2. What Your Student’s School Day Looks Like

Calvary Preparatory Academy — Parent Orientation — Page 2 of 10

What Your Student’s School Day Looks Like

CPA gives students flexibility — but flexibility is not the same as freedom from structure. Here is what a healthy CPA school day looks like and what your student is expected to do each day.

Daily expectations

Expectation	What this means for your student
Engage every school day	Your student must log in and actively work on their courses every required school day. This is how attendance is tracked.
Post in the Daily Discussion Forum	Every school day, a devotional or discussion prompt is posted. Your student must respond with a genuine, complete post. This is their attendance record.
Keep up with pacing	Most students complete one course section per week. Falling behind is much harder to recover from than staying current.
Respond to teacher emails within 24 hours	Your student must reply to their teacher within 24 hours on school days. This is a school-wide expectation.
Contact the teacher when stuck	If your student is stuck on an assignment, they should contact their teacher within 24 hours — not wait until their scheduled meeting.

How much time per day?

Full-time students are expected to spend approximately 4 hours on schoolwork each day, though some days may require more or less depending on the week’s assignments. Some families set specific school hours and treat CPA like a traditional school day. This approach works very well.

What you can do at home

[Sched]

Help set a routine

A consistent start time and workspace makes a significant difference. Students who treat school like a job perform better than those who work whenever they feel like it.

[Check]

Ask about the DDF

Ask your student each morning whether they have posted in the Daily Discussion Forum. This quick check builds the habit.

[Ask]

Ask what they learned

Not whether they finished — what they actually learned. This mirrors what their teacher will ask in the scheduled meeting.

[Email]

Monitor their inbox

Make sure your student is checking their CPA email and responding to teacher messages within 24 hours.

The first week

Almost every new CPA student finds the first few days challenging. New systems, new routines, a new way of being in school. This is completely normal. If your student is frustrated early on, encourage them to email their teacher rather than waiting. Teachers expect more contact in week one and genuinely want to help.