No. Students can learn 100% remotely. Felix recognizes that 100% remote does not work for all students, or they do not have a home environment that allows them to learn remotely. For this reason, Felix is operationalizing “hub sites” across MA to give another flexible learning space option.

No. All staff are completely enabled virtually. Core Learning Guides are 100% remote, and deliver all content remotely both in classes and with one-on-ones with students. Success Coaches meet with students virtually, unless a student chooses to go to a hub site and meet in person.

No. Virtual is the floor for all students. Core Learning Guides (teachers) are remotely-based and are never in person. Students have the option to go to a hub site to learn, much like a remote worker might choose to go to a co-working space or a coffee shop. Students log on for all their asynchronous courses and live sessions on their laptop, regardless of where they are learning from.

No. Core Learning Guides are remotely-based and will deliver all content virtually. If multiple students are at a hub site and in the same seminar class, they will join separately on their own laptops.

Competency-based learning means that students move at their own pace and move through courses as they demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Students must reach a threshold of competency in each course they take. These benchmarks are based on standards, and students must demonstrate a certain level of understanding before being able to move on to a higher-level course. Students meet Mass Core guidelines and are required to take a certain number of courses in various subject areas.

Tutorial sessions are adaptive to students’ skill levels. As a student masters a subject, the tutorial will scale up with them.

Yes! As part of the competency-based approach, Felix embraces the concept that students can demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and leans into Universal Design Learning. It’s about what you know, not how you show it. Formative learning assessments within each course give opportunities for students to submit their work in a way that interests them, with guidance from their Core Learning Guides. For example: If a student has a STEM assignment to design a building or structure and the student is learning how to apply geometric principles (symmetry, angles, shapes, proportions) to design a building or structure... They could make a blueprint, 3D model, digital design, web portfolio, multimedia presentation, artwork, physical model with video explanation, or even an Augmented Reality simulation.

Click here to see some class examples.

Yes! This model is based on successful demonstrations with ASUPD and Khan World School, with high praise and excitement from current teachers. “As a teacher, it was not time consuming at all. Actually, it was MORE fun, engaging, and rewarding because I was able to get a better sense of my student's personality and gifts. And instead of grading many of the same submissions, they were as unique as my students.” – ASUPD teacher

Students at Khan World School have also demonstrated positive outcomes with this flexible assessment model. Based on average Exact Path scores, students exceeded the average growth in key learning areas at the beginning and end of the 2022-2023 school year.

• 4.6x the average growth in math

• 3.4x the average growth in reading

• 5.3x the average growth in language arts

No. These are a part of the required learning experiences that students will engage in each week. Tutorials dive into content-specific learning with a subject-matter expert in a small group setting virtually. Seminars are weekly interdisciplinary opportunities to engage with their community of “House” peers. Attendance is required at both of these.

Overall, the student: instructional adult ratio is 1:8

Instructional staff ratios:

• Core Learning Guides: 1:17

• Success Coaches (General/Literacy): 1:50

• Success Coaches (Special Education / Multi-language Learners): 1:20

All staff are available virtually. Success Coaches are also available in-person at hub sites.

Learn more: Staff Ratios

Upon enrollment Felix School staff will work with every student to create a Personalized Learning Plans that maps each student’s unique path to a high school diploma. It includes a sketch for when the student will engage in learning during the day, week, month, and year, and also includes extra and co-curriculars, like internships.

Components of a Personalized Learning Plan:

• Support Personnel: assigned Advisor and Success Coach(es)

• Diagnostic Results: ExactPath initial results against current results for literacy and math

• Path to Graduation: from time of enrollment to graduation

• Weekly Schedule: some students will have more flex blocks, others a more prescribed schedule

• Pace Plans for each enrolled course that track student progress towards goals set by the student and Advisor.

The school will meet the student learning time requirements as outlined in MA state law 603 CMR 27.02, and follow the definitions for structured learning time that count toward the 990 hours/180 days.

At Felix, learning can occur 24/7, as students may be engaged in course content and independent study at any time of day. Student schedules will be set between the student and their Advisor during Orientation Week. The cadence of scheduled time for student learning versus flexible time will be based on individual student needs.

Felix provides a mix of learning: 60% asynchronous (independent virtual) and 40% synchronous (live sessions with Core Learning Guides and peers). Learning time will be tracked using the Canvas LMS platform, which will be integrated into the school’s SIS. Felix will monitor to ensure Felix falls within compliance of the 990 hour mandate. Every student will have at least one visual, synchronous check with a Success Coach or Learning Guide every day. This will satisfy the visual check-in requirement as mandated by state law. The LMS tracks time students spend engaging in asynchronous course content. InSpace, our virtual campus, tracks the amount of time a student spends in the digital campus, including office hours and synchronous sessions.

Example student schedules demonstrate that students exceed the state’s minimum of 990 hours of “seat time.”

When students engage in content virtually, it unlocks a number of possibilities to enhance learning for multilingual learners and students with additional vision/hearing needs. For example, Microsoft Immersive Reader is embedded in all course content so that students can have content read aloud, translate entire blocks or words into 50+ languages, and get a visual of how to read the words with the syllables broken out. Additionally, Felix will utilize InSpace as its digital campus to ensure the school uses a platform that is human-centered and allows for choice and autonomy of movement for students to engage and collaborate.

Guided learning experiences, that students move through in a meaningful way each week, are the core ways in which community is created.

• House: every student is in a “house” of 17 students who share the same Advisor. This is there core cohort

• Seminar: Students meet with their House peers twice a week for a discussion-based seminar class, led by the House’s Advisor

• Tutorial: small group learning in each core subject

• Office Hours: all Core Learning Guides hold daily office hours for students to drop in (virtually) and ask questions. Student can see when the office is “open” in the digital campus, and may run into peers who have similar questions

• Peer Tutoring: as students demonstrate mastery in each course, they are encouraged to engage in peer tutoring to further their mastery of content and positively contribute to peer learning

• InSpace Digital Campus: Felix utilizes a digital campus that is human-centered and encourages autonomy of movement and collaboration in the virtual campus. Students can move through hallways, drop into Core Learning Guide’s office spaces, or engage in a student lounge where they can more naturally “bump into” peers and adults in the virtual space