This list is by no means comprehensive, as there are more cyber schools servicing students in Pennsylvania. In fact, of the nine new charter schools that have opened in Pennsylvania this year, four are cyber charter schools.
A regional virtual public charter school, PA Cyber was created to educate students
in an area where the local high school had shut down due to a declining tax
base. It currently has over 10,000
students from Pennsylvania in attendance, and utilizes National Network of
Digital Schools for its curriculum.
This regional virtual public charter school offers its services specifically to
Pennsylvania residents. Enrollment at its
partner company, Connections Academy, is also available to Pennsylvania
students, but as a national organization which charges a fee, not one where attendance is covered through PA taxes. Their curriculum is offered through Connections Academy.
This regional virtual public charter school in Pennsylvania opened in 2001,
and currently serves over 3,400 Pennsylvania students. Through a partnership with K12, a national
company, PA Virtual offers a comprehensive curriculum for its students.
A regional virtual public charter school servicing Pennsylvania
students in grades 6-12, 21st CCCS was started as a collaborative effort between the Intermediate Units of Bucks, Chester,
Delaware and Montgomery Counties, representing 64 school districts. This charter school’s curriculum was developed
by Pennsylvania certified teachers based upon PA Standards.
QCSD Cyber Program - Quakertown Community School District
A district-based program, QCSD Cyber was created to meet the
needs of students within the Quakertown Community School District. Students may take as many online classes as
needed to meet their graduation requirements from the district. They offer an outreach program through a
collaboration with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit to assist other districts
in creating in-house online programs called Bridges Virtual Education Services.
Thank you for sharing this Becki. I was interested in your comment that "of the nine new charter schools that have opened in Pennsylvania this year, four are cyber charter schools." Why do you think this happens? Is it a common phenomenon among other charter schools in the US?
ReplyDeleteHello - these are great questions! In the US, the individual states are the organizations with the ability to grant charters to schools, and each state handles this situation differently. I am most familiar with Pennsylvania - as I both live and work here. Someone who has more experience in this area, perhaps Prof. Barbour, could probably offer much more insight. Charter schools take different shapes in PA - located very close to me are three I can think of off-hand - the Seven Generations Charter School http://www.sevengenerationsschool.org/ centered around environmentalist ideals, The Lehigh Valley Charter High School of the Performing Arts http://www.lvpa.org/ focused around cultivating the creative arts and the Medical Academy Charter Art School http://medicalcharterschool.com/, a new charter planning to specialize in training students for the medical field. These three charter schools are located in my immediate area - within 20 miles of my home - and operate out of a brick-and-mortar setting. The cyber charter schools are different - tend to be more generalized, not specific to an idea/area of study - but can allow attendance to any student in this state. The idea of a brick-and-mortar building doesn't necessarily come into play, although my understanding is that these cyber charters often have offices where their administration and teachers may work, as well as building hubs where students can attend, especially if they are focused more closely on a certain area of the state.
DeleteSo - just from my limited understanding, my guess is that cyber charters would be a more popular way to offer a larger group of students the ability to attend to receive a general education - as a direct alternative to their home school district. In Pennsylvania, there are 500 school districts, ranging in size from several hundred students to several thousand.
I was reading that there are many changes coming to your area of New Zealand in reference to charter schools. Have you found that cyber charters are being developed? Are there already cyber charter schools that service students living in Christchurch?
I'm not certain that I've answered your questions - I'll send a note to Prof. Barbour, and see if he'd be willing to share.
Thank you for asking some very insightful questions!
Beck thank you for sharing information on virtual school I PA for my assignment I chose to look at K-12 online learning in the south and especially my current state of Georgia. But I am a northern at heart, being from NY :-)! As you stated about noticing more charter / cyber schools "popping up", I have noticed the same thing here in GA. More cyber charter schools have opened up in the past couple of years in GA. I do know that parents are looking and yearning for alternatives to the "traditional" school experience. I know friends of mine who are parents especially get scared and worried as middle school approaches and have looked for alternatives for their child and middle school. I also know that teachers are also looking for alternatives in teaching and being in the world of education.
ReplyDelete