Wawasee To Continue & Expand Virtual School
May 12, 2021 at 12:56 a.m.
Wawasee To Continue & Expand Virtual School
By David [email protected]
At the school board meeting Tuesday evening, Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer and Virtual Learning Coordinator Sara Harrison presented a proposal for the continuation and expansion of Wawasee Virtual School, which the board unanimously approved.
“Leading into this current school year, one of the things that we felt we needed to offer because of the ongoing pandemic was a virtual option for students and families. Really that developed over the course of the year, but ultimately it settled on an option that was there for high school throughout the whole year. It was available to all of our students the first trimester of the year, and then on a much more readily basis at our elementary and middle school grade levels the second and third trimester,” Troyer said.
For the high school component, he said there was a “really good” system that was implemented and designed by Wawasee High School Assistant Principal John Snyder, Harrison and WHS Alternative School Coordinator Tony Sausaman. Wawasee invested into an online content provider, APEX.
“Then they brought them in and outlined what the expectations were for the students, for the parents and, ultimately, for us through the learning support team, which became an important factor in the conversation,” Troyer said.
He said the team would meet with a student before they were admitted into the virtual school, outline their responsibilities and get them into a program designed specifically for the student.
Harrison shared a few statistics, acknowledging that they didn’t “always look wonderful or great.” In the first trimester, there were 175 WHS students enrolled in the virtual program, with 68% earning a single credit. A total of 382 credits were earned, with 26 students earning five APEX credits. In the second trimester, 110 students were enrolled, with 323 total credits earned. Twenty-six students earned five credits. Harrison said in her numbers, she didn’t include any student that was taking another class at WHS in-person. The third trimester is still ongoing, with 83 students enrolled; 181 total credits to be earned; and about eight earning at least five.
“I think the powerful column to look at is that the total credits earned when I look through this information. These are credits that were earned outside of our walls that would maybe not have been earned, at least maybe not with Wawasee. That’s a lot of credits to stack up that we made available to kids through this program,” Troyer said.
Harrison said the drop from 110 in the second trimester to 83 in the third was because students found virtual to not be as easy as they thought it would be. “The students have to learn how to learn in order to be successful with virtual,” she said.
Snyder said some of the decrease was because seniors graduated early.
“I think, too, another real important factor in this conversation – we’ve never done a virtual program prior to this year. Not in this capacity. So you can see by some of the data we’re showing that there was a learning curve as this developed over time,” Troyer said.
Board President Don Bokhart asked if students had an avenue to “learn how to learn.” Harrison said Sausaman and herself work to keep students connected. They check in with students daily.
Harrison also spotlighted a student who barely earned any credits in-person, and those were C’s and D’s, and had seven write-ups. When he went to virtual school, this trimester he’s earned 13 credits and those are B’s and C’s; his attitude also has improved.
“He’s on his way to earn 16 credits this trimester. Having been in the building, he probably would have earned one,” Harrison said, acknowledging his case was a “very, very unique situation.” But for this student, he otherwise probably would have dropped out.
Troyer said virtual school is probably not best for most students, but for certain students it’s the best option. He said it can be used as an alternative to expulsion and suspension to allow students to continue working, making progress and earning credits without hurting them academically.
After going through a list of strengths of continuing the virtual school, Troyer said the proposal before the School Board was to continue the programming for grades 9-12 and expand it to include students in grades 6-8.
“That’s not something we did on a large scale this year. I don’t think it will be on a large scale, looking at next year. I think those conversations with families will be really specific and unique to each student,” he said.
The program will be coordinated by Harrison and supported by at least one paraprofessional.
Troyer said they’re looking at several different content providers and might change from APEX. That’s being considered now.
Students will continue to be enrolled as Wawasee High School or Middle School students. Funding will come from CARES II or CARES III funds for at least two or three years.
Board member Rebecca Linnemeier asked how the school will make sure students have support at school, especially for middle school students. “Do you have any criteria that has to be met with what is going on at home?”
Harrison said the middle school aspect is brand new and they’re still working on that and have to still meet with the middle school principals.
Snyder said as he’s met with parents, they have that discussion of what’s expected. He said having those discussions early is “critical.”
Board member Mike Wilson asked if people from outside the corporation and state of Indiana could take part in Wawasee Virtual School. “Could a kid from Alaska go to Wawasee?”
Director of Finance James Flecker said yes, but they would have to pay tuition support.
Bokhart asked if there were any daily interactions with students and how many face-to-face interactions there would be. Harrison said they’ve talked about it, but it would depend on the students and number of students they’d have. Linnemeier said it wouldn’t be a horrible idea to have home visits once in a while for some of the students.
