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Georgia’s New Virtual High School Will Feature Magic Johnson Bridgescape Learning Centers Focused on Dropout Prevention and Recovery

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Previously scheduled to begin operation in 2011, Provost Academy’s opening was delayed due to the fact that funding levels at that time for state chartered special schools in Georgia made it difficult to provide a high-quality virtual education program without additional sources of funding. With the Georgia General Assembly’s passage of HB 797 last month, it appears that funding may be available to allow Provost Academy and the Magic Johnson Bridgescape Learning Centers(TM) to go forward.

Jeff Wahl, President and CEO of EdisonLearning said, “Thanks to the visionary leadership of Governor Deal, the Georgia General Assembly, and the Georgia Department of Education, high school students in the state will be offered an individualized learning experience from both Provost Academy and the Magic Johnson Bridgescape Centers that will combine a rigorous curriculum with a personal high-touch approach to help students achieve their goals.”

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Schools tout AP classes as students look toward college

April 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

DALTON — Josh Littrell knew early on he wanted to take more challenging classes as a student at Southeast High School.

“They didn’t go in depth,” he said of his regular classes. “They just scratched the surface.”

So when he moved past the regular and honors classes his freshman year, he immediately began enrolling in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. With a test score of 3 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best), high school sophomores, juniors and seniors can receive credit at most colleges and universities in addition to their high school credit.

Northwest Whitfield has 206 students enrolled in AP classes, including 12 who take the classes online through Georgia Virtual School, an entirely Internet-based campus.

At North Murray, counselor Karen Harkleroad said the school works continuously to prepare students for college and careers.

“Since North Murray opened its doors three years ago, we have been working on creating a college-going culture, and AP courses are a big part of that for us,” she said. “We started our first two years with two or three AP courses, and by the 2012-2013 school year we will have eight AP courses to offer our students.”

For the rest of the article, go to Schools tout AP classes as students look toward college

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Georgia Connections Academy Expanding – Teens Statewide Have Virtual Charter School Option

March 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

DULUTH, Ga., (March 27, 2012) – Georgia’s public virtual charter school, Georgia Connections Academy (GACA), is expanding from a K-8 to K-12 school for the 2012-2013 school year. Georgia Connections Academy is a tuition-free public school and students from anywhere in the state may enroll.

Enrollment for grades K-12 for the 2012-2013 school year opens on April 3, 2012 and information sessions are planned statewide for interested families. The first information session will be held on March 29th in Macon – see a complete list of information sessions below.

“Good things are happening in public education, and we’re proud to be a leader in the future of great schooling in our state,” said Georgia Connections Academy Principal Heather Robinson. “We look forward to welcoming more elementary, middle, and now high schoolers next year!”

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House backs bill urging Georgia schools to promote virtual learning

March 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Georgia public schools would be urged to promote more online learning under a bill the House passed Thursday by a 125-38 vote.

Senate Bill 289 underwent drastic changes in the House, where the Education Committee removed a mandate that students take at least one online course to graduate from high school. Instead, the House version would require high schools to “maximize” the number of students taking at least one online course.

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Cybereducation: Going the distance

March 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“I don’t know,” he told me, “but I know it’s better than what I’ve got.”

That seems to be the attitude of policymakers toward online learning, including some in the Georgia Legislature, which considered mandating cyber high school courses as a graduation requirement. Instead, the bill urges high schools to enroll more students in virtual courses.

Cybereducation is shiny and new. It’s market-driven and it represents the future.

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Virtual High School: More options for students

March 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“It is used quite extensively,” said Terry Jones, director of teaching and learning for middle grades and secondary education at the Carroll County School System. “We have right now, about 970 students enrolled in [Virtual High School]. Our high schools are able to use this Virtual High School program to provide students an opportunity for credit recovery as well as credit accrual.”

Rather than receiving their lessons in person, students are plugged into an online classroom with classmates they’ll never actually meet in person. There, they can work on and submit their assignments and participate in group discussions at any time of the day or night.

Jones said that because of the easy access and number and variety of courses offered, students at nearly every Carroll County high school are participating in online learning to make up class credit or to take classes not offered in the county. Another facet is that wherever the debate over school choice lands in the Georgia Legislature, the program offers an increasing number of choices in addition to what is traditionally offered at public schools.

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Should every Georgia high school student take an online course? Why?

March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In its own meta analysis of all the research on the issue, the U. S. Department of Education warned that there was a “small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for k–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the k–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education).”

More promising than online learning is blended instruction, which combines traditional face-to-face classroom teaching with some computer-based activities. Many schools in Georgia are already doing this.
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Top online school, James Madison High School, implements Common Core Standards

March 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga., (March 6, 2012) – James Madison High School has proven to be an early adopter among the more than 130,000 primary and secondary schools across the United States. The accredited online high school is one of the first schools to implement The Common Core State Standards — well in advance of the 2014 implementation deadline.

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Create virtual schools

March 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Georgia’s university system is one of the state’s biggest assets. The same goes for some local school systems.

Unfortunately, not every Georgian has access to quality educational offerings. Some are poor or disadvantaged. Others live far away from a campus. Still others may not have flexible schedules that allow them to work a job and take a class that would open the door to more opportunities.

That’s why Georgia must do a better job of harnessing technology to educate all its citizens, regardless of income, age or location. That means turning the entire state into a classroom and offering classes online – and doing it for free.

In other words, let’s create more virtual schools.

Some of the nation’s finest universities, such as Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are already going down this path. Last year, Stanford offered a free online course on artificial intelligence, which two leading experts from Silicon Valley taught. According to The New York Times, about 58,000 students from around the world were attracted. That’s four times the size of Stanford’s student body.

For the rest of the article, go to Create virtual schools

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Dick Yarbrough: When it comes to public school issues, legislators cut and run Read more: Cherokee Tribune – Dick Yarbrough When it comes to public school issues legislators cut and run

February 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

When politicians talk about charter schools, private school vouchers, taxpayer-funded scholarships to private schools, virtual learning and the like as alternatives to public schools, they are avoiding the real issue. If public schools have a problem beyond a lack of funding, it is not in the job you are doing. It is that you are doing it in the real world.

Not only do you have legislators telling you how well-off you are financially and not to sweat the unpaid furlough days and budget cuts, they conveniently forget that your school is a microcosm of society. Unlike your private school cousins who can pick and choose their students and get rid of the ones qho don’t play by the institution’s rules, you have to deal with the hand you are given: From apathetic and absentee parents to drugs and poverty, to criticism from ignoramuses who couldn’t do your job on their most lucid day . The Legislature’s response seems to be to encourage parents to cut and run rather than stay and help fix the problems.

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