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Union High School’s online classes at school prove popular

March 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In its pilot year, Union’s Virtual Learning Academy has grown in popularity among high school juniors and seniors. Enrollment is expected to nearly double to more than 800 students next year, said Union Assistant Superintendent Kirt Hartzler.

“If schools do not create their own virtual avenue for kids, they’re going to be behind,” he said. “It’s here to stay, and it’s going to increase.”

Nationwide, more than a million public education students take courses online, compared with 45,000 in 2000. It is projected that nearly 11 million U.S. students will be taking online classes by 2014, according to market research firm Ambient Insight.

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Educators join virtual high school

March 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Virtual High School Global Consortium, the pioneer of K-12 online learning and course design for teachers, announced recently that 62 additional educators and administrators in 15 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Venezuela will soon start teaching or administering Virtual High School (VHS) courses at their school – two from Tulsa.

Having completed VHS’s 10-week NetCourse Instructional Methodologies (NIM) or 4-week Site Coordinator Orientation (SCO), many of these individuals have begun participating in the Spring semester presently in progress so that students at their school can enroll in VHS’s online courses.

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Gift-giving at the mall

March 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Traditional schools require students to enroll in seven or eight classes and remain a whole semester, but through virtual learning programs, students can take fewer classes depending on their credit needs or time constraints.

“We expect them to work (on their studies) a minimum of 25 hours per week, but they are only limited by the number of hours in a week,” Wilbur said. “They can work ahead and finish sooner, too.”

Alexis Salas is in her first semester at the Tulsa Learning Academy. The 16-year-old sophomore attended Victory Christian Academy previously, but her parents could no longer afford private school, and the traditional high school in her neighborhood wasn’t right for her.

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Virtual Education Sees Shift to Accountability

February 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Virtual schooling is in the era of a fundamental shift in its development that should be embraced, not feared, argue the authors and sponsors of the 2011 version of the “Keeping Pace” annual report on virtual schooling.

While most virtual school advocates in the past may have focused on gaining exposure for their programs, experts suggest they should shift toward emphasizing accountability and transparency in those programs to a community at-large becoming more aware of virtual education. And despite some recent negative press about online schooling’s benefit or lack thereof, they agree that many virtual providers are heading in this direction.

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With virtual platform, Alaska high school reverses decline

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When Virtual High School Global Consortium, a non-profit organization specializing in collaborative online education and professional development, offered 25 students spots at a reduced price in exchange for one Advanced Placement teacher, Petersburg saw it a as an opportunity to be able to offer their students more diverse classes.

Now Petersburg offer engineering, architecture, art history, and veterinary science, among other classes. Sue Hardin, the school’s English and Spanish teacher, says that she facilitates advanced placement classes for student in some Northeastern schools, as well as that Oklahoma, Washington State, Switzerland, Venezuela and even China.

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Three new charter schools to get millions in Oklahoma funds

January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The remaining increase in state aid will be distributed to the state’s 522 school districts and 16 other charter schools.

The new schools are Epic One on One, which received $5.8 million; Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy, $1.9 million; and Cherokee Immersion Charter School, $465,179, records show.

Each December, school districts statewide are notified of adjustments made to their July state aid allocations because of changes in student enrollment and other factors during the first nine weeks of the school year.

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Tulsa Public School dropout rates spike

December 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“We use those alternative education sites and programs as incentive, as a way to bring dropouts back in – either into our virtual school or into our alternative schools. Many times we are successful, many times we are not. Many times they drop out again and we continue to reach out to them to try to bring them back in,” Rodrequez said.

Likewise, Tulsa Met-Franklin, an alternative education school for middle school and junior high students, saw its dropout rate increase from 5.3 percent to 19.5 percent, but its enrollment also spiked 51.5 percent, from 132 to 200 students.

Larry Smith, assistant superintendent for school accountability, told the board that the effort to help at-risk students succeed is worth any negative reflection on TPS’ dropout rates.

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TPS to host all-district high school fairs

November 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Tulsa Public Schools has announced two, all-district high school fairs for prospective students and their parents.

At both fairs, administrators, counselors, teachers, department chairs and students from all nine of the district’s traditional high schools, as well as one alternative education high school and the TPS virtual school, will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.

Brochures and other materials will also be available, providing details about curriculum, magnet programs and schedules.

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Farmer delivers good news

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Farmer said that calculating the drop-out rate is difficult because some students leave school all together, while others enroll in virtual schools or other education formats.

Students drop out of school for a variety of reasons ranging from lack of parental support to getting behind on their credits and losing hope of being able to graduate Farmer said.

“Every student’s situation is different. We have to make sure these kids know there are alternatives to dropping out,” he said.

Sallisaw High School has nearly a 98 percent senior graduation rate, Farmer said.

“Once we get them to their senior year we have a very good chance of seeing those kids graduate. That is why we are very pro-active and look at every alternative we can to get the students into their senior year,” he said.

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A Reality Check For Oklahoma ‘Virtual’ Schools

November 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

TULSA, Oklahoma -

The state school board backed off some new rules for online classes Thursday, after local school boards complained they would cut into funding for students at brick and mortar schools.

The rules would have required schools to pay for students to take lessons online, and provide teachers to oversee the program.

Virtual schools and online classes are an increasingly popular option for students, but there’s always been a clear division of funding between local, publicly supported schools – and their online counterparts.

The state board of education changed that to requiring local schools offer, and pay for online instruction for any student who wants it.

“And we all believe in online education and that should be available and we ought to be responsible for those dollars and accountable for those results. This was very rushed without an opportunity for input, none of us had the opportunity for input,” said Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Keith Ballard. Superintendent.

It’s called the Supplement Online Course Program. It requires districts to allow students to take up to 5 hours of daily online instruction. Students spend the 6th hour physically at school.

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