The ultimate online experience? School
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South Carolina Connections Academy is a virtual charter school that will open for 500 students grades K-12 this fall. The school will hold a lottery if it has more applicants than seats.
Informational meetings will be held across the state and online starting this month. Families who want more information about the school may call 1-800-382-6010 or visit ConnectionsAcademy.com/sc.
South Carolina students who have an affinity for the Internet might be interested in a new virtual charter school that will open this fall.
South Carolina Connections Academy will enroll 500 students in its online kindergarten through 12th-grade program. Students statewide can apply to the school, which was approved earlier this month by the South Carolina Public Charter School District.
South Carolina Connections Academy will be the state's first virtual charter school. It will be run by Connections Academy, a company that enrolls 10,000 students in schools in 14 other states.
Students enrolled in the virtual charter school will be able to earn a state high school diploma. The state Education Department offers online courses for up to 3,000 students statewide this year, but it's not possible to earn a full diploma through that program, said Jim Foster, department spokesman.
The virtual charter school is pretty similar to a traditional public school, minus a bricks-and-mortar building. Students still will learn according to state-required standards and take the state's standardized tests. Charter school students also must meet the state's daily and hourly attendance requirements.
Theresa Edwards, chairwoman of the charter school's committee, said some of the state's students are fortunate to be enrolled in schools with lots of money that can offer them more. This charter school will give children who typically wouldn't have those opportunities an even playing field, she said.
Thousands of courses will be offered. Edwards cited Mandarin Chinese, German, French or sign language as examples.
Students will receive instruction through the Internet, by phone and by mail; and state law requires that 25 percent of the instruction happen "in real time," such as through Web conferencing, phone or face-to-face interactions. Connections Academy provides each student with textbooks, online resources and other curriculum materials but does not provide a computer.
Edwards has an eighth-grade son, William, who will enroll in the school this fall. William has been participating in a national pilot school through Connections Academy that is similar to what South Carolina will offer.
Community coordinators will be in each area of the state to organize monthly field trips and ensure that students can meet and interact, Edwards said. The school's administrative offices and a teaching center will be near Columbia.
A licensed South Carolina teacher will teach students, and their daily lessons plans will be tailored to meet their needs. Students' progress will be tracked through a Web-based system. Parents also are expected to play a role in their children's day-to-day activities, depending on their age, she said.
Edwards stumbled across Connections Academy in an Internet search for more instructional materials for her son, who wasn't being challenged in his traditional public school in York, she said. Instead of being bored in school, he's enrolled in 10th grade math and in advanced language classes, she said.
"If a child has strengths, we're going to build on his strengths," she said.
Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@post andcourier.com.
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Comments
Hey_U_Guys (anonymous) says...
I think kids need to get off of their butts and physically GO to school. Wow, how fat and lazy will kids be, now?!?!?!
March 3, 2008 at 7:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
disco (anonymous) says...
This is a great idea! A lot of kids are bored at school because they're not being challenged. The teachers can only go as fast as the slowest student. Now, kids can learn at their own speed without the distraction of other kids. Colleges have been doing this for years, so it's about time our school system gets on board.
March 3, 2008 at 7:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mamagrizzly (anonymous) says...
disco - I couldn't agree more. This creates a really nice option for the parent who may also be considering home schooling but not QUITE sure they want to do it. I think it's an exciting option for South Carolina. I will be anxious to watch it and see where it goes and how the students perform.
March 3, 2008 at 7:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
Success will certainly depend on the kid and the kid's current environment. I suspect that the successful one's will be the one's that would be successful in just about any school, because they have a stable home structure. What they miss is the same things that home-schooled kids miss, real-life interpersonal training with people from all walks of life. It's got to be a shock for some sheltered kids to get out there in the real world for the first time in their late teens or early twenties.
March 3, 2008 at 8:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
prettywoman2457 (anonymous) says...
Good Idea!! I hope that they are required to show up at a meeting place and "show face". Then, what will we do when Johnny is supposed to be online and is wondering the streets, breaking into a house, robbing a business, on a corner selling drugs, just hanging out at home having a party with drugs involved and the police come and you loose everything because he is bored and mommy and daddy have to work. I suggest the good people of SC take another look at the lottery monies. College is good, so funding it is a good thing, but the little ones need to get to that point, but the good people of SC didn't see the short comings when schools don't get the monthly income that the lottery provides. I must also say that letting illegals attend the free ride on tax payers money is another reason that our legal children might not be challenged or have the smaller classes that help these matters greatly.
March 3, 2008 at 8:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
crankyyankee (anonymous) says...
The only flaw with this plan is that I know the parents and the kids are just like them. This plan doesn't stand a chance!
March 3, 2008 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tbo (anonymous) says...
There are definitely pros & cons to this, but the social interaction argument is going to get smaller & smaller as we push into the future. I work in an office with about 200 people, but a LOT of the communication is online. If you're talking about prepping kids for the "real world," the "real world" of interaction in 10-20 years will be mainly online. This is going to prepare them more for that than sending them to underfunded schools with a bunch of 8-year-old PCs.
Not saying face-to-face interaction isn't important, or that it will go away, just that you have to put online interaction in the same context if you want to be realistic about the future.
