Welcome to Explorer Academy! We ask that all visitors come into the office to sign-in before going to the classrooms to meet with advisors.
Explorer Academy is located near the South Kitsap High School baseball field. Drive down the hill along the baseball field. Turn right at home plate. Continue to the top of the small hill. Turn right into the parking lot. The office is located in the house.
Explorer Academy has a small campus. When coming onto campus please follow the directional signs for traffic flow when picking up and dropping off your student.
If you are visiting campus for your monthly advisor meeting please park in the lined visitor parking in front of the building or in the gravel pull-in along the baseball field.
Please leave the space along the tree line for parents lining up to pick-up or drop-off.
If you are a student in High School and drive your own car we require that you fill out a parking pass form, pay the fee at the High School ASB office. Students are required to park in the gravel lot by the Fast Pitch field.
As a parent partner alternative school, Explorer Academy has a unique definition of "attendance".
Students receive most of their instruction at home from parent(s). Parents must maintain accurate records of study time at home.
Elementary students should average at least 5 hours per school day.
Full-time secondary (MS/HS) students should average at least 6 hours per school day.
Students are required to attend on-campus classes and conferences at least five hours each week. Explorer offers a variety of on-campus opportunities. Many secondary students fulfill the requirement by enrolling in one or two courses at SKHS.
Students and parents are required to attend biweekly update conferences with their Consulting Teacher.
Note: The attendance guidelines for Explorer Academy students enrolled in the
Explorer VSP Online School may vary from the above description. See your Consulting Teacher for details.
Explorer Academy is a K-12 school environment. Older students set an example that younger students will often want to follow. Students are asked to wear clothing that is neat, clean, and suitable for school. Listed below are examples of clothing which interfere with or distract from the educational process, or depict something illegal or lewd, and are unacceptable:
Sagging and oversized pants
Extremely tight or see-through clothing
Pajamas, robes, or slippers
Spaghetti strap tops, crop tops, or other midriff shirts
Clothing that reveals undergarments, cleavage, navel, back, or midriff
Short skirts/dresses, miniskirts, or short shorts
Clothing that advertise drugs, alcohol, or illegal products
Clothing that identifies gang colors
*This is in addition to South Kitsap School District’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook
Skyward Family Access gives you the ability to view your student’s academic progress and attendance, communicate with teachers via secure messaging, request demographic changes electronically, and much more!
Family Access is conveniently accessed over the internet using a secure Login ID assigned to you by the school’s main office.
Areas in Family Access will differ slightly depending on if your student is in elementary, middle, or high school.
Logging in to Family Access
From the Quick Links Menu choose Skyward
When logging in for the first time, use the Login ID provided to you by your student’s school and click “Forgot your Login/Password”to create your password.
Once you have successfully logged in, you will get a page asking for your email address. Click the blue hyperlink that says “Account” to enter an email address. This will allow you to retrieve your password should you forget it in the future and also makes your email address available to your student’s teachers.
More Than One Student
If you have more than one student in the South Kitsap School District, click on the arrow next to All Students (located directly under the Family Access header). You may choose between your students here.
Skyward Family Access Menu
Home –Allows you to view messages posted by the school. If you have unread messages, a link appears that states “You have unread messages” at the top of the Home page.
New Student Pre-Registration – Allows you to enroll a new student in the South Kitsap School District (e.g., a kindergarten sibling)
Annual Verification and Acknowledgement – This tab is available for a short period of time at the beginning of the school year and is used to verify student information and document your acknowledgement and understanding of the SKSD Attendance Policies and your Rights and Responsibilities.
Calendar –Displays upcoming events in chronological order. The calendar is also visible on the far right side of the home tab.
Gradebook – View your student’s current year Gradebook data for all classes.
Attendance – View your student’s tardies and absences here. You may also enter an absence request here.
Student Info – View demographic, family, emergency contact and other student-specific information.
Schedule – View your student’s current and next year schedules.
Activities – View your student’s current year activities (e.g., softball, ASB, etc.)
Educational Milestones – View your student’s assigned and completed Educational Milestones.
Graduation Requirements – View your student’s progress towards meeting Coursework Requirement Areas according to their Graduation Plan.
Report Cards/Attachments – View your student’s report cards and other documents (such as attendance letters)
Skylert – Manage subscriptions to receive General, Emergency, and/or Attendance notifications from the school. Update your phone numbers and email address here.
Health Info – Displays your student’s vaccination records (as provided by you)
Login History – Allows you to view a history of the times you have signed in to Family Access.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:What if my information is incorrect?
A: Primary phone numbers, home and work phone numbers, and email addresses can be updated through the Skylert tab. To change or correct any other information, please contact your student’s school.
Q:What if I forget my password?
A: If you forget your password, please click on the ‘Forgot Login/Password’ link on the Skyward Family Access home page. If you did not enter an email address, you will need to go, in person, to the school to retrieve your password.
Q:Should I let my student use my account to see their information?
A: Students have their own access via Skyward Student Access. They are able to access the Student Portal from the district’s website- www.skschools.org
Every student at Explorer Academy has a Chrome book checked out to them once they are accepted and after their initial meeting with their advisor.
Students will need to wait 24-48 hours before they can access and/or log into their Chrome books utilizing their Skyward generated user name and password. It takes the computer system 24 hours after the student has been registered to accept and apply the credentials to the student.
Be contacted by Academic Advisor See steps 3 &4 for Summer Application processes– This will likely be the teacher your student would work with during the school year, however in some cases it may not be.
Complete the Orientation course - The course contains general information about our online platform and gives our staff an accurate picture of a student’s ability to maneuver and successfully progress in online education. There is an assessment at the end of this course, applicants must achieve a minimum score of 70% to be considered for enrollment. As online learning is not necessarily a good fit for every student, this course will help both you and the Explorer staff determine the best educational placement for a student.
Middle and HS: Applications received before June 10 will be processed and completed before the end of the school year. Applications received after June 10 will be processed periodically through the summer. However, the orientation course will not begin until August 15 and the application process will be completed when teachers return to school the week of August 29, 2022.
Elementary Students: Applications received before June 17th will be contacted/processed before the teacher leaves for summer. Due to the need to order curriculum, applications received after the 17th of June will be processed and families will be contacted throughout the summer (usually within a week or two of an application being received).
Applications will be processed in the order they were received. If a grade level becomes full we will post it on our website.
We thank you for your interest in Explorer Academy and we look forward to working with you.
