Advanced Academics expands operations in Oklahoma

The organization, whose proprietary online learning platform, curriculum and instructional services are used by schools and districts in more than 30 states, now occupies four floors of the Bunte Candy Factory Building, 1 E Sheridan Ave., after adding 9,000 square feet to its lease.

“Parents and students in Oklahoma and across the country are increasingly turning to online education for quality instruction customized to each student’s individual learning style, whether they are looking for a comprehensive virtual school or online classes to supplement their local offerings and school districts,” said Jeffrey A. Elliott, president of Advanced Academics. “Our expanded home office will help us to better serve the thousands of middle and high school students who depend upon us for their education.”

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School board allows for co-valedictorians, revamps policy for fall

The Cherokee County school board approved a measure on Thursday night it hopes will lead to more equitable class rankings.

Beginning next school year, to be considered for valedictorian or salutatorian, dually enrolled students have to take at least two classes per semester their junior and senior years through their high school. The courses can be in traditional classrooms or approved online or virtual classes.

The board also approved how class rankings are calculated and a one-time waiver of its valedictorian policy last month. For this school year only, schools will be allowed to honor co-valedictorians and co-salutatorians.

Online courses should be part of education mix

IF school districts across Oklahoma aren’t thinking about offering online classes, then they’re out of step with today’s digital world. It’s one more way to reach students, particularly those who have gotten behind, need enrichment or have some other reason for needing a nontraditional approach to schooling. Failure to acknowledge this evolving approach could leave traditional districts out in the virtual cold.

Weeks ago the state’s first online charter school, Epic One-on-One Charter School, began cold-calling houses throughout the state soliciting students. It obtained phone numbers of students from school districts through the state Open Records Act. Epic will open in the fall and is expected to have transfers from throughout the state. Graham Public Schools in Okfuskee County approved the charter, and students must transfer into the district to attend Epic.

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    Online education discussed at Oklahoma City conference

    Online learning — whether that’s an entirely virtual high school system that hands out diplomas or a single course in Spanish — has emerged from the “fringe of education to the heart of it,” said the keynote speaker at the Online Leadership Summit this week.

    “When kids sit in a classroom and they are handed a textbook and they can look out the window and know that, that is not how information is distributed in the world, you know we have an antiquated system,” said Susan Patrick, president of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning at the Skirvin Hotel Thursday.

    Her comments were to a room of about 60 school superintendents from across the nation who came to Oklahoma City to learn the latest national and international trends in Internet based education.

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