The following guide is to assist in simplifying and demystifying the grade reporting process for students in our homeschool and online courses. Even if your students are exclusively taking online courses, you may still have some end of quarter reporting to receive your student’s grade report, so keep reading! 

 

What courses can I report?

You can only report grades for courses your student is officially registered in. If you wish to register in an additional Kolbe or non-Kolbe course, please fill out a Course Change Request Form for your advisor to review and approve prior to submitting your grade portfolio.

Note: "In elementary school, students are permitted to report a maximum of 12 academic courses per semester."

 

What courses do I need to report?

Reporting grades for courses is an optional service that Kolbe provides. You do not need to report any online Kolbe courses taught by our instructors; these will be reported by the teachers. Audited online courses will need to be reported by the parent. The courses you need to report in the portfolio are: 

1. Any non-academic, including but not limited to Art, Music, and PE.  

2. Any Kolbe courses taken in the homeschool or digital self-paced format, including those with a Plus grading service

3. Any non-Kolbe courses that you want on the Kolbe report card 

4. Any online courses your student is auditing 

Note: “It is important to remember that review of portfolios of sample work is a service of Kolbe Academy, not a requirement. If reports are not filed, recommended grades provided on the report card cannot be validated for the purpose of issuing diplomas or providing an official grade record."

 

What can I report for art, music, and PE?

• Art: Describe the student's weekly art activity including frequency and duration. Pictures may be submitted in lieu of a written description.
• Music: Describe the student's weekly music activity including frequency and duration. Please note a valid course must include some type of instructional work.
• Physical Education: Describe the student's weekly PE activity including frequency and duration.

 

My student has a PE and Fine Arts course in Schoology. Do I still need to report these in the grade portfolio?

No. If your student has a Schoology account for a digital self-paced or online course, they will have a Physical Education course and may have a Fine Arts course in Schoology. These courses contain only a reporting “assignment” for you and your student to complete at the end of each quarter. In this assignment, you will verify that your student has completed the hours requirement for the course and provide a brief description of their activity. If you do this, you do not need to report these courses via the portfolio process. If your student is exclusively taking online courses, aside from PE or Fine Arts, you can complete all your reporting via Schoology and do not need to send in a grade portfolio. 

Note: "The primary educator will need to be logged into the student's Schoology account to complete these assignments."

What is a Grade Portfolio?

A Grade Portfolio consists of the following items, which you will ideally compile into one PDF and email to [email protected].  

 

1. K-1st Grade GRADE SUBMISSION FORM (GSF) – A two-page document including a checklist page and grade submission page to report K-8 courses only. The GSF must include:

   • Student’s name

   • Grade Level (e.g. 1st) 

   • Reporting quarter

   • Primary educator’s email address 

   • Course titles, as you would like them to appear on the final report card if you prefer a title other than what is provided 

   • Quarter grades for each academic course using the developmental or letter scales, and a P/F grade for any non-academic courses

   • Primary educator's signature and date 

   • Descriptions of non-academic course activity (PE, Art, Music, etc.) on the checklist page 

2. SAMPLES - One graded sample showing the student’s work in each registered course per quarter. Please label each sample with:

   • Student’s name

   • Course/subject 

   • Assigned grade 

   • Assigned quarter

   • Academic year 

Note:

• Kindergarten students are not required to submit graded samples. All that is needed to issue an official Kolbe Grade Report is the signed and completed Grade Submission Form.
• Samples must show their own student work (e.g. student answers to essays questions, answer sections, etc.).

• Samples do not need to include the entire assignment.

• Sample scans must be legible; faded text, distant photographs, and other difficult to review samples will not be accepted.  

• No samples are required for the non-academic courses like Art, PE, and Music as long as a sufficient description of student activity is provided in the relevant section of the Grade Submission Form.

• Language Arts consists of Reading, Phonics, English Grammar, Spelling and Penmanship.  You will only need to submit one graded sample of one of these courses per quarter for Language Arts.

  3. ATTENDANCE RECORD – (Submitted at the end of Quarter 4 and required only for California residents; optional for non-CA residents) 

 

Where can I find these forms?

• The Grade Submission Form and Checklist for all grade levels can be located on our Welcome Packet. The link to download the form is found halfway down the page under the header “Grade Submission Form and Checklist”. You can navigate to this page by searching for “Welcome Packet” in the Help Center or by navigating from the main page to Current Families > Filing Grade Reports > Learn More. 
• The Attendance Record is found on the same Welcome Packet page under the header “Course of Study.

 

I Need Help Completing the Grade Submission Form and Checklist

For help, see our Completing the K-1 Grade Submission Form and Checklist article.

 

 I Need Help Scanning Documents

Please see our help article on How to Scan the Grade Portfolio Documents.

 

How should I submit this portfolio?

The following tips will help you submit a portfolio that is complete, easy to review, and likely to have a quicker turnaround. 

1. ONE DOCUMENT – Compile all portfolio documents into one PDF or a few scanned documents. The more scanned documents submitted over a long a period of time, the greater likelihood your forms or samples can get overlooked, misplaced, or misidentified.  
2. ONE EMAIL – Send all portfolio documents in one email or, if attachment size is an issue, at most a few well-labeled emails on the same day. 
3. CLEARLY LABELED – Labeling the subject line of the submission email with your student’s name, grade level, school year, the quarter submitted ensures the email gets to the right team. Clearly labeling each document in the submission also ensures the team can review your portfolio accurately and efficiently.  
4. [email protected] – Email your portfolio directly to [email protected] to ensure delivery. While advisors have accepted grade portfolios directly to their personal Kolbe emails in the past, and advisors may reach out to you directly with questions, all initial submissions and all follow-up sample submissions should be sent to this reporting inbox. This ensures that the team processing grade reports can prioritize the report correctly and that no submissions are lost with staff promotion or transitions.  
5. TIMELY – There are no grade reporting deadlines. We recommend you submit your student’s portfolio within a month of completing the quarter or a month of completing the year if you choose to report annually. If the reviewers follow up with additional submission needs, you still have ready access and fresh memory for student work.

 

I Need a Visual Aid

Please see the visual guide below or scroll down to the bottom of this article to download this image as a PDF with clickable links. 

 

How long will it take for Kolbe Academy to process the grade portfolio?

When you send in your grade portfolio submission, you will receive an automated reply confirming that your submission was received. Once we have reviewed and processed your submission, we will email your student’s report card. We process these submissions in the order received, so if you ever have a specific timeframe in which a grade report or official transcript is needed, please submit your portfolio as early as possible and explain your needed timeframe in your correspondence. While it is our goal to return your grade report to you within a few weeks of submission, this is not always possible during our busier seasons. Submitting complete, accurate, and timely grade portfolios helps ensure your student has an official transcript ready when you need it! Please know that your student’s success is our goal. We make every effort to support you with the student records and documentation needed.

 

Where can I find grade reporting guides for my students in other grades?

• Grade Reporting Guide: 2-5
• Grade Reporting Guide: 6-8
• Grade Reporting Guide: 9-11
• Grade Reporting Guide: 12

Who can I contact for more information?

Please contact your family advisor or email [email protected] for any further questions you may have on the grade reporting process.