How It Works
How Online Elementary School Works
Who can attend?
Career Academy of Utah (CAU) is a K–12 online charter school currently enrolling full-time students in grades K–9 for the 2022–2023 academic school year.* The CAU elementary school program serves students in grades K–5 who reside in the state of Utah.
What's my role as a parent?
As a parent, you (or another responsible adult you choose) serve as your child's Learning Coach. You'll work with your child's teacher to help record student attendance, monitor mastery of online lessons and assessments, and review student work.
Parent/Learning Coach involvement is vital to your child's success, especially at the elementary level. The typical Learning Coach time commitment in grades K–5 is 4–6 hours a day. The initial 4–8 weeks can be intensive, as your family settles into a routine. But Career Academy of Utah provides a dedicated support system to our families, so you don't have to go it alone.
Grades K–2
Parent/Learning Coach daily involvement is critical and approximately 10–15 percent of this time is online.
Grades 3–5
Students begin to have increased independence, but parent/Learning Coach involvement is essential for about 70–80 percent of school time and approximately 15–25 percent of this time is online.
What will my child study?
Coursework is a mix of online and hands-on work, which caters to a wide variety of learning styles. Unit and course assessments are built in to each subject, and easy-to-use online planning and progress tools keep you and your student on track.
K–5th graders take courses in the core subjects listed below. Beginning in grade 3, they also take a self-guided elective course in music or a world language.
Mastering Lessons
In the elementary grades, students are required to show mastery of each lesson by achieving 80 percent or better on all lesson assessments. If your child is having difficulty mastering a lesson, let their homeroom teacher know as soon as possible. Teachers offer many support sessions to help students learn new concepts.
Working with Your Teacher
Teachers provide individual and small group assistance via online synchronous sessions called "Class Connects." Students are expected to attend all required Class Connects and meet with their teacher to receive course assistance, tutoring, and instruction. Class Connects vary by grade level and are scheduled by your teacher.
Attendance
All students enrolled for the entire school year must attend 180 instructional days per school year. The total instructional days are prorated based on the student’s start date. The daily amount of expected instructional time for K–5th grade is 5 hours.
Grades K–2
Estimate approximately 4–5 hours of productive schoolwork 5 days per week
Grades 3–5
Estimate approximately 5–7 hours of effective schoolwork 5 days per week
Assessments
Our testing is purposeful and meaningful and drives our instructional practices to best serve the individual needs of your child.
State Testing
Career Academy of Utah students must comply with all Utah-mandated testing requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to apply?
Students must reside in the state of Utah. To enroll for the 2022–2023 academic school year, students must be entering grades K–9.
How do I enroll my student?
Visit the How to Enroll page on the CAU website for information on enrolling your student.
Questions?
Get answers to the most common FAQs.
Ready to Join Us?
Create or access your existing Parent Portal account to begin the enrollment process.
*Career Academy of Utah will enroll students in grades K–9 for the 2022–2023 school year. Initial enrollment is limited to 750 students, and grades 10–12 will be added in subsequent years. If the number of applications received during the open enrollment period exceeds the number of available spaces, Career Academy Utah will hold a lottery immediately following the open enrollment period. Students whose applications are not selected by the lottery may opt to be placed on an enrollment waitlist.
