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Committee of 10 answers consolidation questions

March 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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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2011 — Year in Review

December 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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.

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Will Virtual Learning KO the Education Gap?

December 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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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120 Students Cross the Stage, Graduating from Online High School Recovery Program

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

CHICAGO, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) Virtual High School, a school designed to get struggling students on the path to success, hosted its second commencement of the graduating class of 2011 on June 17 at the Arturo Velazquez Institute. 120 students, many of which were prior high school drop outs, or struggling students, donned traditional caps and gowns today marking the completion of their high school requirements and for many, just a necessary step towards their college career.

“Last year’s graduation ceremony was historical because it was our first graduating class. This year will be just as historical because our graduating class has doubled and 70 percent of our students will be transitioning into college after graduation,” remarked Early King, YCCS Virtual High School Head of School. “It makes me extremely proud to see the results of the collaborative effort that each scholar, teacher, family member, mentor and faculty put in to make this day manifest itself.”

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Online learning for Illinois high schoolers inspires praise, suspicion

April 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“There is no real, robust, state-led effort in online learning yet in Illinois … (but) I can say with confidence that at this time next year, legislators in Springfield will be talking about online learning as a policy priority,” said Collin Hitt of the Illinois Policy Institute.

Internet-based education has grown slowly in Illinois. The state introduced a virtual high school in 2001, intended mainly for students who wanted to take advanced classes their own schools didn’t offer.

Today, its online program offers 120 courses to grades 5 through 12, but only about 1,000 of the state’s 1.2 million public school students in that age range sign up each semester. Cindy Hamblin, director of the Illinois Virtual School, said its enrollments could be relatively small because some districts contract with private companies to provide online courses.

That’s what happened in District U-46, which this year bought “credit recovery” classes from Apex, a Seattle-based company. The courses are meant for those who have failed in a regular classroom, and Assistant Superintendent Greg Walker said the students often find the computer to be liberating.

“They’re moving at their own pace,” he said. “They’re able to go back and look at things, where in a traditional classroom it might be moving too fast for them.”

Few school systems, though, have done as much as Indian Prairie District 204, which started an in-house program nine years ago.

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Virtual high school, genuine pride

July 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Rebecca Janowitz stood on the podium, surveying the crowd of judges, probation officers and family members gathered in a large meeting room at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse.

“This is a virtual high school, but this is a real graduation,” said Janowitz, director of re-entry policy at the Cook County Jail, and the crowd quieted down.

Moments later, the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” filled the room as the students shuffled slowly up the aisle in black robes as their friends and relatives turned to watch the procession.

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Small steps: 6 nonviolent offenders graduate at jail

July 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Amid the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” you could hear the intermittent bleep of the metal detectors and the occasional bark of a sheriff’s deputy. And if you looked out the window to the right of the “Class of 2010″ banner, it was hard to miss the coils of razor wire gleaming in the sunlight.

This week’s high school graduation in a room off the lobby of the Cook County Criminal Courthouse at 26th and California was unusual in a number of ways, including the fact that most of the graduates of the Cook County Jail’s “Virtual High School” program aren’t fresh-faced kids stepping out into the world for the first time. Many have lengthy criminal histories.

“It feels good — I’ve got my diploma and can’t nobody take it away from me,” said Ira Hines, 21, a two-time felon whose baggage includes a father doing time for murder.

Hines was one of six people to get their diplomas in a new online program aimed at nonviolent criminal defendants. It’s a collaboration between Chicago Public Schools, the Cook County court system and the sheriff’s office. The program provides opportunities for defendants who, in many cases, are too old or too far behind their classmates to finish classes at a traditional high school.

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60 Chicago Students Graduate from Youth Connection Charter School Virtual High School, Powered by K12: Chicago’s First Online Dropout Recovery Program

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

CHICAGO, June 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On Friday, June 11, sixty students graduated from Chicago’s first and only online high school dropout recovery program. Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) Virtual High School, powered by K12, provides online courses to Chicago students, ages 18-21, who dropped out of school and need 7 or fewer credits to graduate.

The unique and innovative online learning recovery program for at-risk youth is a result of a partnership between Youth Connections Charter School, K12 Inc. (leading online education/course provider), Malcolm X College of Chicago, and Chicago Public Schools.

Friday’s graduation ceremony celebrated the first year of YCCS Virtual High School, powered by K12. It was an extremely successful inaugural year with 92 percent of eligible students graduating from the program.

The ceremony was an emotional culmination of achievement in the face of adversity. Many of the graduates stated that without YCCS Virtual High School, powered by K12, they would not have gone back to school. With diplomas in hand, the students are now continuing on to college and pursuing their careers.

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