School of Christian Formation Online Courses

For course information and ordering go to the Courses page.

*In the online division, Old Testament Introduction and New Testament Introduction are combined as one course: Introduction to the Bible. Likewise, the Liturgy and Sacraments courses are combined as one course. Online students in the Diocese of Palm Beach receive credit for two courses in one. In all other dioceses, these courses are considered a single course.

FIRST STEPS:

• Review the Searchlight Virtual School policies.
• Complete the enrollment process and receive your Student Number.

AFTER ENROLLMENT:

• Be clear about your diocese’s certification requirements, so you know which courses to order. Catechists and Catholic school teachers in the Diocese of Palm Beach should review the certification page.
• Participants in the Dioceses of St. Augustine must choose specific courses pertinent to their diocesan requirements.
• Courses can be ordered and completed in any order. (Note: You must complete the enrollment process before ordering a course, unless you enrolled earlier for a different certification and already have a Student Number.)
• Depending on the course, each has a 3 to 4 month submission time frame.
• Each course requires the completion of one or more online tutorial(s) and the designated accompanying course materials.
• Each course also requires a text and the completion of the assessment materials designed for that text. It is the responsibility of the online student to acquire the textbook. The Searchlight Virtual School does not provide the required texts. All texts can be purchased online or by special order through a local bookstore.
• When a course is ordered, the course PDF is sent as an attachment to an e-mail. Directions for downloading and saving the PDF are also provided. PLEASE read and follow those directions.
• The electronic PDFs (forms) that are sent for each course have text fields into which all answers to questions, as well as reflections, must be entered. These electronic PDFs are not supported on mobile devices and must be used on a computer for them to work correctly. If you want to fill in your answers and reflections on a mobile device, obtain the free Adobe Fill & Sign App.
• To receive credit, the course PDF and any other requirements must be completed and submitted within the established time frame. Please attach your completed document to an e-mail to submit it for review. Send to: Michelle@SearchlightVS.com.
• You also have the option of printing the PDF and completing it by hand. If you do this, you will have to submit the completed work through the mail. Go to the contact page for the mailing address. Hand written documents are more difficult than typed ones to review, so please make every effort to keep your written work neat and legible.
• For an overview of the online courses, course objectives, and course requirements, click here.