FEH BOCES to launch virtual learning school
May 27—MALONE — Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES is set to launch a virtual learning school for K-12 students of its 10 component school districts.
The Torch Academy, which will have a soft opening this summer and officially come online in the fall, will enable students to either take a full year of courses remotely or add additional courses to their in-person learning.
"I was a high school principal for many years before this and I would have loved to have something like this for my students," FEH Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and Instructional Support Lori Tourville told The Press-Republican.
"I think there are going to be some students who are just going to flourish in this environment and have opportunities for different types of courses that maybe our more rural-type districts are not able to afford."
DUG DEEPER
Tourville said discussions around offering a virtual learning format began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Initial conversations centered on greater flexibility and filling coursework gaps for students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) programs at FEH, later evolving to include students, particularly at the high school level, who have excelled in a distance learning format and may want to accelerate their learning.
Later, offering the program to K-5 students as well was also considered.
"It was like every time we dug deeper into that, we saw another place that this could live, another place this could serve a student, another place that it could serve our districts," Tourville said.
LOWERS COST
While it may be difficult for a single district to hire a teacher dedicated to K-12 students learning remotely, their BOCES can hire a couple teachers and take on all its districts' remote students, lowering the cost for everyone, Tourville explained.
She said about 480 K-5 students and close to a thousand in grades 6 through 12 in the FEH region are learning from home.
Though some districts have been able to hire current staff members to manage that virtual work, many teachers have been conducting in-person instruction while broadcasting to virtual students.
"It's amazing, all the educators who have been able to do that for so long, but I think everybody's recognizing we can't keep asking them to do this and we need dedicated people who are going to just be living in the virtual world with the kids who believe they want to stay in the virtual world," Tourville said.
GRANT FUNDING
Tourville said the component districts are 100 percent on board with the Torch Academy.
She believes they both recognize how managing remote students can take away from their in-person instructors and appreciate that FEH will be taking on the risk and work to develop a virtual program.
According to an FEH press release, Adirondack Foundation Generous Acts grants will help reduce the cost per class for the program, making it more accessible for students.
Tourville explained that there will be no costs to families for Torch Academy; similar to how local districts pay students' CTE tuition to FEH, they will also pay directly for the virtual learning program.
LEARNING LABS
FEH will have dedicated spaces, called learning labs, for Torch Academy students at both its Adirondack Educational Center in Saranac Lake and North Franklin Educational Center in Malone. At this point, those will be run by the same lab facilitator, though staffing numbers could change depending on how many kids sign up.
Each lab will have a "funky" setup, Tourville said, with bean bags and tall café tables, and will be utilized by Torch Academy in two key ways.
First, students will be able to sign up to come in Monday through Friday during school hours in case they need a different space, are working on group projects or are looking for additional academic support.
Second, the lab facilitator, who will monitor student progress, will be able to require students falling behind to come in to the labs until they are caught up on coursework.
NOT FOR EVERYBODY
That will enable struggling students to both receive the support they need at that moment and determine whether they should continue with the virtual format, Tourville said.
She emphasized that the fully virtual model is not for everybody, and requires both motivation and good time management.
Transitions back to in-person learning at students' home districts will be possible, but FEH will not encourage moving back and forth between the two models, Tourville said.
Students looking to learn at a faster pace can also transition into the Torch Academy, she added, pointing to how students may want to take additional courses for advanced designation or biliteracy diplomas.
"Most districts only have French or Spanish, some only have Spanish, and now they can take Latin, they can take German, they can take Chinese" and many other courses through Torch Academy, Tourville said.
EDGENUITY
To offer those courses, FEH is partnering with the company Edgenuity, which was selected following a shared decision-making process with FEH instructional staff who tested out four or five virtual platforms, Tourville said.
Key factors included Edgenuity's strong connection to state learning standards and ability to use state-certified teachers.
"And it just felt like, (with) what we were looking to do with what they had to offer, it just was a great fit," Tourville said.
For summer school students looking to recover credits, the virtual program will tailor instruction based on pre-diagnostic assessments that identify what pieces they are missing within given learning targets.
Most of the time, Torch Academy students will utilize the instructional support model, where a New York State-certified instructor will teach the curriculum in an asynchronous manner paced by the student.
WHAT'S NEXT
For high school students, FEH sees Torch Academy as a great bridge for those heading to college or into the workforce, Tourville said.
"It just has so many tentacles of positive places that it helps these kids get ready for what's next, and that really is our job as schools, right? What's next? What are we getting them ready for?"
Formal registration for fall enrollment in the Torch Academy has yet to occur. Interested families are asked to contact their home districts' guidance offices.
Email Cara Chapman:
Twitter: @PPR_carachapman
