California Language Academy Policies

Grading, Attendance, and Satisfactory Academic Progress Policies

1. Qualitative Standard

Students enrolled in any English Language program must maintain a cumulative grade of 80% and attendance of 80% by completion.

2. Attendance Percentage Calculation

Attendance percentages are calculated based on course minutes. A course that is 1.5 hours Monday through Thursday has a total class time of 6 hours per week. If a student is late 15 minutes to one class, the student is marked present for 1.25 hours on that day. At the end of the week, the student attended 5.75 hours. 5.75 hours divided by the possible 6 hours gives the student an attendance percentage of 96%.

3. Evaluation of Student Progress

Counselling sessions are held every 4 weeks. During the counselling sessions students are given a progress report that will state the student’s cumulative grade and attendance percentages. If the student is below the required minimum attendance and/or grade percentage, the student will be placed on probation until the student meets the minimum required standards. At the end of the term, if the student has not met the program requirements they will not receive a certificate of completion or advance to the next level and will need to repeat the course.

4. Student Satisfaction Policy

Program Evaluations are requested from every student that enrolls in a program at California Language Academy. These evaluations are conducted at the mid-point and the end of every term, as well as at the end of each student’s enrollment, with Google Forms. The purpose of the Program Evaluation is to provide feedback to the school on the following categories: programs, teachers, materials, and classrooms.
On a Program Evaluation form, the student evaluation is broken down into several categories, with each of the categories consisting of multiple questions. The students rate each question by selecting a score between 1 and 4. The highest possible score is 4 and the lowest possible score is 1.
Each individual Program Evaluation is reviewed, the scores are compiled in an excel sheet from google forms. If any of the questions had low scores (a scores of 1 or 2 are considered low), a follow up meeting may be conducted with the student to understand what could have been done differently to make improvements to the operations of the school.
The information that is gathered is compiled with other evaluations of a similar nature and the overall results are reviewed in detail. Each category must have an overall score of 80% or better (3.2 out of 4). If any category dips below 80% careful scrutiny must be placed, and the category must be evaluated for the reasons that it has fallen below 80% and how to improve the rating to above 80%.
In addition, every 4 weeks in a term students are counselled by their teachers, and any other necessary staff, regarding progress and any feedback the student has for the school. The comments from these discussions are saved on the student’s progress report and in the student file.
Surveys for host families and residences are given to the students utilizing those services at the mid-point and end of their stay. Activity surveys are given to students at the completion of an activity.
Periodically, the results of the evaluations are shared with teachers, host families and activity leaders. If there are trends for any teacher, homestay, residence or activity leader that show consistent low ratings they will be placed on probation. A detailed corrective action plan will be placed in their file and shared with them. If they continue to receive low ratings, they will be terminated.
The Academic Manager, or the Campus Operations Manager if the AM is not able, gives all of the program evaluations to the students and the Accommodations Coordinator, or COM, gives the accommodation surveys to the students. All scores are reviewed and tracked. At the end of every evaluation period, this excel document is sent to the Director of Academic Affairs and the COO.
If there are any low scores or comments that need to be addressed, this information is immediately passed on via email to the evaluated person who is given the specifics on the feedback provided. All feedback is taken into consideration during staff annual reviews and in the September annual review of the entire academy including its programs. The Accommodations Coordinator, Student Services Coordinator, and Academic Manager informally question all students at the end of their first week about their courses, homestay, teachers, etc. in order to ensure that they are content with all aspects
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of the program. If any concerns arise, they are emailed to the appropriate staff member for further attention. The Mid-term evaluation forms are collected by the Accommodations Coordinator and results are forwarded on to the Campus Operations Manager for review.

5. Attendance & Academic Probation

A student will be placed on Attendance probation if their cumulative attendance falls below 80% . The student will be placed on Academic probation if their cumulative grade falls below 80% for all Programs at the time they are given a progress report.
A written warning letter will be issued to the student stating that their attendance/grade has fallen below the required minimum standards and needs to show improvement.
The student is placed on a two-week probationary period and must show attendance improvement over the next two weeks.
If the student shows continued improvement during the two-week probationary period and has raised their cumulative attendance/grade percentage above the required minimum standards then the student will be removed from probation. This does not mean that the student’s attendance/grade can dip below the required minimum standards. If a student comes off of Probation and his/her attendance/grade drops below the minimum standards again they will be issued a final warning letter and will be at risk of being dropped from the program.
If the cumulative attendance/grade percentage is still below the required minimum at the end of the two-week probationary period, but the student has shown improvement and is moving toward raising their attendance/grade percentage, they will remain on probation until they have raised their cumulative attendance/grade percentage above the required minimum standards. This is monitored every 2 weeks.
If however the student’s cumulative attendance/grade is still below minimum required standards and has not shown continued improvement, then the student will be issued a final warning letter stating that the student must show improvement over the next 2 weeks.
If after the final 2 weeks the student’s attendance has not shown improvement, the student will be removed from the program and no refund will be issued.

