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K12 Inc. Celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week

May 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

HERNDON, Va., May 11, 2012 – /PRNewswire/ – This week, K12 Inc. joined parents and students across the country to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week and thank the thousands of teachers in the K12 network who are educating children.

“Whether in an online school, blended school, or traditional classroom, teachers are essential to student success,” said Teresa Scavulli, VP of Academic Services at K12 Inc.  “K12 is honored to work with thousands of talented teachers who are committed to making a difference in children’s lives.”

K12 teachers work in a variety of school models including full time online public and private schools, innovative blended school programs, and classrooms.  In all of these school models, K12 teachers are delivering individualized learning opportunities to students, meeting their needs wherever they are.

Three teachers in K12 online schools received special recognition this week.  Winning the Colorado Department of Education’s 2011-2012 Online Recognition Award were Deborah Sudbeck, a teacher at Colorado Virtual Academy, and Pam Decker, a counselor at Insight School of Colorado.

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Ohio Teacher Named National American Pioneer of Teaching by National Coalition for Public School Options

May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Students, parents cast votes in online competition in honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week

The National Coalition for Public School Options (NCPSO), a coalition of parents, students, teachers and advocates who support public school choice, announced today Ohio Virtual Academy High School Intervention Specialist Paul Wulff as the national American Pioneer of Teaching. Votes were cast on Facebook for the 19 state finalists competing for the national award.

In honor of National teacher Appreciation Week, NCPSO launched the American Pioneer of Teaching award to recognize top performing elementary and secondary teachers who work in pioneering public schools, such as online and traditional charter schools.

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Is a virtual school the best option for the next generation?

May 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Virtual schools differ from the thousands of commercial, free and non-accredited courses available online through portals including iTunes U and independent course providers. The term is generally reserved for paid degree courses, but now there is a new trend — traditional high schools that are considering a move to fully-virtual learning.

According to Susan Patrick of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, a trade association, 250,000 students are enrolled in full-time virtual schools in 30 states. K12 Inc. of Herndon is the largest provider of virtual courses, Fairfax high school is considering the move to virtual classrooms, and Capistrano Unified School District has held discussions for a K-8 option.

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Shenandoah Valley superintendent says running school district can’t be business as usual

April 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

SHENANDOAH – As state and federal dollars for education remain stagnant or on the decline, school districts must change how they operate, says Shenandoah Valley Superintendent Stanley G. Rakowsky.

Facing a $1.6 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year, the Shenandoah Valley school board voted Wednesday to approve its tentative budget that includes a 4-mill increase in real-estate taxes. Layoffs and program cuts are also being considered, although the board did decide to keep pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Both programs had been on the list to be eliminated.

Proposed cuts to the music and art programs have raised protests from students and parents, who have cited the importance of those skills in many children’s lives. At Shenandoah Valley, high school music teacher Robert Stoner and elementary music teacher Emily Volek have developed music programs that have revitalized the high school band over their time in the district – five years for Stoner, two years for Volek. Both are concerned that students who have participated will lose out if the programs are eliminated.

“I think what we have to do is reinvent ourselves,” Rakowsky said. “Now, we have to be introspective. It can’t be the same old thing from here on.”

Rakowsky said funding cyber and charter schools is putting a strain on school district budgets in Pennsylvania.

“We are facing something that we never expected – the cyber and the charter school situation,” Rakowsky said. “In 2007-08, we were budgeting $50,000 for those schools. Right now, we have in the current budget $600,000 with no end in sight. The governor supports all this stuff. We have to jump on that bandwagon.”

Rakowsky said the school district will look at providing those services.

“We’re going to work to create our own cyber charter blended school system,” Rakowsky said. “The initiative that Shenandoah Valley is taking is I have directed the administration – as part of our short- and long-term plan – is to see how we can provide the same services electronically that our kids are getting by going elsewhere. That’s how we’re going to deal with it.

“We going to reinvent ourselves electronically,” he said.

For the rest of the article, go to Shenandoah Valley superintendent says running school district can’t be business as usual

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Carroll’s bid for full-time virtual school is approved

April 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Virginia has its first official full-time virtual school, and more, including one in Chesterfield County, could follow in the near future.

