Illinois Online High Schools

Committee of 10 answers consolidation questions

admin — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:44:16 +0000

Distance learning comes with costs
The opposition has suggested we offer more online courses. The Virtual High School course offerings are not free. The quality and commitment of teachers is not guaranteed. Avon students have had a poor experience with this method while costing the district additional money. On-line learning cannot compare to the hands-on, in-person, experiences and interactions of the classroom. Dual-credit classes can be expanded due to the increased high school student enrollment under the same roof in our own building. Carl Sandburg College will send teachers to the students. The efficiency of a high school increases with the proposed enrollment figures for the consolidated district. This is due to the ability of the consolidated district to better maintain full classes and keep staff with full teaching schedules.

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School District Consolidation Isn’t as Simple as It Seems

admin — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 03:32:35 +0000

Doing so will require us to reexamine some deep-seated assumptions about how public education should be governed and controlled in this country. It may be the case, for example, that our traditional faith in local control by elected municipal school boards cannot cope with today’s changing demographics, new opportunities for digital learning, intense fiscal pressures, or urbanization. We may also need to rethink how we fund our schools since traditional school-funding schemes based on dramatically varying property values and income levels yield results that are neither equitable nor efficient.

Although many consider school governance to be either boring or untouchable, some localized efforts that begin to address our outdated governance structures are underway. Mayors in New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., have taken control of their cities’ school systems, and governors in Washington state and California seek greater control of their state systems. Charter schools are demonstrating new forms of local control, through both independent charter schools and charter-management organizations. And virtual schools present still more alternative governance arrangements.

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Against consolidating Abingdon, Avon and Bushnell-Prairie City schools

admin — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:23:08 +0000

2. Increased costs per student — There is bound to be increased costs per student. The cost of everything is going up. As we have just shown our number of students is remaining stable, so with increased overall operating costs it is bound to cost more per student. This is really not an issue for B-PC and Abingdon, but it is for Avon. The cost per student in the Avon district would naturally be alarming because of the low student enrollment for the district. The only current concern for B-PC should be making sure our school dollars are spent effectively because times are tough.

3. Impact on curricular opportunities — The committee of 10 stated 92 possible new courses that could be added if the consolidation passes. Of the 92 proposed courses B-PC currently offers 28. We, the members of the Just Vote No committee, believe there are alternatives that would allow us to offer many of these courses in our high school now without consolidating with these other 2 schools. We should be utilizing technology such as on-line learning and Illinois Virtual Schools. We should also take advantage of resources already available in our area such as Carl Sandburg College and Western Illinois University. Our students are currently able to take advanced dual credit courses from CSC and WIU. We firmly believe that we can and should offer more options for our students in the Bushnell-Prairie City schools without passing a three-school consolidation.

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2011 — Year in Review

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:57:51 +0000

Southeastern school board discussed the possibility of using more offerings from Illinois Virtual High School System, already being used by the school. Superintendent, Todd Fox, also discussed realignment of administrative duties to be more efficient.

Elementary students gathered at the Kibbe Preserve in Warsaw to learn from Joe Cuehlo and his insect collection.

The Health Council of Illinois awarded Mike Gooding, of Bowen, the Heroes in Long Term Care award. Gooding was honored for his persistent work to recover from an accident and for helping other patients smile on a daily basis.

The effort to rebuild the pool in Bowen has been going on since 2007. The park board is waiting on funds and weather to cooperate so the deck and splash pad can be completed.

For the rest of the article, go to 2011 — Year in Review

Will Virtual Learning KO the Education Gap?

admin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:59:20 +0000

In Chicago last year, a group of 60 former dropouts went back to school and got their diplomas. That fact alone might be nothing special, but these young men and women attended a virtual high school, taking classes entirely online.

CEO Ron Packard believes this is just one of the many opportunities his company, K12 (NYSE: LRN ) , can provide. Packard, who spoke at Fool HQ last week, explained that the Internet has revolutionized so many industries, but its impact on education has been relatively limited. K12 seeks to change that.

