WHAT IS THIS ONLINE SCHOOL I'M HEARING ABOUT? WEEK 1

Many of us are interested in the virtual school that is now available to children in Limestone County.  We have a few of them here in Elkmont who are trying it out this year.  One of the parents involved has agreed to share her experiences with the system, the good, the bad and the ugly. Look for her posts each week.

FIRST DAY:
First day of school in the books! I feel like I wasn't doing it right because it seems too easy but I followed all of the instructions and went over all the course work for the day with Dawson! We did all our lessons for the day and logged 6 hours! We chose K-12 (virtual school) for Dawson so he wouldn't have the distractions that actual school has. And for his first day it was great! He was able to do work and take breaks when he started getting antsy. It works great for his ADHD! So far I am loving it!

Ashley Mcelyea

MORE INFO:
It isn’t a traditional school but a statewide public virtual school for grades K-12 that’s partnering with the Limestone County school district. The school, called Alabama Connections Academy, will offer a “high-quality, rigorous curriculum that is a great fit for many families who are looking for an alternative. This year, Alabama Virtual Academy is separate from Limestone County's virtual school but has the same concepts. Next year, they will be the same when K-8 grade is added to Limestone's 9-12 grade program.

The Limestone County Board of Education in May agreed to a contract with Connections Education LLC to provide online education services and authorized the opening of Alabama Connections Academy for the 2017-18 school year. Though it’s a statewide school, the offices will be at Owens Elementary. 

 

The program provides the basics, such as language arts, social studies, math, science and languages; electives; honors and advanced placement courses; and reading and math remediation, among other offerings. Alabama-certified teachers are hired for the program, and a state-approved curriculum is used. Students are required to take the same state tests as traditional public school students.  As part of the program, a student must have an identified "learning coach," a parent or other adult, to help monitor student attendance, verify classwork and communicate with teachers. Administrators and teachers communicate with students through phone calls, webmail and person-to-person and live classroom sessions.

“There will always be a need for traditional bricks-and-mortar schools,” Limestone County Schools Superintendent Tom Sisk said. “But this partnership with Connections allows us to move a step closer to personalized learning. We get the opportunity to be transformational and be a state leader in virtual learning.”

Decatur Daily Article Link