Virtual High School

By Sara Schilling, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

Jun. 10–Amanda Conn’s high school has dream catchers and a set of moose antlers bagged by her dad.

There’s also a pool table, a full kitchen and bedrooms. And her mom, Karen, can pop her head in anytime to say hello.

That’s because Conn lives and attends class in the same place — her Pasco home.

The 18-year-old is graduating this month from the state’s first full-time, public online high school, Insight School of Washington.

“You can work at your own pace. You can work at 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. You can even turn your assignments in on the weekend,” she said.

More Tri-City students may be logging on for classes soon.

Insight still is accepting applications for next year, and the Kennewick School District is starting its own virtual high school this fall.

“It’s really the wave of the future. Ten or 12 years ago, no one would have ever thought of getting a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree online,” said Steve Isley, an alternative education teacher in Kennewick. “This is something that very, very soon every school district in Washington is going to have to address.”

The idea is growing in popularity, even as it raises questions about what’s lost when students aren’t physically present with their peers and teachers. About 500 students — including 38 in the Tri-Cities — took classes through Insight this school year.

And six times that many applied for the limited number of slots, said Bill Finkbeiner, Insight’s director and a former state legislator.

The Massachusetts-based Sloan Consortium, which helps organizations improve their virtual learning, reports that the number of college students taking virtual courses continues to grow.

More than 3.1 million college students nationwide were enrolled in at least one online class in fall 2005.

So far, Kennewick is the only district in the Tri-Cities opening its own full-time, online school. The program will be under the umbrella of the new Phoenix school housed at Southridge High. It’ll be free to students and cost-neutral for the district because staff will be hired based on how many students sign up, said Dave Bond, assistant superintendent of secondary education.

Districts get money from the state based on enrollment.

Offering virtual courses is a way to keep students — and the state dollars that come with them — from turning to a program like Insight.

Kennewick is still working out many details of their new program. A few community meetings have been held to talk about it and another is planned at 6 p.m. June 19 at Southridge.

“This really is individualized, personalized learning. We don’t have a target market. We really want any student whose needs aren’t being met in the traditional school,” said Tracy Money, the Kennewick teacher in charge of the program.

Homeschool students and teens with medical issues, complicated home lives or unusually busy work or athletic schedules are possible candidates, she said.

Students will need access to a computer and Internet. They’ll talk with teachers in person or over the phone weekly, including about their plans beyond high school, Money said.

She’s enthusiastic about the Apex Learning curriculum the district has selected. Isley, the alternative education teacher, has piloted it this year with some of his students and likes it.

The Richland School District started using Apex this school year. Its online courses primarily have been used by students who’ve failed a class and need to make it up, said Eric Sobotta, digital learning instructor for the district.

But the program’s popularity is growing. The number of Richland students who take online classes increased from 82 in 2004-05 to more than 250 now.

Starting next school year, some students will be allowed to take a limited number of initial credits online. Still, officials warn virtual learning isn’t for everyone. Students taking online classes must be organized and self-motivated in order to succeed.

“(It’s) really important for our students to understand that it’s not easier. The courses they’re taking in high school now or junior high are going to be equivalent,” said Finkbeiner of Insight.

There are also plenty of things students learn in school that have nothing to do with books and coursework.

“Part of what we want to teach kids are those social skills,” said Money. The program will look for ways to involve the virtual school students in other district activities — like sports teams and field trips.

Insight — which is a partnership between a private company and the Quillayute Valley School District in Forks — organized pizza parties at different locations across the state this year so students and their families could meet. There’s also a prom scheduled later this month and a graduation ceremony.

Conn has her cap and gown ready. The Pasco teen, who plans to study environmentalism in college, moved here a few years ago from Alaska, where her father was stationed in the Air Force. She’s smart, friendly and articulate. She attended Pasco High for a couple of years but didn’t like the large class sizes.

She feels she found her place at Insight. The school offers 140 courses, in everything from physical fitness to math and Latin.

Students enrolled are loaned a computer and printer while they’re taking classes. They’re also reimbursed for Internet costs.

“I don’t think Insight will work for just anybody. You have to want it,” she said.

“Anybody that wants to knock it before they’ve tried it — they really need to experience (it first). I think it’s helped me out. I think it’s a wonderful idea,” she said.

For more information on Insight go to www.go2ischool.net. For information on Kennewick’s new virtual school go to www.ksd.org/phoenix.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Wash.

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