1. Learning Update Virtual School Strand Dr. Barbara Cooper
Edith K. Pickens
December 20, 2012

2. Learning Update Conceptual Framework Internal Newsletter Edmodo
New Century Technology High School Virtual Strand

3. District Accreditation
The Review Team recognized several emerging themes during their research and observations:
A clear purpose of ensuring each and every student is prepared for success at the next level
The use of data to guide decision making

4. New Century Technology
High School:
Virtual Strand
The virtual strand has been a successful venture as we have attempted to develop a program to attract students and families who are seeking alternatives to traditional education.
New Century’s enrollment grew by approximately 50 students from SY , and over ½ of the growth is explained by the virtual strand.

5. Virtual Strand Students
10 Students take all of their classes online and come to NCTHS for labs, projects, and/or tutoring.
Hybrid Students:
These students take a combination of online classes and classes on campus.
7 Existing HCS Students
5 Homeschool students
3 former Seldon students
2 Private School students
1 student new to Huntsville

6. Online Learners
Ideally all students at New Century will engage in a meaningful online learning experience. We feel this will prepare them for their postsecondary education, and is in the financial best interest of the school system.
Currently we have over 60 students enrolled in online credit-bearing courses. While we have students enrolled in nearly every subject area, most of these students are either taking their required high school Health or Art elective online. This is facilitated through an agreement with the ALSDE and the ACCESS program.

7. ACCESS & GradPoint GradPoint
Students prefer this platform to other options and implementation has been successful.
Requires a high level of monitoring, intervention, and grading from a qualified teacher.
ACCESS
Online curriculum provided by an HQ teacher funded by the ALSDE.
HCS must provide a facilitator.
Students sometimes find this learning environment to be challenging.

8. Staffing and Budget
Some of the additional costs of Virtual School have been mitigated by the repurposing of staffing at New Century including the Media Specialist and Library Assistant. Secondary Programs is funding a 0.5 Unit to function as a facilitator of the Virtual School and Special Education has provided an additional unit to provide support for the individual needs of Virtual Students.
We plan to use the some of the remaining budget allocation to provide professional development in the area of best practices for virtual schools.

9. Next steps
We have learned that more professional development is needed in the management of online learning. Just like students in the regular classroom, we have students with varied learning styles and levels of motivation. However, online learning is well suited for some students. The major challenge this year has been learning to meet the individual student needs and the staff will benefit from further professional development.

10. Next steps
Going forward we would like to grow the Virtual Strand with our existing programs. It is clear that there is a need for flexible options for a wide variety of students and families.