[CharterSchools] Why Virtual Schooling is becoming more of a realistic option to families

[charterschools at LACharter.org]

Why VirtualSchooling is becoming more of a realistic option to families

LouisianaConnections Academy, the statewide public charter school, has seen enrollmentblossom
 
Tre’von Cooper is a high schoolstudent who lives in Kentwood, Louisiana and everyday he goes to class with hisgodmother. 
Angel Pickering is an elementaryschool student in Baker, Louisiana who likes staying at home to do herclasswork, so she can be with her dog named Clifford.


Ashton Gorman lives in Minden. Hedid great in a traditional school, until the third grade where he startedgetting so stressed and distracted by the school day, that he could barely getthrough his homework. Now in middle school, he’s getting the extra help heneeds.


All three of these students havedifferent needs, but all are getting their K-12 education at what is now one ofthe largest charter schools in Louisiana: Connections Academy, a completelyvirtual public school.


And there are more than 2000students like them.


Louisiana Connections Academy isa completely on-line school, where the student connects with their entirecurriculum and all their teachers and classmates through the Internet.


“It’s a very 21st century phenomenon,” said LeadPrincipal Glenda Jones. “We reach every child, including those who were on theverge of falling through the cracks in a more conventional classroom.”


Louisiana Connections Academy isone of dozens of charter schools authorized by the Louisiana Board ofElementary and Secondary Education to serve students from every parish in thestate. It is free and offers a certified state education, but children learnfrom their home computer, while a guardian, like Tre’von’s godmother, is in thehouse.


“Virtual education works becauseit mirrors the technological age we are in,” said Ms. Jones. “Some countriesare even teaching over a child’s smart phone.”


Schools like LouisianaConnections Academy offer these benefits to enrolled families:


•               School Choice. Back in the day, “school choice” meant either going to yourzoned public high school or forking over tuition for a parochial or privateschool that differed mainly in uniform color. But choice in education is now amany-splendored thing. Thanks to a completely online K-12 school like LouisianaConnections Academy, even students in the smallest and most remote parishes canchoose an alternative public school.


•               Course-Level Choice. Part of the appeal of online/blended schools is the breadth ofcurriculum options. No course is too obscure to offer: Latin IV, AP Calculus BCand Advanced Medical Billing are among the 500+ courses in the Connections catalog.


•               Personalized LearningPlans. Before online learning, the only students who haddocumented learner profiles were typically those in special education, saidPrincipal Jones. Mainstream students basically were handled asone-size-fits-all within an age/grade cohort, with the only differentiationbeing the kind of tracking that sent some students down the path to collegewhile others went to a business track. At Connections, every enrolled studenthas a personalized plan that takes into account his or her learning style,goals, strengths and weaknesses to drive program level and pacing in a flexibleway. That’s why a student like Ashton Gorman, who was diagnosed with ADHD, isnow excelling.


•               Role of Data. Louisiana Connections Academy relies on the constant flow ofdetailed information about student performance to personalize and individualizeinstruction for each student. Based on this data flow, students are grouped andregrouped for extra help or extension activities, teachers interveneone-on-one, and school leaders reach out to parents for deeper concerted actionto get a student back on track. “The students themselves are the biggest datageeks of all, watching their online dashboards like hawks and knowing exactlywhat score they need to get on the next quiz or essay to bump their running GPAup to the next level,” said LACA High School Principal Shuanessy Matthews.


•               Advanced Digital Tools. LACA Students have at least one dedicated, school-provided computingdevice, but students cycle rather nimbly from smart phone to tablet to laptopto flat-screen as they interact with curriculum, communicate with teachers andpeers, read texts and present their work.


•               Coaching. In online learning, parents are hands-on in their child’seducation, acting as a learning coach  monitoring their child’sperformance across the curriculum and helping them develop the time managementand self-advocacy skills they will need for school success.


•               Blurring of Boundaries. With a personalized learning plan for every student, a digitalcurriculum that each student can access and work through directly, andteaching/coaching resources devoted to individual student success, onlineeducation can blur the lines between levels of education to extend eachstudent’s path up and down. The freshman who’s reading at the 6th grade levelcan get the remediation she needs while surrounded by peers. The ambitioussophomore can knock off high school credits by the end of junior year and get ayear of college under their belt before graduation.
 


“For our families, this is theway school should be…integrated into every aspect of their lives,”said Principal Jones. 
 
ABOUT LOUISIANACONNECTIONS ACADEMY 

(www.LouisianaConnectionsAcademy.com)
 Louisiana Connections Academy is the state’s leading provider ofhigh-quality, free public virtual charter schooling for grades K through 12.Louisiana Connections Academy offers a superior, personalized education forstudents, offered by Louisiana certified teachers, with the freedom andflexibility of an online education that meets the state’s standards. As anonline charter school, students access their lessons anytime, anywhere as longas they have the technology, tools and support of their family. Accountabilityfor meeting high academic student performance is monitored by the non-profitcharter board, Friends of Louisiana Connections Academy, Wade Henderson,President. The charter school is authorized by the Louisiana Board ofElementary and Secondary Education to accept students from any parish in thestate. 1200 students attended for the 2012-2013 school year. Principal CarolineWood has expanded the school curriculum to include tutoring, summer school,dual enrollment programs and high quality electives, such as e-learning coursesat Juilliard. The school is headquartered in Baton Rouge at 8281 GoodwoodBlvd., Ste J, (225) 372-8389. Student field trips, graduation ceremonies,parent-to-parent events and school information sessions are regularly scheduledand promoted at the school website.


 
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