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Virtual school another option for students

May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Louisiana Connections Academy is a virtual school that will provide an online learning opportunity for students.

It is the state’s only Board of Elementary and Secondary Education accredited online public school.

The online Academy is grades Kindergarten through 12. It follows Louisiana’s public school regulations, laws and curriculum.

“It’s one-on-one interaction so the teachers aren’t distracted by a whole classroom of students,” Instructor for the Academy Christie Hollins said.

The student is able to work with a certified teacher who helps the child excel in coursework, Hollins said. The teachers are available from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and can be reached via phone, email or webmail–a confidential emailing system between teacher and student.

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Parish plans virtual school, targeting home schoolers

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

LAFAYETTE — The St. Mary Parish school system plans to open a new virtual school in August as a way to draw home schoolers back into the school system.

The virtual school would enroll students in grades 6-12 and is open to any student in the parish. However, the school system is targeting students who currently receive educational services through home schooling or online charter schools, said Monica Mancuso, supervisor of middle and high schools for St. Mary Parish.

The school system has budgeted about $25,000 for the needed software to launch the virtual program, she said.

Students who enroll in the virtual education program will be assigned to a base school — whichever school they’re zoned to attend — and will receive online services and assistance from certified St. Mary Parish teachers, Mancuso said.

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Online academy to hold info sessions

May 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Louisiana Connections Academy will hold information sessions in Natchitoches and Alexandria in mid-May for families that want information about the virtual public school.

The session in Natchitoches is Tuesday, May 15, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express, 5137 University Parkway.

The Alexandria session is Wednesday, May 16, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Best Western Suites and Conference Center, 2720 N. MacArthur Drive.

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Southern Lab to offer online curriculum

April 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Southern University Lab School announced Friday that it is hiring the for-profit K12 virtual school company to offer a full complement of online courses for 200 students next school year in grades kindergarten to 12.

It will be K12’s second online school that will educate students across all Louisiana.

It already has partnered with Baton Rouge charter school C.S.A.L. to create Louisiana Virtual Charter Academy, which has more than 1,200 students statewide in its first year of operation. Rival school Connections Academy started its own virtual charter school this year called Louisiana Connections Academy.

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Virtual school plans to double its enrollment

April 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Louisiana Connections Academy, one of the state’s two virtual charter schools, has been approved to increase its student population for the 2012-13 school year.

The school will hold an informational workshop Tuesday in Monroe.

Principal Caroline Wood said the school has been approved to double its enrollment from 500 students in the current school year to 1,000 for next year.

Any Louisiana student in grades kindergarten through 12th grade is eligible to enroll in the school whose instruction is entirely computer based.

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Reform School on the Bayou

April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Louisiana’s new laws will essentially give all parents an average of $8,500 to use for their child’s education as they see fit. They can keep their child in their local public school, but they can also try to get Johnny into a more demanding charter school, or a virtual school, or into special language or career-training courses, among other options.

Nearly 400,000 low-income children—a bit more than half of all students—will also be eligible for vouchers to attend private schools. State officials estimate that about 2,000 students will use vouchers this September given private-school capacity limits, but that tens of thousands will do so over time.

Louisiana is also making life easier for charter schools, with new authorizing boards, a fast-track for high-performing networks, and access to facilities equal to that of traditional public schools. The new laws seek to strengthen superintendents and principals over local school boards, which are bastions of bureaucratic and union intransigence.

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Virtual Public School A Reality In Louisiana

April 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

NEW ORLEANS — Virtual public school, K-12, is a reality in Louisiana. The Louisiana Connections Academy is the first virtual public school in the state. Administrators and staff walk into a real office in Baton Rouge every day; but students attend school at home.

“We log on to the computer and start school,” says Louisiana Connections Academy student Molly Ehrhardt.

Instruction is a fusion of traditional and futuristic methods. Students get assignments online, learn by reading books and experience hands-on learning through science experiments and field trips. Students are guided by a learning coach, which is usually a parent.

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House approves voucher bill

March 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“I’m not saying the amendment fixes everything that’s bad out there,” said Jonesboro Rep. Jim Fannin , author of the amendment. “I’m just trying to make the bill better.”

Fannin also got an amendment attached that says local tax dollars cannot be transferred to charter or virtual schools outside the boundaries of school districts or to private schools within the district.

Rep. John Bel Edwards argued that Fannin’s amendment doesn’t do what he intends because the state never takes control of local taxes. He pointed out that on average, vouchers are to be funded 59 percent with state and 41 percent with local funds.

“Your amendment does not prohibit the state forcing local funds to be used to fund vouchers,” Edwards said.

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Panel OKs voucher program

March 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

mber of charter schools moved closer to reality Thursday with approval by a Senate Committee.

The Education Committee voted 5-1 to send SB597 to the full Senate for consideration after several hours of debate. Sen. Eric LaFleur, D-Ville Platte, cast the only dissenting vote.

Supporters of the proposal say it would save children trapped in failing schools but opponents say it is aimed at destroying public education.

Opponents and some supporters also challenge the claim that it’s for children in failing schools when even students in schools graded “C” could participate.

Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, said “the most I’m hearing is about ‘C,’ ‘D’ and ‘F’ students” and that constituents believe students in the worst schools should be given preference.

“Are they treated any differently or is it luck of the draw?” Walsworth asked.

“We run a lottery,” said Superintendent of Education John White. Students from all eligible schools are included because “all kids in this process have been disadvantaged.”

In a “C” school, about 75 percent of students are performing at grade level. White said the bill is needed to offer parents options for a better education for their children. He said 44 percent of the state’s students are enrolled in schools that score “D” or “F.”

A major part of the bill deals with charter schools and creates a simpler way for organizers to start them. “Local charter school authorizers,” which could be non-profit organizations or universities, as in other states, would be set up to review applications and grant charters.

School boards would be removed from the process.

Another part of the bill allows parents whose children are enrolled in schools that receive an “F” three years in a row to vote to have it taken over by the Recovery School District. Currently, such a school becomes eligible for takeover after four years.

Besides attending private schools, vouchers could be used to enroll in virtual schools, take an online course, co-enroll at a community or technical college or enroll in “industry certified” training, the bill says.

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–La. Senate panel OKs vouchers, charter school expansion

March 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A major part of the bill deals with charter schools and creates a simpler way for organizers to start them. “Local charter school authorizers,” which could be nonprofit organizations or universities, as in other states, would be set up to review applications and grant charters.

School boards would be removed from the process.

Another part of the bill allows parents whose children are enrolled in schools that receive an F three years in a row to vote to have it taken over by the Recovery School District. Currently, such a school becomes eligible for takeover after four years.

Besides being used for students to attend private schools, vouchers could be used to enroll in virtual schools, take an online course, co-enroll at a community or technical college or enroll in “industry certified” training, the bill says.

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