On an 8-0 vote on Thursday, the Virginia Board of Education approved a request from Carroll County Public Schools to operate its online primary school as a stand-alone entity.

Chesterfield also has an online school, but it is focused on certain courses, not operating a comprehensive school.

“Chesterfield (Public) Schools has a very robust online education program. We continue to enhance our course offerings,” said Shawn Smith, a spokesman for the system. “The action taken by the state Board of Education may provide additional opportunities from which our online education program could benefit.”

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Gail Kinsey Named Virginia’s 2012 National Distinguished Principal

April 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Kinsey is praised by her colleagues for being an instructional leader as well as a respected educator. Currently, she serves as co-chair of the Fairfax Association of Elementary School Principals instructional committee, as the elementary representative on FCPS’ Virtual Schools Task Force, and as a principal mentor in the FCPS Leadership Development Cohort program.

Kinsey was a classroom teacher for nine years before becoming a gifted and talented resource teacher for FCPS. She was named assistant principal at Lees Corner Elementary School in 1997 before being named principal at Sangster. A graduate of New Jersey City State University, Kinsey also holds degrees from Boston University Overseas and George Mason University.

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Virtual high school

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Fairfax County, Va., is considering a major educational experiment — a totally virtual high school — according to a Monday Washington Post story.

Superintendent of Schools Jack D. Dale, who ran Frederick County Public Schools from 1996 to 2004, believes there’s a big demand for virtual courses among high school students, but doesn’t think that many high schoolers would want to attend full time.

As Dale says, “It’s hard to do marching band online. Kids are going to pop in and out of the virtual school. They’ll just look at it as another method of taking a course, instead of face to face.”

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Fairfax Schools May Offer Virtual Classrooms for High Schoolers

April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Students may get a chance to attend some of their lessons on the Internet as part of a proposed virtual education program, according to The Washington Post.

The program would move some curriculum out of the classroom, taught by teachers via phone or email. Fairfax County Public Schools officials will hear more about the idea at Monday’s meeting.

If FCPS likes the idea, the program could be available to all county (and Fairfax City) students as early as September. It’d be the first virtual education program offered to high school students in Northern Virginia, said WaPo.

For the rest of the article, go to Fairfax Schools May Offer Virtual Classrooms for High Schoolers

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Fairfax County considers creating virtual high school

April 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Fairfax County schools could become the first in the Washington region to create a virtual public high school that would allow students to take all their classes from a computer at home.

No sports teams. No pep rallies. No lockers, no hall passes. Instead, assignments delivered on-screen and after-school clubs that meet online.

It’s a reimagination of the American high school experience. And it’s a nod to the power of the school choice movement, which has given rise to the widespread expectation that parents should have a menu of options to customize their children’s education.Several School Board members, who will hear a formal proposal for the online school at a meeting Monday, said they are excited by the prospect.

“It’s certainly something we need to be looking into . . . taking advantage of the new media and the new world,” said School Board member Sandy Evans (Mason).

For the rest of the article, go to Fairfax County considers creating virtual high school

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Innovation in Virginia’s K-12 education

April 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Virtual schools embrace the realities of the 21st century education system, which is no longer limited by traditional brick and mortar schools. These schools, which adhere to the same Standards of Learning as all Virginia schools, allow for a world-class education in the child’s hometown.

Virginia is blessed with world-class colleges and universities. Through college lab schools, local school divisions can now partner with these institutions to provide our students access to their world-class resources.

The success achieved in 2010 was a great start, but it was just that — a start. This year, we proposed an ambitious education agenda for the 2012 General Assembly session that builds on our previous successes and truly makes education innovation a reality in Virginia.

Through legislation passed during the 2012 session, we strengthened the criteria and funding mechanism to charter schools and college lab schools so that there is clarity for educators looking to partner with school districts to open one of these great educational options. We also opened the door for low-income students who otherwise might not have access to a high-quality education to have the opportunity to attend a non-public school by providing tax credits to companies that contribute to the educational improvement scholarship fund.

For the rest of the article, go to Innovation in Virginia’s K-12 education

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