Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) - A virtual education Northern Ozaukee district plans to make online high school available statewide

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
A virtual education
Northern Ozaukee district plans to make online high school available statewide
By DAN BENSON

Dec. 19, 2006

Fredonia - The Northern Ozaukee School Board will expand the district's online school offerings by creating a virtual high school that would be available to students statewide beginning next fall.

Superintendent William Harbron said the school, called Honors High Online of Wisconsin, initially will serve students in grades 9 and 10.

The district already offers online classes for students in kindergarten through eighth grades through its Wisconsin Virtual Academy, which the district established three years ago.

Like the K-8 program, the online high school will use curriculum, textbooks and other materials provided by Virginia-based K12 Inc., Harbron said.

Harbron said he expects about 200 students to enroll in the online high school next fall, adding to the 685 students enrolled in the K-8 program and generating about $125,000 in revenue for the district.

Harbron said adding the online high school is a natural progression for the district.

"We have a number of students (in Wisconsin Virtual Academy) who wish to advance into high school and wonder what to do next," Harbron said. "It's just a natural bridge for us to evolve into the high school."

The high school course list covers subjects in math, science, English, history, foreign language and health, according to the School District.

Besides the online schools, the Northern Ozaukee district has one elementary, one middle and one high school with a total enrollment of about 850 students.

The high school, grades 9 through 12, has about 300 students, Harbron said.

The online school allows students to study at home but also includes an online classroom function in which kids use Webcams to see each other and their teachers. They even can click a button to raise a "hand" icon.

Teachers also use the software to tutor students one on one, update parents and attend online staff meetings with other teachers.

Online classes for 11th-graders will be added in 2008 and for 12th-graders in 2009, Harbron said.

The district has hired Leslye Moraski Erickson to be principal of Honors High Online. Erickson has been a consultant to Wisconsin Virtual Academy the past four years and was principal of Denmark High School in Brown County before that.

Harbron said the district likely will hire "four or five" full-time teachers, depending on how many students enroll, and use the district's existing support services and staff to operate the online school.

The district's Wisconsin Virtual Academy employs 19 teachers throughout the state.

Students from across the state can apply to enroll in the new charter school during the state's open enrollment period, Feb. 5 to 23.
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