The Parents Handbook

Getting ready for an online class

We ask our students to take the online classes as seriously as the in-person classes. During the class, students should watch, listen, and actively participate in the class discussions. We expect that students will be able to respond to questions, complete homework assignments in time, and be ready to play chess in a calm and respectful manner.

Workspace – please make sure that your child is working at a table, in a quiet room. Children must use computers, and no phones or iPads allowed. Please make sure that your child always has a camera and sound ON.

Homework is issued every week. The due date is not the day of your lesson, but rather next Sunday. Please make sure that the previous week’s homework is completed before starting next week’s assignments

Technical requirements

  • Stable and secure internet connection.
  • A computer with a Google Chrome browser installed. No tablet or phone is allowed.
  • A web camera. The camera and sound should be on during the whole class.
  • A headset. Students are required to wear headsets during the lesson.
  • We recommend that our youngest students have a monitor with 17” or more to work on. This will help them see the teacher’s materials better.

Parents' involvement

What previous school years had taught us, and through the feedback we received from parents, that online classes are difficult for many students. With that, your children might need more of your help throughout the week than when their classes are in person.

Parents are welcome to monitor kids’ activities. However, please stay outside of the camera view. Additionally, please, don’t engage in conversations with your child during class unless the microphone is muted. 
To ensure the privacy of our students we have zero tolerance for video recording of our live sessions. 

Conduct during online classes

  • Limit noise in the room. Microphones pick up all conversations and noises in the room. If there is a lot of background noise, the teacher may need to mute a student. 
  • Use of cell phones – the student should not be using a cell phone during the class.
  • Responsible and mature use of webcam – making silly faces and/or sounds is a great way to relax, but it can be very distracting during the class.
  • No eating during class. Please make sure to finish your meal before the beginning of class. Longer classes will have a break in the middle.
  • Focus on chess. Students sometimes like to use the chat option to discuss things unrelated to the class. We’ll provide some hang out time, so students can catch up, but we want to make sure to focus on chess during most of the class.
  • No browsing – please try to make sure that your child is not browsing the internet during class.
Although we generally do not record classes, NECS reserves the right to record classes and use them for training purposes and quality assurance.  We reserve the right to remove students from classes if homework and tests are not submitted on time. As well as if there is any behavior that disrupts the class. You will receive three warnings prior to this happening.

Schedule and holidays

NE Chess School is observing US national holidays and is closed during school vacations following Newton, MA public school system calendar. 

There are no makeup classes offered for days when NECS is scheduled to not have regular weekly classes. 
For up to date information on class schedule,  please go to: 

https://app.mainstreetsites.com/dmn3375/calendar.aspx