Help Center / Courses & Syllabi

Courses & Syllabi

Build and manage the curriculum for your flight school.


Courses

A Course is a top-level program — e.g. "Private Pilot Certificate", "Instrument Rating", "CFI Initial". Each course can contain multiple syllabi (e.g. one for the standard 40-hour path, another for accelerated training).

Creating a course

  1. Go to Admin → Academy → Courses → New Course
  2. Enter the course name, description, and applicable FAA certificate/rating
  3. Save — the course appears in the course list and is ready for syllabi

Syllabi

A Syllabus is the detailed lesson plan within a course. It defines the sequence of stages and lessons a student works through.

Creating a syllabus

  1. Open a course and click New Syllabus
  2. Name it (e.g. "Standard PPL Syllabus — Part 61")
  3. Add Stages

Stages

A Stage groups related lessons — e.g. "Stage 1: Pre-Solo", "Stage 2: Post-Solo Maneuvers", "Stage 3: Cross-Country". Each stage ends with a Stage Check that must be passed before the next stage begins.

To add a stage: open the syllabus → Add Stage → enter name and description.

Lessons

Each stage contains Lessons — individual training sessions. For each lesson, define:

  • Title (e.g. "Lesson 4: Steep Turns and Stalls")
  • Objectives — what the student should demonstrate
  • References — FAR/AIM sections, ACS task codes
  • Estimated duration (ground and flight)
  • Prerequisite lessons (if any)

To add a lesson: open a stage → Add Lesson.


Grading scale

Lessons and stage checks are graded on a standard scale:

Grade Meaning
Introduced Topic was introduced; student not yet expected to demonstrate proficiency
Practiced Student practiced the task; more work needed
Proficient Student demonstrated proficiency to ACS/PTS standards
Unsatisfactory Student did not meet standards; must be retaught before advancing

Instructors select a grade for each lesson objective after each flight.


Stage checks

A Stage Check is a formal evaluation at the end of each stage. It is conducted by a check instructor (typically a different instructor than the student's primary CFI) to simulate a checkride environment.

Configuring stage checks: Set who can conduct stage checks in Admin → Settings → Academy. You can restrict it to specific admin/check instructors.

Scheduling a stage check: When a student has completed all lessons in a stage, the admin or student requests a stage check from the student's progress page.

Recording a stage check result: Go to Admin → Academy → Stage Checks → [Check] and record Pass/Fail along with any debrief notes.


Publishing a syllabus

Syllabi are in Draft status by default. Students cannot be enrolled in a draft syllabus. When your syllabus is ready, click Publish from the syllabus page.

You can update a published syllabus at any time. Students already enrolled see the updated version; their existing grades are preserved.

Courses & Syllabi — Help Center | Canopy