The Potter's School, often abbreviated TPS, is an online Christian academy primarily for home-educated students and missionary kids. Teachers and students meet weekly or biweekly via online live conferencing. Hundreds of students participate in TPS classes each year, and hundreds more are alumni. Students are often referred to as "TPSers."
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This school uses GP, or GatherPlace, and also the StudyPlace platform to provide communication between teachers and students, as well as a social forum. The social forum is maintained by a team of student moderators made up of current TPS students.
Throughout the year, students and teachers meet face to face in TPS's annual missions trips to Thailand, France, China, or other locations around the globe. Miracle Mountain Ranch in Pennsylvania also hosts The Potter's School twice a year for Winter Camp and Summer Camp.
Cost
The Potter School typically costs $498 for a two semester class or $239 for a one semester class. While this is the general price line, it does vary.
School format
During the academic school year, TPS class sessions usually meet once for 90 minutes per week. Some classes, such as mathematics, Advanced Placement, and Language classes, meet twice per week. The conference interface includes audio, whiteboard, slide show presentations, and more, all with live annotation markup. Teachers use the live class session to provide group instruction in important or difficult areas and to spot-check student progress through Q&A.
Prior to the school year 2013-2014, TPS used a Moodle-based LMS system to run its StudyPlace platform. However, since the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, the school has switched to using a newer system, GatherPlace, created from scratch by GatherWorks, Inc. On both the old and new site, students can efficiently view details about their coming due assignments, assignment grades, as well as messages sent by teachers. The new site includes an updated User Interface, a mobile version, attendance records, and section student information.
TPS's student resources include a social forum officially called "Student Discussions" but often referred to as "The Forums." However, despite controversy from the students, The Potter School's Director, Jeff Gilbert, removed the popular social network for the students called 'Mahara' back in 2010. This network was later replaced with a new and improved version of "The Forums" to many of the student's delight.