6. Vacations Policy

Students accumulate vacation on a 12:4 ratio. This means for every 12 weeks of consecutive study, the student will accumulate 4 weeks of vacation. The maximum length of accumulated vacations is 1 month. Therefore a student that has studied for 4 months or more may take up to 1 month vacation. Students must be in good standing to be eligible to take vacations. Good standing is defined as having an attendance percentage of 80% or greater and an overall grade of 80% or greater. If either of these criteria is not met, the student will not be eligible to take a vacation until both criteria are met. In order to take a vacation, students must complete a vacation request form prior to taking the vacation. The vacation request form needs to state the vacation start and end dates, the reason for the vacation, and it must be approved by the Academic Studies Manager or the Center Director. Students must also notify to International Officer or DSO 2 weeks in advance to apply for vacation.

7. Leave of Absence Policy

A student needing a Leave of Absence for medical or personal emergency reasons may request a Leave of Absence of up to 8 weeks. The student must submit a written request with adequate evidence or supporting documentation for a leave of absence in advance of the beginning date of the leave of absence unless unforeseen circumstances prevent the student from doing so. If a student does not request a leave of absence within a timeframe consistent with the consecutive absences policy, s/he must be withdrawn from the program.

Upon returning, the student will be given a level assessment and will be placed into the appropriate level at that time; which may be a lower level depending on the length of the leave of absence and the point of the term in which the student resumes.

Cancellation & Refund Policy

1.Tuition Refund Policy

Cancellations prior to the first day of class or a no show: Student is eligible for a full tuition refund minus any non-refundable fees including application fees, shipping fees, materials, travel insurance fees and any other relevant fees.
If the student entered the US on a CLA I-20: Student is responsible for all the tuition charges for up to four weeks of the first term/session, and any non-refundable fees including application fees, shipping fees, materials, travel insurance fees and any other relevant fees.

For cancellations on or after the first day of class (enrollments of 1 – 4 weeks): Student is responsible for all the tuition charges for up to four weeks, and any non-refundable fees including application fees, shipping fees, materials, travel insurance fees and any other relevant fees.

For cancellations on or after the first day of class (enrollments of 5+ weeks): If the student completes 50% or more of the enrollment, no refund will be issued. Any cancellation before 50% completion of the course will be issued a refund at the appropriate tier rate for the new enrollment with a minimum of 4 weeks charged.

For extensions, any cancellation before 50% of the enrollment will be charged at the appropriate tier rate for the new enrollment. Any difference will be refunded. Any cancellation after 50% of the enrollment is completed will not be refunded.

All refunds are made to the original fee payer. When determining the number of weeks, CLA will consider a partial week the same as a full week.

All students are asked to complete a Course Cancellation Request, but it is not required in order to receive a refund.

All refunds are subject to bank fee charges. These fees may be deducted from your total refund due.

2.Accommodation Refund Policy

Accommodation cancellations must give 4 weeks notice. From the date of notification, fees of 4 weeks will be charged plus any other relevant fees.
All students must complete an Accommodation Cancellation Request in order to receive a refund.

3.Non-Refundable Services

Application, materials, activities and transportation services are non-refundable. Application fees are one-time fees charged at the time of enrollment. Materials fees are charged at each change in level.

4. Student’s Right to Cancel

Students who cancel prior to the start date or on the start date, will receive payment of the refund within 45 days of start date. Students who withdraw after the start date will receive payment of the refund within 45 days of the notification of withdrawal.

If a student withdraws or shortens their course after the first day of class, but before completing 50% of their contracted number of weeks, the student will be charged full price for the number of weeks completed with calculating a refund. All tuition discounts or special offers are dependent upon completion of the total contracted weeks of study. If the student has received federal student financial aid funds, the student is entitled to a refund of moneys not paid from federal student financial aid program funds.

If a student obtains a loan to pay for an educational program, the student will have the responsibility to repay the full amount of the loan plus interest, less the amount of any refund. If the student is eligible for a loan guaranteed by the federal or state government and the student defaults on the loan, both of the following may occur:

The federal or state government or a loan guarantee agency may take action against the student, including applying any income tax refund to which the person is entitled to reduce the balance owed on the loan.

The student may not be eligible for any other federal student financial aid at another institution or other government assistance until the loan is repaid.

5. Termination/Withdrawal

Students will be withdrawn and terminated for multiple consecutive absences.
1. Absence Threshold: A student who is absent for 12 consecutive class days will be withdrawn from the program.
2. Withdrawal Procedure: Upon reaching 12 consecutive class day absences, the student will be contacted by the
Academic Manager to discuss the situation.
3. Reinstatement: If a student is withdrawn due to consecutive absences but wishes to re-enroll, they must go
through the re-enrollment process, which may include meeting with program administrators to discuss attendance expectations.

6. Special Considerations for ESL 18 Program

1. For students attending the ESL.18 program schedule, where attendance is scheduled for two days per week:
a. Day Definition: A class day of attendance is defined as 4.5 clock hours.
b. Full Day Definition: A full day of absence is considered as 9 clock hours, which is equivalent to two class days
of absence under this policy.

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> To learn more about the ACCET Complaint Procedure, please click here.

> Download CLA’s Student Handbook click here.