March 3, 2008 at 11:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
tbo, that's a pretty cold world that you project. I do not see where that many people will live their life in front of a keyboard. Too many things need to happen in the real world. A computer cannot do most of them. People have to do them. Computers will disappear before interpersonal relationships.
March 3, 2008 at 12:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tbo (anonymous) says...
theronce
First of all, people use computers. Computers aren't robots, they are human-operated tools. They don't "do" anything but what people use them to do.
Secondly, I, and arguably most people in the modern professional world, work in front of a computer for the better part of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Cold or not, it's the truth.
Last, frankly computers ARE a very real & large part of the "real world" you speak of. If you don't agree then you are behind the curve. I'm talking about preparing kids for trying to be successful in the world of 2010-2020, and we are already a VERY computer-oriented society in 2008 (especially in the business & professional world).
March 3, 2008 at 1:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tbo (anonymous) says...
I neglected to add that the fact that you & I are discussing a local newspaper article on the internet using a message board managed & moderated by our local newspaper is a perfect example of the point I'm trying to make.
March 3, 2008 at 1:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
But you have to deal with people to get real work done. Computers are pie in the sky tools like a fancy hammer. People make things happen. Computers are nice tools like a hammer. People are the movers and shakers.
March 3, 2008 at 3:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mosinfan (anonymous) says...
Not going to comment on the validity of this virtual school, but will comment on Coldbeer.
Coldbeer's caricature of home educators is exactly that...an outdated caricature. "IF" Coldbeer did witness what he says he witnessed at Wal-Mart, it was the exception and not the rule.
Coldbeer is living under a rock, statistics from standardized tests repeatedly show that for about the last 10-15 years Home Educated Children are on average outperforming their public and private educated counterparts by significant margins.
And before anyone jumps on the "their not socialized" bandwagon let me tell you that not only are these kids outperforming their counterparts but now colleges and universities are actively recruiting them because of their SAT scores and the fact that they are for the most part "self starters" and dont have to be spoonfed.
I can personally vouch for several home educated kids that I know that received full ride scholarships to major schools in recent years and have gone on to land great jobs in the private sector.
Home Education is not for everyone but before you listen to garbage from someone with an axe to grind like Coldbeer, do your own research.
March 3, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lillady (anonymous) says...
I think this is an excellent idea and will work if the parents are completely in behind their children and MAKE it work. Personally, I did 3/4 of my classes online through Tech and I loved it. No distractions like in class. At my own pace. It was wonderful. But its not for everyone. My daughter tried one of these virtual classes this summer and hated it. It just depends on the parents and the students.
March 3, 2008 at 6:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gococks1985 (anonymous) says...
What's the point if the following is a true statement:
The state Education Department offers online courses for up to 3,000 students statewide this year, but it's not possible to earn a full diploma through that program, said Jim Foster, department spokesman.
March 3, 2008 at 10:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dreamer (anonymous) says...
WoW. ColdBeer. I have had some of those same experiences. I have met parents who were home shooling their children and thought that they were probably learning how to watch television and eat peanut butter straight from a jar.
But then, there are the exceptions and I take offense to the comment that you made that "you have yet to meet a homeschooler who is getting an education!"
As I have said before, I left teaching to focus my graduate studies in psychology. Low and behold, I'm back in the classroom after all these years--and it was after a failed attempt to home-school my two youngest children.
You see homeschooling worked with my eldest daughter. She is going to college on a full scholarship. She isn't some gawky, pasty girl who doesn't know how to socialize with anyone in reality. She isn't some weird nerd whose brain is bigger than her body. My daughter has been dancing for over 12 years. She was attending a School of the Arts in Florida when we were transferred here. Because she took 7 courses per semester, she had more than enough credits to graduate--considering she was 15, we chose to have her take more difficult courses which would look good on a college transcript. She didn't want to go to public school after attending a school of the arts--so we decided to home school her for the advanced courses.
My other children did not like being homeschooled. They thought Mom would give them a free ride. They thought that being homeschooled meant sleeping in and watching television--
WRONG! We did more in 5 hours a day than they did all day in their previous schools. They worked so hard--and were so far ahead that it was a shame to put them in public school.
I believe in doing what is best for my children and putting them in public school was not what I wanted, but at the same time, home education wasn't for them.
Either way--ColdBeer, as if your name isnt enough to tip me off to the fact that we can't have an educated conversation, then I don't know what is--but regardless, just know that home education works for a lot of families. And my daughter is one of them.
I just hope that other parents will realize that sometimes, it doesn't work--as with my other two children.
I can tell you that not everyone is disciplined enough to have their children home educated. But the idea of a virtual school is not new--and I'm sure a lot of those facts have been worked out ahead of time. Credit redemption has been available online for some time and these courses were taught after school or before school, so GoCocks1985, those 3,000 students were either taking AP courses that weren't offered in their regular classrooms OR they were taking credits they needed to improve their gpa, etc.
So, please--I know it's hard, but give the Education Dept. a little credit. The legalities of home schooling are so stringent that they have probably already considered many of these issues.
--Dreamah
March 3, 2008 at 11:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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