With the Nekoosa School District gaining a new superintendent starting next school year, another local district will be losing someone officials call a valuable educator and administrator.

Terry Whitmore, currently the principal for Vesper Community Academy, Rudolph Elementary School and the Wisconsin Rapids School District’s virtual school program, has accepted Nekoosa’s offer to be its next top administrator.

“I look forward to working with the school board, staff and parents to move Nekoosa Schools forward in education,” Whitmore said Sunday in an email. “With a strategic plan in place, I am excited to work with others in the community to make it come to life.”

For the rest of the article, go to Terry Whitmore eager to lead as next superintendent in Nekoosa

WHITEWATER — From its first long-distance education class in 1996, the Jefferson and Eastern Dane Interactive Network has grown in to a virtual school, based in Whitewater, and is doing well, according to a story in the Daily Jefferson County Union.

A non-for-profit charter school, JEDI is overseen by a consortium of school districts in Jefferson and Dane counties, including Whitewater.

The school’s online classes are open to elementary, middle and high school students, who can earn a diploma from their resident high school by meeting appropriate graduation requirements.

For the rest of the article, go to JEDI virtual school growing in Whitewater

The Waukesha School Board approved a plan Wednesday night to partner with Milwaukee PC to provide laptops for students of the district-run virtual school, eAchieve Academy.

Families would work directly with Milwaukee PC, freeing the district from laptop distribution and servicing.

eAchieve would reimbursement Milwaukee PC $400 for each laptop they provide. Assuming enrollment of 800 students and 20 percent attrition, the cost to the district would be $288,000 in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The estimated cost is in-line with budget projections, according to the district.

For the rest of the article, go to District Partners With Milwaukee PC for eAchieve Academy Laptops

During the first week of Wisconsin’s open enrollment period, which began Feb. 6, the district received more than 200 applications for its sixth- through 12th-grade virtual school option. That number has since climbed to more than 400 applications.

The influx of applicants is typical for the beginning of the enrollment window but significant this year as the virtual school tries to re-brand itself, Principal Rick Nettesheim said.

“Given our new name, we’re very pleased that we’re right on track with how many applicants have come in in the past since we’re marketing under a new name,” Nettesheim said.

For the rest of the article, go to Waukesha virtual school gets new name

We have also been able to embark on a path to 1 to 1 computing at our high school. To complement this change, we created a team of staff members to enhance the use of technology with the staff and the students.

This year, we are offering our virtual school option to give students a different type of education right here at home. We are also very excited to be partnering with Mercury Marine to offer our STEM Academy. This is a charter school that will focus on mathematics and science along with all the other courses of study, which any third through fifth-grade student can apply to attend. Our student achievement should be soaring due to the added collaboration time to the school day. This allows every staff member to be involved in the collaboration meetings, rather than a few. These are just a few of the great things we have going on in the Fond du Lac School District that make us better than last year.

For the rest of the article, go to Is the school district better off than it was a year ago? Explain.

Monday night, the school board approved a virtual school that will allow students to enroll full- or part-time online.

The virtual school, which is now open to enrollment, allows students with different academic needs to find an education outlet.

“I think you’re looking at students who maybe don’t fit in the normal structure of a school day to take that, or you’re also looking at students who get behind in credits,” Fredrikson said.

“Often kids don’t fit into a traditional school, maybe they don’t get along with their classmates, maybe they have some issues where they’d be needed at home,” high school counselor Linda Luedtke said.

For the rest of the article, go to Two Rivers Offers a Virtual High School

The intense training needed to advance quickly required Rita to sacrifice family time and traditional schooling.

“It’s very difficult,” her coach, Trudy Oltmanns, said. “From what I understand, she does not live close to any big training facility. The biggest commitment from her and her family is the time.”

Oltmanns, of Eden Prairie, Minn., has trained skaters for about 15 years and said the amount of practice needed to be competitive precludes many contenders from attending a regular school.

“Most of the kids at this level are home-schooled or do online learning,” she said.

The Fehrs worried at first about pulling their daughter out of a traditional school and letting her learn through a virtual school instead, but Rita has been able to keep up with her homework and online tests. Her parents also can track their daughter’s progress in online courses, and the virtual school will report Rita truant if she doesn’t keep up with her schoolwork.

For the rest of the article, go to Getting to the national skating championships took a commitment