Our mission is to provide you with answers to all your questions, regarding your online learning needs. We have compiled answers to questions that our students have come across in the past, to help you find answers at the tip of your fingers (literally!). However, we are always available, if you need to talk to someone in person, to get your questions answered.
Red Comet partners with School Districts to provide the tuition-free online program. Please call us at 1-888-730-1908 (ext. 704) for more details.
Below are the steps for the enrollment process:
This tuition-free program is available only during the school year (typically from late August to early June).
Yes – you need access to a computer and to the internet to take a Red Comet course. If you plan on working on the courses at home, you need to have access to a computer. If you plan to complete most of your schoolwork on the school premises, then you can avail yourself to the computers at your school. If this is not possible, you should seek out computers at your local library, recreation centers, community centers or religious centers.
We realize that online learning can raise fears about online predators. This is why we make our courses password-protected and secure. We encourage parental involvement and partner with both students and parents to keep and maintain a safe online learning experience. Strong parenting coupled with educating students of the risks of online predators remains vital and essential.
We take online bullying very seriously. The best way to protect against online bullying is to NOT share the student password with ANYONE other than parent or guardian and the mentor at school. If you suspect your account is being hacked, then immediately change the password. If this does not solve the problem, then please contact Red Comet immediately to report the problem.
In order for students to complete a Red Comet course, we expect them to spend at least 80 to 90 percent of their time on the computer. The rest of the time may be spent reading outside literature that is readily available at local libraries and schools. Our online learning platform helps us provide you with effective assessment, planning, and time-management tools. The online environment can also act as powerful teaching tools that can motivate, stimulate, and inform students about the world around them. This is why we use a unique multimedia approach that includes reading books as well as going through various educational websites and pertinent videos on the internet.
Some basic skills are required. Use of the computer is an important part of the program. The program is user-friendly.
Red Comet courses are not specifically designed for ESL (English as Second Language) learners. However, students can put in additional hours to catch up and make progress in the course in a timely manner. Red Comet works for students who need extra time to master a subject, as well as those who learn quickly.
Red Comet teachers can make accommodations for students with special needs and will work with the students’ case manager at their resident school. Students / Parents / Schools must submit proof of IEP documentation in order to be eligible for any type of accommodations.
Gifted students can access higher grade courses or Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
Red Comet offers the following subjects:
Yes, you earn credits for Red Comet high school courses upon successful completion of all course requirements. We do not award partial credits for incomplete courses.
Red Comet offers core, AP and elective courses for the Tuition Free program, August - June. For a full listing, please click here to view our course catalog.
No. Red Comet does NOT offer tuition-free courses in summer; however, Red Comet offers an Accelerated ALE Program. Registrations and enrollments for the Accelerated ALE program are accepted April – the last week of May with an End Date of no later than July 31st.
Yes. You will be required to allow pop-ups on the Red Comet website.
Virtually all PCs will run Red Comet courses, but we have listed system requirements just in case.
Red Comet uses Agilix Buzz® which supports the following browsers:
Students may study course material on iPads, iPhones and other mobile devices. However, when it is time to take the final tests / submit final essays & assignments, we require that the students log in from a regular computer / laptop (Recommended browser – Chrome).
You can view courses on your chromebook and make submissions on tests. However, DO NOT make Google docs/sheets/slides as attachments for ANY assignment submissions. These will NOT be accepted. You need to type your answers (or copy and paste from your prepared google document) in the submission box provided within the course assignments.
Dialup Internet Connections – (not recommended)
Red Comet does not support dialup connections and strongly recommends DSL or cable Internet connections.
Headsets – (highly recommended)
To provide the best online learning experience for the student, it is recommended that noise-cancelling headsets be used. Red Comet recommends the LogicTech ClearChat Comfort USB headset. These headsets can be found at various stores or Online for under $30.
Be involved with their learning! Encourage them to develop a schedule for working on their courses. Help them set aside a specific time each day when they can focus on Red Comet courses. If this time slot is the same every day, it helps set the routine for your student and you will see good progress. Make a list of assignments / essays / modules that must be completed by certain specific dates – this will give your student a timeline that he/she can follow. Discuss assignments with your students. Share in their learning. Celebrate their success. Each week, log into the Red Comet site as a parent and check your student’s progress in each enrolled course. Contact teachers if you have questions. Contact Red Comet staff if you have concerns.
