As the Watertown Board of Education prepares to adopt its 2010-11 school budget today, a big player in the outcome of that budget is due to open enrollment figures. This school year a record number of students locally and throughout Wisconsin participated in the state’s program.

The open enrollment program allows students to attend school elsewhere than in their own district.

This year Watertown had a total of 55 students who live outside of the district that chose to attend school in Watertown. On the other side of the issue, there were a total of 185 students who live in the Watertown school district who elected to withdraw from Watertown. These students either attend a neighboring school district, are home-schooled or enroll in a virtual school.

The open enrollment figures for this school year compared to the 2010-11 school year have increased. Last year there were 49 students who came into the Watertown district and 162 who left the district.

“The enrollment numbers came in much higher than what I projected,” Doug Linse, district director of business services, said. “That means some lost revenue for the district.”

For the rest of the article, go to School details enrollment

KIEL — Taking online courses isn’t unusual for students these days, but Kiel is the only district in Manitowoc County to offer its own virtual school, the Kiel eSchool.

Begun in 2002, it offers students from Kiel and other districts a chance to take individual courses or complete their entire high school career online. The Kiel eSchool is open to ninth- through 12th-graders, although some middle school students also have taken advantage of the program in order to take courses that are a grade level ahead of them.

A committee consisting of school personnel must give its approval each time a student wants to take an online course, according to Katrina Pionek, local mentor/teacher with the program and one of the committee members.
Staff, curriculum

The eSchool has its own staff members who are employed by the Kiel School District. Heidi Dorner, associate principal at Kiel High School, serves as the principal, and in addition to Pionek, the program has eight teachers responsible for specific subjects.

For the rest of the article, go to Kiel district employs own staff for eSchool

At a public meeting held shortly after the referendum failed, some citizens said they wanted to hold a referendum again as soon as possible. Others said they didn’t vote because they just assumed the referendum would pass, Hansen said.

“Citizens see buses running and kids in school and they assume everything is OK,” he said.

Six full-time staff positions have been eliminated, resulting in larger classroom sizes and fewer student programs. Rearranging was done with the 18 new staff members hired to replace 24 retiring educators, and previous class offerings were lost in the process, including a Laconia High School speech class, computer applications, prep class, basic biology, content reading and a distance learning class offered through Moraine Park Technical College.

With the elimination of an at-risk alternative high school, students were offered a virtual school through Wisconsin Virtual School.

One of the hardest hit areas has been the school district’s band and music programs.

“I see 260 kids a week, and it’s pretty impossible to give any kind of individual help,” said Grades 7-12 band teacher Mark Pieplow. “I can’t do the job I need to at the middle school because I don’t have the time. It’s very frustrating.”

For the rest of the article, go to After failed referendum, Rosendale-Brandon Schools move forward

Terry Whitmore will act as the district’s first virtual school principal. Some of the administrative duties he had at Vesper Community Academy and Rudolph Elementary will be taken over by lead teachers at each school — Brian Wilhorn at Vesper and Clint Rogers at Rudolph.

Additionally, more than a dozen new staff members will be teaching in the district, Superintendent Colleen Dickmann said. Last year, the district had 438 teaching staff members; this year, the number is 419, she said.

For the rest of the article, go to Variety of new teachers, administrators working in local school districts

In a virtual course, students learn lessons, complete assignments and take quizzes online at whatever time of day they want. They can work at their own pace and the teacher gives individual feedback through regular emails, phone calls or video chats, Pochop explained.

Unified already had virtual classes available through Wisconsin Virtual School but in the last 10 years only about 100 total students took them, Pochop said.

This winter the district dropped Wisconsin Virtual School in favor of the Wisconsin eSchool Network, a nonprofit that shares virtual courses and virtual resources among 11 school districts including Racine and Kenosha.

For the rest of the article, go to Unified going virtual

The truth is that sometimes a brick-and-mortar school is not the best option for a student.

To help students for whom the traditional school scenario doesn’t fit, Racine Unified School District is expanding its virtual school course selection.

As reported by The Racine Journal Times, RUSD has joined the Wisconsin eSchool Network to provide more than 50 classes in the core subjects like English, History and math. Offerings have expanded, however, to languages and certain other electives as well.

For the rest of the article, go to Students Have Real Success with Virtual School