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.

For the rest of the article, go to With virtual platform, Alaska high school reverses decline

“We’ve had a lot of good, positive comments from the students that are participating and the parents so I feel like it’s been a good experience so far,” Maryetta Principal Rhonda Brown.

From their home computers, students interact daily with teachers to complete state-accredited courses. All online courses and curriculum are based on core curriculum standards.

“Everything that they take is coordinated with the state standards,” Brown said.

Nancy Neff, who oversees the virtual school, stays in contact with the parents and students.

“She can monitor how many times the child is logging in, how long they’re staying on because that’s a way of checking roll and keeping up with the students’ progress,” Brown said.

The virtual school was designed for families who consider home schooling and other options to a traditional classroom and have children who want more flexibility regarding time and pace of learning.

For the rest of the article, go to Maryetta School offers virtual school

In addition to leading school choice advocates from Oklahoma, presenters at the event will include John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, and former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts, a former member of Congress from Norman.

The event comes just a few months after national news stories pointed to Oklahoma as an apt metaphor for what advocates dubbed “The Year of School Choice.”

Context for the gathering, and some of the national attention it is gaining in advance of the event, comes from the Sooner State’s recent history.

Choice legislation was enacted both in 2010 — when then-Governor Brad Henry (a Democrat) supported and signed a bill benefitting special needs children – and in 2011, when Governor Mary Fallin (a Republican) supported and signed into law the Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship Act.

In an interview with CapitolBeatOK, Jolly, Oklahoma state director for Americans for Prosperity (AFP) said, “the core appeal, the central issue, is parental rights to choose. Parents simply have the right to select the school to which they send their kids. I’m looking forward to this conference, as we look back to celebrate and support what has already passed in Oklahoma, and what we have planned for the future.”

Americans for Prosperity is a national activist organization that works for limited government and free markets.

Another sponsor of the school choice event is the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a “think tank” that focuses on economic liberty, tax policy and state governance issues.

Concerning this year’s likely or potential legislation at the state Capitol, Jolly reflected, “I expect to see a virtual school bill, a process to create a clearinghouse at the state Department of Education. I believe Senators John Ford [a Bartlesville Republican] and Gary Stanislawski [a Tulsa Republican] may both be pushing that idea. Another proposal is to relieve individual school districts from the burden of negotiating with virtual education providers.”

For the rest of the article, go to Oklahoma City to host Jan. 24 “town hall” during National School Choice Week

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.

For the rest of the article, go to Three new charter schools to get millions in Oklahoma funds

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.

For the rest of the article, go to Tulsa Public School dropout rates spike

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.

For the rest of the article, go to TPS to host all-district high school fairs

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.

For the rest of the article,  go to Farmer delivers good news

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.

For the rest of the article, go to A Reality Check For Oklahoma ‘Virtual’ Schools

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

“When these programs started, they started out of a point of pain,” said Andy Scantland, the vice president of sales and marketing for Advanced Academics Inc., the Oklahoma City-based provider of public and private online programs, and a sponsor of the report from the Evergreen Group of Durango, Colo. “As a result, there wasn’t a lot of measurability or a lot of accountability. I think that’s changed a lot, and the report reflects that.”

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual Education Sees Shift to Accountability

“We are taking it pretty slowly so we can identify and take care of any unforeseen problems,” DeSpain said, “and teachers at every site are giving feedback as to the way the program is progressing.”

“We chose APEX over Odyssey because eventually we are looking at offering a virtual school where the students will do coursework at home.

“Although this is something we are looking at in the future, the school board members decided last spring to take changes in measured steps. Odyssey was not as rigorous and complete as APEX.”

DeSpain added APEX also has an AP component, where students can enroll in different levels, to appeal to the different needs of students.

For the rest of the article, go to APEX offers students online credit recovery