal faith are born of the Holy Spirit and by him sealed to the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
  7. I believe in the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 4:1), and that the hope of his appearing has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer (2 Timothy 1:8-10).
  8. I believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead (Romans 8:11), of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord (Romans 4:7-8), and the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting and conscious punishment (Matthew 25:46; Hebrews 10:29).
14. What about the student's socialization?
NorthStar students have access to over 30 special interest groups and other extracurricular activities from which to chose.
15. Could existing schools which are having difficulty in offering a full program partner with NorthStar such that NorthStar Academy would provide individual courses to complement the school's program?
Yes. NorthStar Academy can provide individual courses for the students whose school may not be able to offer certain courses during a particular semester or year.
16. Would there be a certain schedule each day for working online, or would we just download our assignments and work on them at our own pace?
Yes to both. Each lesson has a suggested schedule for the student to follow, but the student is free to follow it or to devise his own schedule and pace (within reason).
17. Are students able to select their own classes, or is there a mandatory program or course schedule that they must follow?
Grades 6 - 8 course schedules are basically set (pre-planned); however, students in grades 9-12 have many courses to select from as they create their schedule of courses.
18. Is the interaction with teachers just through e-mail, or could their be real time chatting?
Students have both options. Teachers and students may chat via text-chat and audio-chat which is built into the FirstClass software, and they can audio and/or video chat using the free Skype software IF the teacher has a Skype account.
19. How much actual Internet time can we expect the courses to use? we live overseas and our internet service is sometimes sporadic, so we are a little nervous about something that would require many hours online.

I hate to say that, "It depends," but it really does depend on the student, but from what parents have told me when I asked them this question, I would say that students would need at least one hour per day for academic "needs": emailing teachers, group discussions, downloading assignments, notes, lessons, etc. The students may also set up their account so that they may work offline, and they would then complete their work and read their lessons and assignments offline.

We have two or three families with us who are in really remote areas, and they actually come into their respective main city to get access to the Internet, log into NorthStar, "do school" for that day or so, download the next two weeks worth of work on their laptop computer, and then return to their remote village. Granted, this type of approach to using NorthStar relegates our online program to a glorified correspondence program, but for these families, it works well. So at one extreme end of the spectrum, we have families who are doing well with minimum online access to NSA.

20. If our son/daughter wants to take an elective from another online or day school, is that transferable?
Yes, assuming that the other school is accredited. If the school is not accredited, then your son can take our challenge exam for that course if NorthStar offers an exam for the same or similar course. Otherwise, we'll need to pursue more assessment options from within NorthStar.
21. If our son/daughter has taken classes elsewhere or at home and we want to transfer credits to NorthStar, what type of transcript do you need for registration?

We do not need any transcript at the time of registration; however, if your child will be graduating from NorthStar transfer credits as detailed under Graduation Requirements under Academy Info will need to be awarded prior to the start of your child's senior year.

22. How do students find and purchase the needed class resources for their NorthStar class(es)?
Students and parents may find and purchase all of the class resources for each NorthStar class from our custom-created online bookstore, or they may choose to buy the needed class materials on their own from vendors of their own choosing by using our online bookstore information which shows all of the needed class materials organized by class name.
23. Will much of the course work be done on-line, or will we be able to download the material and work off-line?
Most of the student's work can be easily done offline. We teachers provide weekly lesson bundles which contain all of the lesson resources for an entire week so students are not having to log into NorthStar each day of the week to get their lessons and assignments. A full-time student will spend about 30-60 minutes online each day for academic purposes. For social purposes, the time online can be much more than one hour!
24. Do you explain how students and parents/supervisors can enter into the group discussions for the computer illiterate?
Yes, in the NorthStar 101 multi-media orientation, you will learn the steps needed to participate fully in all aspects of the school, going from opening the NSA package to logging into and fully participating in NSA.
25. In which countries does NSA have students?

Over the past 12 years NorthStar has served students in the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. Albania
  3. Argentina
  4. Australia
  5. Azerbaijan
  6. Bangladesh
  7. Belarus
  8. Belgium
  9. Benin
  10. Bolivia
  11. Brazil
  12. Bulgaria
  13. Burkina Faso
  14. Cambodia
  15. Cameroon
  16. Canada
  17. Chad
  18. Chile
  19. China
  20. Columbia
  21. Congo
  22. Costa Rica
  23. Cyprus
  24. Czech Republic
  25. Ecuador
  26. Egypt
  27. England
  28. Ethiopia
  29. France
  30. Germany
  31. Ghana
  32. Greece
  33. Guatemala
  34. Guam
  35. Hong Kong
  36. Hungary
  37. India
  38. Indonesia
  39. Iraq
  40. Italy
  41. Israel
  42. Ivory Coast
  43. Japan
  44. Kazakstan
  45. Kenya
  46. Korea
  47. Kosovo
  48. Kuwait
  49. Kyrgyzstan
  50. Latvia
  51. Lithuania
  52. Macedonia
  53. Malawi
  54. Malaysia
  55. Mali
  56. Mexico
  57. Mongolia
  58. Morocco
  59. Nepal
  60. Netherlands
  61. Niger
  62. Nigeria
  63. Norway
  64. Oman
  65. Pakistan
  66. Paraguay
  67. Papua New Guinea
  68. Peru
  69. Philippines
  70. Poland
  71. Portugal
  72. Puerto Rico
  73. Republic of Ireland
  74. Romania
  75. Russia
  76. Senegal
  77. Singapore
  78. Slovakia
  79. Slovenia
  80. Solomon Islands
  81. Solomon Islands
  82. South Africa
  83. South Korea
  84. Former Soviet Union
  85. Spain
  86. Suriname
  87. Taiwan
  88. Tajikistan
  89. Thailand
  90. Togo
  91. Turkey
  92. Turkmenistan
  93. U.A.E.
  94. Ukraine
  95. United Kingdom
  96. Uruguay
  97. USA
  98. Uzbekistan
  99. Vanuatu
  100. Venezula
  101. Yemen
  102. Former Yugoslavia
  103. Zaire
  104. Zambia
26. How important is it that a student taking NorthStar courses have his/her own computer as opposed to trying to share a computer with the parents?

Answer from a "NorthStar Mom":

I think it is vital for the student to have his own computer if the parents consistently use the computer during what we would consider school hours. My son attends a cooperative school during the day. He shares a computer with 1 other student during school hours so a schedule has been worked out between the 2 students. However, he has his own computer at home to do homework. My husband spends many hours a day on the computer and sharing did not work well.

27. Is NorthStar "just another dressed-up home schooling program"?

Answer from a "NorthStar Mom":

NorthStar Academy is not another dressed-up home schooling program. We were doing University of Nebraska with our high schooler, and it wasn't working. NorthStar Academy provides crucial "interaction" and communication between the teacher and the student. The lessons are current and relevant and prepared by qualified teachers. Other home school programs consist of lessons developed years ago and written down in a book. The student basically teaches himself with some guidance from a supervisor who may or may not have knowledge, experience, or training in education much less a specific area of study such as algebra or chemistry! When a NorthStar Academy student has difficulty or a question, he gets immediate feedback and help from his online teacher. With other typical home school programs, the response is delayed and sometimes is never received. Whatever the student doesn't understand, he just misses out. For us, other homeschool programs don't even compare with NorthStar Academy.