Red Comet staff and teachers encourage and appreciate parent communication. The Red Comet issued login id is the best vehicle for communicating regarding your concerns / questions. Phone calls are also effective means of communication when you have a question.
Parents can monitor student progress by checking online and seeing what portion of the course the student has completed on the Grade page. Parents may also communicate with their student’s teacher(s) / Red Comet staff to check the student’s progress.
For students who are enrolled in private schools, a PDF version of the final grades will be uploaded to the Red Comet/School shared “Transcript/Grade Report” folder. The school’s registrar may then issue a final transcript or use Red Comet’s transcript. If you are a home-schooled student, then upon request, a PDF version of the transcript will be uploaded to the Red Comet/Parent/Guardian shared “Transcript/Grade Report” folder. If the parent requests for a printed copy to be mailed, then the transcript will be mailed via US Mail to the home address of the parent/guardian.
Students must work with academic counselors at their private school to decide on which courses they must enroll in. If a student is Homeschooled, the student/parent may approach their local school district (based on her home address) and talk to them about obtaining graduation counseling or help with course selections.
In order to qualify for the tuition-free program, student must meet certain conditions.
Red Comet offers core, AP (Advanced Placement) and elective courses. For a full ALE listing, please see our online ALE Course Catalog.
Students may enroll in Red Comet courses for original credit, or credit retrieval from a failed course. However, please keep in mind that Red Comet does not offer a separate version of courses for credit recovery. Students needing credit recovery will have to enroll in the original credit version of the course and successfully complete the course to receive a transcript. For a full ALE listing, please see our online ALE Course Catalog.
Red Comet courses are written at the identified grade span reading level. Our program allows special needs students to work at their own pace and complete the course work. Red Comet teachers will make the necessary accommodations (those that are possible in an online environment) to assist students with special needs to successfully complete the coursework. These accommodations include extending timelines to complete the coursework, and providing tests on paper format (tests must be administered by a proctor). Some Red Comet courses have podcast audio files. For these select courses, students can access the Podcast file on site or download to listen to offline. In the past, students with special needs (autism, ADD, ADHD, visually-impaired, hearing-challenged, impairments due to substance abuse, etc.) have successfully completed their coursework on the Red Comet platform and met the ALE requirements to receive Satisfactory Monthly Progress reporting.
Please do bear in mind that Red Comet teachers are not endorsed in special education and students with an IEP must continue to work with their case manager at their resident school to meet the objectives of the IEP. Students / Parents / Schools must submit proof of IEP documentation prior to enrollment in order to be eligible for any type of accommodations.
No, the course material is not available off-site; however, most courses allow you to print one page at a time.
When a student successfully completes a course, the Student/Parent/School Contact will receive the "Has Completed" email with the grade score in it. A PDF Transcript/Grade Report will be uploaded to the Red Comet/School shared “Transcript/Grade Report” folder. Only upon special request will Red Comet mail the Transcript/Grade Report via US Mail.
Please email us so that we may address all your questions. You may also call us on the toll free number: 1-888-730-1101 (ext. 704) OR (888) 730-1908 (ext. 704).
No – this option is NOT available in the tuition-free program.
Red Comet may accept a student who has been expelled or has a long-term suspension. These students will be treated as home-schooled students.
No. Under no circumstance will Red Comet allow a student to re-take a test UNLESS there is undisputed proof that a technical error caused the test to shut down (resulting in lower scores.) All grades are final. Essays, assignments and other key course requirements will be excused only in the case of IEP Accommodations. Students without a formal IEP will NOT be excused from completing essays, assignments and other key course requirements.
Prior to starting course work, Students must read and ‘accept’ the Written Student Learning Plan within the course prior to starting the course activity. The Written Student Learning Plan clearly outlines the syllabus and other course requirements.
In order to receive credit, all courses require the student to complete the following as part of course work:
Complete all assignments, essays and projects as part of the coursework. Please refer to the grading policy to figure out what you need to complete to get your final scores. Go to your grade book to keep track of your scores.
The school must approve the student to register for a Red Comet course.
We need a school contact with whom we can stay in touch; we will upload updates to the shared Red Comet/School folders with the student’s progress and contact the school in case of non-progress.
No – our platform is web-based. You do not need any special software to access our system. You just need a working computer and reliable high bandwidth connection.
