Orion High School
Orion High School is the flagship school for Orion Online Learning. Orion High School was the first school created by Orion Online Learning, and it opened the virtual doors in the fall of 2007. Orion High School has been steadfast in its requirement that all learners, regardless of their past experiences, are treated with respect and dignity, and are held to high expectations around communication and content.
While all others are diminishing the value of the high school diploma, Orion High School continues to improve the level of quality and the value that the high school diploma espouses. While all others are lowering the required credits to graduate, Orion High School has increased those requirements, because we know that that requiring learners to create substantial change in their community, state, or nation, requires that we guide them along the way-after all, in the real world, our challenge is to create, implement, and sustain real change for our communities.
Pathway Options
There are options available to get to the 26 credits at Orion High School. Those options are:
- Honors/AP Capstone Diploma Pathway
- Advanced International Studies Pathway
- General/Regular Pathway
A Minimum Pathway is available, but requires prior permission. Complete those applications in their respective areas, above.
Finishing High School Faster - Possible.
While it is entirely possible to finish Orion High School's required credits in two years (calendar years, not traditional/school years), there must be some higher level of commitment that a learner must possess in order to do that. Orion High School's graduates average 16 years of age (the graduates who start as 9th grade, and move through 12th at our school). That feat is accomplished through learners and mentors committing to our work.
Potential learners often come to us desiring to race through course work, and 'get' a diploma. Our response is that, yes, it is possible to earn a diploma in a shorter amount of time than in a traditional setting; however, you, the learner must be committed to your work.
Let's Take a Look at Progressing through Our High School - A Typical Progression
The graphic below depicts a typical movement through our high school. Keep in mind that the movement is typical of a learner who does not take time off, and does not require an extension in courses:
In the scenario above, the learner would start the next grade level immediately, and continue to move toward graduation- and that's how you finish high school in two years!
A Day in the Life of An Orion Learner - A Sneak Peak at Content
What is a day in the life of a high school online learner at Orion High School? That's a great question! That's one we are asked when learners start with us. A typical day in the life of an Orion High School Learner is:
- Log in to Orion
- Update my status/check in for attendance in the Orion Social Area
- Go to my course or courses
- Check announcements or discussion folders
- View or review the module
- Complete assignment(s)
- Go offline to do some assignments/tasks
- Go back online to upload my work
- Message my mentor to update him or her
- Schedule my weekly meeting
- Go back to the module to work on additional assignments/tasks
- Check for other meetings such as NHS
The sample module below, is just that-a sample. Only Part 2 and Part 5 are live. We have removed some of our information to protect our own resources; however, this module is representative of the type of information a learner will find in a course. All Orion courses are divided by modules. A module represents a set of ideas that a learner must know and be able to do. The homework and assignments folder is the place where the learner submits work that is representative of his knowledge of the module. Most courses contain up to 10 modules The module is not representative of the interaction that occurs between the learner and the mentor during the weekly meeting. Weekly meetings are intended for learners to communicate knowledge to the mentor via a presentation, demonstration, or conversation.