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At the school board meeting Tuesday evening, Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer and Virtual Learning Coordinator Sara Harrison presented a proposal for the continuation and expansion of Wawasee Virtual School, which the board unanimously approved.
“Leading into this current school year, one of the things that we felt we needed to offer because of the ongoing pandemic was a virtual option for students and families. Really that developed over the course of the year, but ultimately it settled on an option that was there for high school throughout the whole year. It was available to all of our students the first trimester of the year, and then on a much more readily basis at our elementary and middle school grade levels the second and third trimester,” Troyer said.
For the high school component, he said there was a “really good” system that was implemented and designed by Wawasee High School Assistant Principal John Snyder, Harrison and WHS Alternative School Coordinator Tony Sausaman. Wawasee invested into an online content provider, APEX.
“Then they brought them in and outlined what the expectations were for the students, for the parents and, ultimately, for us through the learning support team, which became an important factor in the conversation,” Troyer said.
He said the team would meet with a student before they were admitted into the virtual school, outline their responsibilities and get them into a program designed specifically for the student.
Harrison shared a few statistics, acknowledging that they didn’t “always look wonderful or great.” In the first trimester, there were 175 WHS students enrolled in the virtual program, with 68% earning a single credit. A total of 382 credits were earned, with 26 students earning five APEX credits. In the second trimester, 110 students were enrolled, with 323 total credits earned. Twenty-six students earned five credits. Harrison said in her numbers, she didn’t include any student that was taking another class at WHS in-person. The third trimester is still ongoing, with 83 students enrolled; 181 total credits to be earned; and about eight earning at least five.
“I think the powerful column to look at is that the total credits earned when I look through this information. These are credits that were earned outside of our walls that would maybe not have been earned, at least maybe not with Wawasee. That’s a lot of credits to stack up that we made available to kids through this program,” Troyer said.
Harrison said the drop from 110 in the second trimester to 83 in the third was because students found virtual to not be as easy as they thought it would be. “The students have to learn how to learn in order to be successful with virtual,” she said.
Snyder said some of the decrease was because seniors graduated early.
“I think, too, another real important factor in this conversation – we’ve never done a virtual program prior to this year. Not in this capacity. So you can see by some of the data we’re showing that there was a learning curve as this developed over time,” Troyer said.
Board President Don Bokhart asked if students had an avenue to “learn how to learn.” Harrison said Sausaman and herself work to keep students connected. They check in with students daily.
Harrison also spotlighted a student who barely earned any credits in-person, and those were C’s and D’s, and had seven write-ups. When he went to virtual school, this trimester he’s earned 13 credits and those are B’s and C’s; his attitude also has improved.
“He’s on his way to earn 16 credits this trimester. Having been in the building, he probably would have earned one,” Harrison said, acknowledging his case was a “very, very unique situation.” But for this student, he otherwise probably would have dropped out.
Troyer said virtual school is probably not best for most students, but for certain students it’s the best option. He said it can be used as an alternative to expulsion and suspension to allow students to continue working, making progress and earning credits without hurting them academically.
After going through a list of strengths of continuing the virtual school, Troyer said the proposal before the School Board was to continue the programming for grades 9-12 and expand it to include students in grades 6-8.
“That’s not something we did on a large scale this year. I don’t think it will be on a large scale, looking at next year. I think those conversations with families will be really specific and unique to each student,” he said.
The program will be coordinated by Harrison and supported by at least one paraprofessional.
Troyer said they’re looking at several different content providers and might change from APEX. That’s being considered now.
Students will continue to be enrolled as Wawasee High School or Middle School students. Funding will come from CARES II or CARES III funds for at least two or three years.
Board member Rebecca Linnemeier asked how the school will make sure students have support at school, especially for middle school students. “Do you have any criteria that has to be met with what is going on at home?”
Harrison said the middle school aspect is brand new and they’re still working on that and have to still meet with the middle school principals.
Snyder said as he’s met with parents, they have that discussion of what’s expected. He said having those discussions early is “critical.”
Board member Mike Wilson asked if people from outside the corporation and state of Indiana could take part in Wawasee Virtual School. “Could a kid from Alaska go to Wawasee?”
Director of Finance James Flecker said yes, but they would have to pay tuition support.
Bokhart asked if there were any daily interactions with students and how many face-to-face interactions there would be. Harrison said they’ve talked about it, but it would depend on the students and number of students they’d have. Linnemeier said it wouldn’t be a horrible idea to have home visits once in a while for some of the students.
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