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Smith-Williamson said the foundation wants to re-establish its camp program for younger children, create mentoring opportunities and build academic programs including a potential cyber school.
For adults, the foundation wants to have computer training, a leadership academy, training for new parents and a neighborhood college, she said.
For the rest of the article, go to Council adjusts Coatesville Community Center’s programs
EAST CALN — To save money, the Downingtown Area School District wants to launch its own cyber school.
District Superintendent Lawrence Mussoline announced his plan for a cyber school Wednesday at the district’s curriculum committee meeting. The committee and full school board will likely make a decision on how to proceed next month after obtaining more information on how many students may be interested.
For the rest of the article, go to Downingtown Area planning to launch its own cyber school.
Alarmed by the loss of revenue, several local school districts have created their own cyber academies.
Highlands, Kiski Area, Plum, Fox Chapel Area and Deer Lakes are among the local districts that have ventured into the cyber-school world in an attempt to stem the rising tide of lost revenue, plus expand their educational programs.
The districts partner with private companies that provide the cyber-charter framework and instructors, and work with district educators to write the curriculum to their specifications.
For the rest of the article, go to Alle-Kiski Valley districts creating own cyber academies
Pennsylvania cyber schools are growing – in number of students, in popularity and in cost – but the strain on the budgets of local school districts may become too much if changes aren’t made to the system.
Four local school districts spent thousands of dollars on cyber school tuition this past year: South Williamsport Area School District paid $155,000, Loyalsock Township School District spent $160,000, Jersey Shore Area School District spent $427,153 and Williamsport Area School District spent $1.03 million.
For the rest of the article, go to Cyber schools take budgetary bite
Many objections and misconceptions to cyber school stem from the way society depicts the internet as a social black hole. Parents concern develops from the idea that their children will suffer from a lack of socialization — this is a very valid concern. However, it becomes important to understand that isolation does not come from being alone; rather, it comes from being surrounded by few like-minded peers. In actuality, I have never met most of my cyber school friends and yet I feel that I have formed deeper friendships in one year at cyber school than eight years in a traditional school.
This idea delves into the core of how different people learn and interact differently. Some people do thrive in an environment full of people. However, some work more efficiently at their own pace and cyber school provides an alternative to those students. Additionally, PALCS offers both a University Scholars Program and a Center for the Performing Arts, which offers classes for gifted students and theatrically motivated students, respectively.
For the rest of the article, go to Cyber School: The Truth Revealed
Cyber school expenses are spiraling for Eastern York, so the school district has devised its own program in hopes of bringing those costs down.
Assistant Superintendent Rita Becker recently told the school board the district spent more than $625,000 during the 2009-10 school year on cyber charter school for 61 students.
That’s amounts to an additional $200,000 in expenses.
Becker attributed the increase in part to the heavy marketing push by cyber schools, which offer online classes. Whenever a student chooses to attend a cyber school, the student’s home school district is responsible for paying the cost — the equivalent of what it spends educating each of its students.
For the rest of the article, go to Eastern York aims to lower expenses for cyber schools
In a contract with Virtual Learning Network, approved by the school board in April, a base charge of $16,000 is paid by the district each year, and then $4,250 per student, which includes the price of textbooks and the provision of instructors for those involved in the new cyber program.
Before the program was instituted, school officials knew they would need at least six current cyber school students to transfer to the new program, in order for the project to break even financially.
For the rest of the article, go to District cyber school project paying off
Henderson, who moved her two children to a cyber school program rather than transfer them to the Ligonier schools, predicted that former Laurel Valley students will willingly leave their new schools.
“To get the school back, the kids are ready for a little inconvenience,” Henderson said.
The decision to close the Laurel Valley school culminated four decades of wrangling in the expansive eastern Westmoreland County district that includes Ligonier Borough and Ligonier Township, as well as Seward and New Florence in the northern section.
For the rest of the article, go to Ruling on Ligonier Valley and Laurel Valley school consolidation expected shortly
By the middle of last year, Cole knew something had to change. He wanted to be able to practice with his band Time Out, so he asked his parents if he could enroll in a cyber school. The question caught his dad off-guard.
“My wife and I grew up with traditional school,” he said. “Everyone we know does that, too.”
But after several phone calls and reviewing many options, the Sipes decided to let Cole try The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.
Unlike thousands of York County students, Cole won’t be heading to class this week. He will be staying home to take online courses, a choice that more students are making.
For the rest of the article, go to An endless summer for kids?
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