ASHWAUBENON — Students and parents can learn about a tuition-free online public school Wednesday while they enjoy an evening of free bowling.
Wisconsin Virtual Academy will host the event from 6 to 9 p.m. at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley, 2929 Allied St. Students and parents will be able to meet teachers and staff at the event.
For the rest of the article, go to Wisconsin Virtual Academy holds bowling night
James is a pioneer of sorts, and so is the Middleton-Cross Plains School District, when it comes to computer-based, or virtual, learning.
This year, Middleton launched its 21st Century eSchool. It’s one of just a dozen virtual schools in Wisconsin, and the second in Dane County; last year the McFarland School District became the sponsoring district for the Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), which opened for the 2009-2010 school year with about 400 students and this year counts twice that many.
The two schools share several key elements: They offer a broad range of online courses, beginning at the kindergarten level and continuing all the way through high school, employ licensed Wisconsin teachers to oversee online learning, and require that students participate in mandatory testing each year.
For the rest of the article, go to Virtual makeover: Open enrollment, online schools alter education landscape
A Things have gone “remarkably well” so far for the virtual charter school in its first year of operation, said Leslye Erickson, the head of the school.
The McFarland School District contracted with the nonprofit Wisconsin Virtual Academy and K12 Virtual Schools to run and provide the research-based curriculum for the school, which has 488 students enrolled in kindergarten through high school.
Students come from all over the state, Erickson said, so orientations were held before school began to allow students, parents and teachers to meet face-to-face.
For the rest of the article, go to Wisconsin Virtual Academy doing ‘remarkably well’ in year one
When their daughter, Lindsey, was nearing kindergarten, Dirk and Jennifer Ockerlander evaluated public, private and religious schools to determine which would offer the best education for their child.
None of those options seemed right.
Jennifer Ockerlander, a former U.S. Navy nurse and now a stay-at-home mom, had no background in education, so home-schooling didn’t seem to be an option for the family. After more research of alternatives, the Ockerlanders found Wisconsin Virtual Academy, an online school for children in kindergarten through eighth grade, offered by the Northern Ozaukee County School District. The Ockerlanders, who live in Colgate, enrolled Lindsey in the online school two years ago for kindergarten and have yet to regret their decision. Recently, they also added their son, Luke, age 4, to the “virtual” school’s enrollment. Luke will be in kindergarten this fall and Lindsey will begin online classes in the second grade.
For the rest of the article, go to Learning online: Enrollment in ‘virtual’ schools increases as parents seek options
Online High Blog