Red Comet verifies all student submissions for plagiarism. We verify the student’s submissions against ALL content available on the internet + previous student submissions. If we detect plagiarism, then we will zero out the scores and send a warning to the student. Assignments plagiarized a second time will not be allowed retakes and will result in a permanent zero for that assignment. Upon repeated plagiarized submissions, the school will be contacted for guidance and possible further disciplinary action. Disciplinary action may include but is not limited to course suspension.
Yes – our online system is available 24/7.
Each course also has a navigation module, which provides details on course layout etc.
Teachers receive many emails each day so they strive to reply to students needing help and answering questions within 24 to 48 hours during the school week while correcting and returning assignments within 5 business days.
All assignments are turned in through web tools provided on our online platform. On occasion, a student may need to submit work in formats other than a text response (for example PDF) This depends entirely on the subject matter dealt with in the course.
No – students are not required to visit the Red Comet office. All questions can be answered via phone or email.
No – students can do most of their work at home or at another location.
The student can login from the school computer. When school is closed, the student can log in from a public library or a community center. Alternately, the student can also work from a friend / mentor’s home. All work will be saved on the Red Comet platform. The student can continue his/her work from different locations.
Students are responsible for contacting the Red Comet Help desk for assistance. Computer problems do not excuse the student from required work so it is very important to seek solutions for technical problems immediately. If the problem cannot wait, the student can also call our toll-free number to seek assistance. Technical support will be available from 9:00 to 5:00 Mondays to Fridays (Pacific Standard Time).
Students can communicate with the teacher on our Learning Management Platform. Students can also contact their Red Comet teacher by sending an email. These emails will be answered within 24-48 hours. Students may also call our toll free phone (1-888-730-1101 – ext.709 or 704) and leave a message for the teacher or ALE administrator to return the call. This information is posted in the Getting Started section of every Red Comet course.
Students can get academic help from their teachers at school. However, if students have questions on the tests, essay prompts or submissions, then they must direct these questions to the Red Comet teacher.
No – this option is NOT available in the tuition-free program. Only Red Comet teachers are allowed to grade the student submissions.
The best way to contact a teacher is on the Learning Management Platform or via email. Teachers will respond to the students’ email.
Students should turn in their assignments on or before the due date specified on the course. Not keeping up with the due dates could affect student performance on the course and student may not meet the End Target Date.
It could affect student performance on the course. Historically, students who did not keep up with the due dates often ended up not completing the course or earning a lower score
All tests are online. For most courses, you must type your essay/composition and take the final test online.
For some of the elective/enrichment courses, you will have an option
of typing your work on your computer and uploading a file to the online platform.
For some courses (like Foreign Languages/Arts / Music /
Physical Education), you will need to scan or record your work and
upload a PDF file to the site. Some courses require you to create infographics or media files (audio/video) and upload to the online platform. All assignments provide clear directions on how to create the submission and how to upload.
However for most assignments, students will type their answers in a drop box provided for each assignment on the online platform.
Students will have 150 days (about 5 months) to complete the course or the End Date (whichever is sooner).
Students can register anytime during the school year (from August until March) when the tuition-free program is in session. However, tuition-free courses have a start date in August with continuous registration through March and an end date in June. To successfully, complete the course, students must complete all course requirements by the End Date
Red Comet offers an Accelerated ALE Program. Registrations and enrollments for the Accelerated ALE program are accepted April – the last week of May with a course End Date of no later than July 31st.
For more information, please call 1-888-730-1101 (ext. 704).
Students usually take at least 75 to 90 hours to complete a course. Most students complete a course in 4 to 5 months.
Students will receive a transcript/grade report when the course is at 100% completed.
Students will receive a transcript/grade report once the course is 100% complete. If the student chooses to not complete the course, the remaining assignments will be zeroed out and transcript/grade report issued accordingly.
Yes - Students have until End Target Date to complete the course. All courses which are not 100% completed by the End Target Date will automatically be extended until the Red Comet’s ALE program’s closing date for the current year. If the private school has a Hard Cut Off date other than Red Comet’s Closing date, the Mentor will email Red Comet, and copy the Student and Parent of this requirement.
No. Red Comet will not issue a transcript/grade report for partial credit. However, if you are attending a private school, your school may apply the score to issue a partial credit.
Students are required to spend at least 5 hours a week OR 1 hours each weekday on the course. This will ensure steady progress.
