Beloit Daily News (WI) Learning online and at home Virtual school offers families alternatives

Beloit Daily News (WI)
Learning online and at home
Virtual school offers families alternatives
By Rebekah Danaher
Daily News staff writer

February 14, 2006

“A-E-I-O-U.”

Six-year-old Nathan Walker rapidly blurted out his vowels.

As a kindergartner, Nathan should be learning phonics. But, Nathan already knows how to read.

Joanne Walker smiles. Though proud, she is reluctant to brag about her son's smarts. But, she said, she and her husband, Jerod, did notice their eldest son - when in preschool - was learning rapidly for his age.

“We knew he was progressing pretty early,” she said. “We wanted to be able to go at his pace.”

That's when they started considering alternative school options for Nathan. They looked into private school and homeschooling, but found something that offered the flexibility to keep up with Nathan's voracious learning yet structured enough so Joanne didn't feel the teaching burden was entirely on her.

They found the Wisconsin Virtual Academy.

Chartered through the Northern Ozaukee School District, the instruction is conveyed in a number of ways. There are 15 full-time certified teachers connected to the virtual classroom from all over the state. Parents direct much of the scheduling of the school day but the instructors dictate assignments, check homework, and even conduct online classes.

Elluminate software, designed for virtual schools, allows direct messaging, an electronic white board for writing notes and even a sharable document that lets students work collectively on writing projects.

School Principal Dan Hanrahan said a common misunderstanding about virtual schools - which haven't been popular with teacher union leadership - is that students are always in front of a computer.

That isn't the case, Hanrahan says. The students also have text books and work books and reading assignments. Work is submitted through the computer but young students spend only about 10 percent of their school day online and older students about 50 percent.

Hanrahan said the school caters to gifted and challenged students alike, allowing them to progress at their own speed.

“I think the individualness of it is the greatest strength,” he said.

Nathan is expected to complete first grade math by the end of the school year, according to Joanne.

“I already know how to county by 10s,” Nathan says, rattling them off up to 100.

Students are assessed at the end of every lesson or unit to determine whether they've captured the essential understandings. They are also tested like all public school students through the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam. The school has only been in existence for three years, so it's still early to tell how its students will rank on the standardized testing over time, according to Hanrahan.

Parental involvement is key to the school's success. Joanne says she enjoys keeping up with the curriculum and appreciates the freedom it allots. Because Jerod is the pastor of children's ministry at Central Christian Church, he works on Sundays and so takes his weekend on Friday and Saturday. Nathan, then, does school Sunday through Thursday. As long as he completes 180 days of school, Joanne said they are free to arrange their days as they please.

The Walkers admit some concern about social opportunities for their son as he gets older. But for now he's involved in a hockey league and church activities and seems to be adjusting just fine to his virtual classroom.

Nathan isn't phased by the fact that he does his work through virtual correspondence. Aside from preschool, it's the only school he's known.

“I know my teacher but I've just never seen her,” he explains.

The course work for a kindergartner involves language arts, phonics, history, science, music and math.

Nathan also gave himself his own assignment after seeing an advertisement on a PBS program about a writing contest. With the help of his mom's penmanship, Nathan has written a short story that he hopes to turn into a book to submit to the competition.

Nathan's twin sisters Janessa and Janaya, 4, and 20-month-old Nolan aren't quite ready for school yet but Jerod and Joanne will have to decide whether to enroll them in the virtual school as well. The twins are showing similar abilities in preschool and Jerod thinks perhaps they too would benefit from the flexibility.

“It's not an anti-Beloit schools thing,” said Jerod, speaking highly of the district. “We love the local teachers. It was what was best for Nathan.”

Parents pay a $30 student fee like most public schools. Hanrahan said the cost to operate the virtual school is actually less per student than brick and mortar schools at $6,000 per year as opposed to $8,000-$12,000 per student.

The primary expense is the technology. Parents are provided with the computers and are reimbursed for their Internet expenses.

There are about 600 students around the state participating in the virtual classes but Hanrahan said there's plenty of room for more, with a maximum enrollment of 2,000.

The open enrollment window for entrance into the virtual school ends Feb. 24. There will be a parent information session in Beloit at 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the Ramada Inn of Greater Beloit.