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CPS mulls deal to expand virtual education

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:24:17 +0000

The Virginia-based K-12 has been a forerunner in virtual classrooms since its creation a decade ago. It is now the nation’s largest for-profit education management organization, with more than 39,000 students in two dozen schools across the U.S.

K-12 opened Chicago’s Virtual Charter High School to much fanfare in 2006, part of a push under former CPS chief Arne Duncan to expand alternative education options for parents seeking tougher curriculum for their children or safer learning environments outside of traditional neighborhood schools.

Enrollment at the virtual charter school, which offers courses from kindergarten through high school, now tops 550 students and was one of the few public schools in the city last year to achieve “adequate yearly progress” mandated under No Child Left Behind.

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Rockford School District officials seek bigger role for virtual learning

admin — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:44:27 +0000

ROCKFORD — More than 60 high school students in the Rockford School District are taking virtual learning courses this fall, at least half of them enrolled in Advanced Placement classes they would otherwise be without.

Virtual learning courses were offered to students this year who opted for classes that weren’t full enough to hold a full class or for students who needed remedial courses.

Virtual courses were offered after the School Board agreed to only teach classes that were at capacity — with 29 or 30 students enrolled. So if 40 students signed up for AP biology, for example, some schools drew names; the first 30 were enrolled in the class, and the other 10 were out of luck, unless they opted for a virtual course.

Three course sources
This fall, 20 students are enrolled in an online course through Florida Virtual School, four are enrolled through Illinois Virtual School, and 38 students are enrolled in Brigham Young University Independent Study — an affordable program that also offers credit recovery.

More than half of those students are taking AP courses like art, biology, statistics, English and calculus, said Jon Malone, director of student support.

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Mendon, Illinois School District Announces One-to-One Student Laptop Project

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:50:17 +0000

Acting on its commitment to ensure that the district’s 714 K-12 students graduate prepared for the challenges of a global economy, Mendon’s Community Unit School District No. 4 (CUSD #4) Superintendent Diane Robertson today announced a three-year partnership with the education and technology company Pearson that will put laptops in the hands of its students providing online learning, progress monitoring, and assessment that will personalize instruction for each child.

The initiative will begin this coming school year as high school freshmen and sophomores trade in their English and Math textbooks for their very own Apple MacBook laptops purchased by the district. Students will then easily access Pearson’s online comprehensive mathematics and literature programs — engineered for one-to-one classroom environments — that will guide each student on a personalized learning path with engaging and robust research-based content aligned to the new Common Core State Standards.

For the rest of the article, go to Mendon, Illinois School District Announces One-to-One Student Laptop Project

Cambridge Lakes rolling out new virtual school

admin — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 07:47:56 +0000

PINGREE GROVE – The Cambridge Academy is set to roll out its virtual learning curriculum this fall.

The Illinois Board of Education recently approved the Cambridge Lakes Charter School’s academic software for kindergarten through 12th-grade students.

The Cambridge Academy is designed to complement the teaching and learning of its existing charter students. School leaders plan to hold their first information session about the academy at noon July 30 at the school campus, 900 Wester Blvd. The second session is scheduled for noon Aug. 13.

Through the “blended-virtual” learning academy, the school will be able to provide a more individualized learning program for a student, especially if he or she either is excelling or falling behind in a particular subject, said Dawn Muhammad, director of the academy.

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D300 charter gets final approval for virtual school

admin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:16:55 +0000

Cambridge Lakes Charter School announced it has received the final approval from the state of Illinois to open the virtual school for students kindergarten through grade 12 from Community Unit School District 300 and across the state this fall.

That approval came in early June after the District 300 Board of Education voted in December to approve an amendment to its charter with Northern Kane Educational Corp., which operates the charter school. That amendment renewed the charter for Cambridge Lakes through 2014 and lengthened the Pingree Grove school’s program from the current preschool to eighth grade up to grade 12.

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