High School FAQ

Summer at Saint Francis is open to all, thus, there are no academic requirements that you need to fulfill in order to be admitted to one of our High School classes. We do not recommend taking a 2nd semester high school class without having 1st semester as a prerequisite. When registering online, all that you need to provide is information about your family and your student, such as your contact information, the name of your student’s school, his/her rising grade (school grade in the upcoming fall), etc.

Each high school has its own policies for advancement and remediation.  You should talk to a representative of your high school in order to determine if they will accept credit earned through Summer at Saint Francis.

When you register, you will have the option of having a transcript sent to your school.  If you would like them to incorporate the credit into your child's transcript, you should have one sent to the school. You may also have a transcript sent home.

Please check with your school’s administration before registering to ensure that taking a summer high school class is acceptable. Although our credits are accepted by high schools and universities, your individual school may place restrictions on student schedules that do not permit you to benefit from taking our summer courses. For example, some schools do not allow their students to take a summer class to “advance” through a level of a subject in order to take the next level of the subject in the upcoming year. Another example is some schools do not permit students to take summer classes to reduce the number of classes they can take in the school year.

Any high school student (including a rising 9th grader) can earn credit in almost all circumstances. This is because most of our summer high school courses are UC (a-g) / CSU and NCAA approved. Therefore, they are accepted by the vast majority of high schools. Each semester course taken in one Term is worth 5 credits. In order to receive credit, students must do two primary things:

• Complete and indicate the course is for credit at the time of registration. Transcripts will be mailed to your home, your child's school or an alternative address based on the information you provided during registration.

• The student may be absent no more than 1 day per Term / Semester class, and must be present for the final exam. (For more details, see our attendance policy below.)

• Saint Francis students are eligible to receive credit for Geometry, Trigonometry, or courses for remediation. Rising 9th grade Saint Francis students may not take Summer at Saint Francis High School courses for credit. Rising 9th grade Saint Francis students are encouraged to enroll in "Lancers Rising".

Because of the short time span of 2.5 weeks into which an entire semester of content is compressed, attendance is critical. Therefore, in order to receive credit for a semester course, a student may be absent (not present in classe or missing more than 30 minutes of class) no more than 1 day of the semester. Furthermore, a student may be tardy (late by 30 minutes or less) no more than 3 times, as 3 tardies constitutes an absence. Thus, if a student is late on 4 or more days, or absent for 1 day then absent or late on an additional day, the student cannot receive credit for the course.

Unfortunately, an individual student’s final exam cannot be rescheduled, even in instances of a planned absence for any reason. In order to maintain the integrity of the final exams, all students must take them at the same time. Furthermore, teachers grade the final exams and post scores on the same day. Therefore, a student cannot take a final exam earlier or later than the scheduled day, which is the last day of any Term.

Summer high school courses are offered in the same format as they are during the regular school year: as 2 Semesters, where Semester 1 is the Fall curriculum, and Semester 2 is the Spring curriculum. Thus, when taking a class for credit to “jump” a grade level, both Semesters must be taken, as 2 Semesters is 1 full year of curriculum.  Please note that Saint Francis students may not take courses for advancement with the exception of Geometry and Trigonometry with approval from the math and/or science department.

High School classes may not be taken by Saint Francis students to advance to the next level, except  for Geometry and Trigonometry. All other classes can only be taken for Enrichment/Preview or Remediation/Credit Recovery.  While we encourage Saint Francis students to take our courses for enrichment/preview, credit will not be granted except for approved Trigonometry and Geometry courses and courses taken for remediation or credit recovery. We encourage rising 9th grade Saint Francis students to take Lancers Rising courses instead of High School courses. If you want to take a level 3 world language course online, please contact your counselor.

Depending on a student’s needs, they can take as many as 2 semesters of a single classe per Summer because of our schedule. With approval of the Summer at Saint Francis High School Principal, students may take an online course in addition to an in person course. We recommend students remediating semester courses only take 2 max semester courses for credit recovery online.

Absolutely, and you are not alone. Approximately 30% of our students take one semester without taking the complement semester, such as to preview the Fall semester of an upcoming course, or to remediate one semester of a previous class. We do not support taking Semester 2 only. Note:  if you plan to enroll in Semester 2 of a course without taking Semester 1, please be certain that you have mastered the Semester 1 material. Be advised that the second semester of these courses begins without review.

Each year, our summer high school hosts almost 300 students in 12 course subjects in person, and over 100 students in online courses. Despite the popularity of our high school classes, all classes are limited to 28 students. 

While Saint Francis students make up the largest number of students from any one school, non-Saint Francis students make up the majority of our summer high school students. Indeed, students from over 40 local high schools take classes yearly on our campus, including, Monta Vista, Los Altos, Homestead, Mountain View, Lynbrook, Leland, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Cupertino, Gunn, and many, many more!

Yes, you will receive an email to the student's email address with @sfhs.com credentials to use for logging into Schoology. Information will be emailed to the student email input during registration. Grades are updated in real time, so as a teacher enters them in his/her online gradebook, you can actively monitor your student’s progress. If you are taking an online course you will see your grades through the Edgenuity portal.

We use the same grading scale as Saint Francis High School does during the regular school year:

Yes, lunches may be purchased daily in the Burns Family Pavilion Walk of Fame. Credit cards are accepted.

Typical classroom materials are recommended, including notebook / 3-ring binder with loose leaves, pens, pencils, and calculator (for math & science). Textbooks and other literature will be lent free of charge. (If you would like to know what texts are used, such as if you are interested in purchasing a copy in advance, please refer to our courses.)

The majority of our high school teachers hold secondary / single subject teaching credentials. Additionally, some of our teachers have completed masters degrees. It’s also important to note that our teachers are not solely from Saint Francis, but are employed at schools around the Bay Area, including Los Altos HS, Mountain View HS, Willow Glen HS, Lynbrook HS, Mills HS, The King's Academy, and others.

 Because Summer at Saint Francis is not a fully staffed school during the school year, many resources are unavailable to students as compared to the regular school year, such as special education teachers and a school psychologist. Therefore, we are unable to fulfill all accommodations called for by IEPs. That having been said, our teachers are professional educators with experience making reasonable accommodations, such as extended time assessments and preferential seating in the classroom.  Although students with accommodations are welcome to attend summer high school courses, students with accommodations have reported greater difficulty adequately performing in the fast-paced environment of our summer classes as compared to the regular school year. If the content of the summer course will be new to your student, please carefully consider whether the course in this format would pose a detrimental burden to them.  It is important to note that we do not grant modifications such as extended time to complete homework, test retakes, use of notes during tests etc.

We are sorry to see you go! You may submit a cancellation request on our Summer at Saint Francis option for "Details and Forms". The last day to withdraw from all programs is May 31. After this date, refunds will not be provided. A 20% fee will be deducted if a refund is requested more than 24 hours after purchase. After the withdrawal/refund is processed, one of two things will occur. If the refund is requested within approximately a month after purchase, a refund will be issued to the credit card or bank account used when paying online. Sometimes checks are issued for purchases made longer in the past. Thank you for your patience.

Saint Francis High School transcripts will only list the following classes from Summer at Saint Francis: for remediation (all classes offered), for credit/advancement (Geometry and Trigonometry). If a course other than Geometry or Trigonometry is taken outside of Summer at Saint Francis for credit, it will not be placed on the Saint Francis transcript. If you want to take a level 3 world language, please contact your counselor