Nearly 900 Marysville students opt to learn from home
In Marysville, a collection of students roughly the size of the entire Triad School District have opted to learn from home when school begins on Aug. 24.
And while 882 students choosing to stay home might seem like a large number, it’s in the ballpark of what district officials were expecting based on the results of a parent survey earlier this summer.
Results of the poll showed about 15% of the district’s students planned to enroll in the district’s Virtual Academy, a remote learning option put in place for families who do not feel it is safe enough yet to return to in-person learning. Current numbers show roughly 17% of the district’s students have actually enrolled in the Virtual Academy, but Superintendent Diane Allen said those numbers are changing daily as families settle in on a choice.
“Honestly, the number has been fluctuating both directions over the past week,” Allen said.
Numbers indicate that parents of the younger students are choosing to err on the side of caution. Fourth grade is the level seeing the most students opting to stay home, with 93 families choosing the Virtual Academy, compared to 47 in the senior class.
Due to the number of students being serviced, local officials chose to contract with a pair of companies to provide digital content for the Virtual Academy. Florida Virtual School (FVS) will service grades K-6 and APEX Learning Platform will provide content for students in grades 7-12.
Allen said local educators were not comfortable with any single vendor’s model to serve all grade levels. In a message sent to parents this week, Allen said both vendors are aligned to Ohio Academic Content Standards and the district will be supplementing the lessons with local material when required.
She said FVS has been in the business of E-learning for 20 years and provides a self-paced learning platform for students that will be overseen by Marysville teachers. The superintendent said several other central Ohio districts are using FVS, allowing Marysville to collaborate with other schools for support.
FVS will be paid a $175 license fee per student for its services, more than $94,000 for the 538 K-6 students.
APEX is a platform that is familiar to high school staff and students, Allen said, making its expanded use seamless. It also provides self-paced content, supported by Marysville teachers.
Allen said Marysville secured a district-wide license for APEX at a cost of $28,000, which was $8,000 lower than if a per-student license plan was selected.
The superintendent said both platforms were purchased with federal grant money provided for COVID-related expenses, rather than using local operating or permanent improvement dollars.
Local teachers supporting the Virtual Academy will be working remotely with students daily, Allen said.
“Our staff will be fully facilitating the content and interacting with students regularly in order to provide a personalized platform and ensure the Marysville Guarantee is followed,” Allen said.
On top of being supervised by local educators, a team of administrators has also been put in place to serve the various grade levels. Literacy Director Steve Griffin will serve as K-4 virtual principal, Creekview principals Tim Kannally and Ryan Ferriman will serve grades 5-6, and high school administrators Jodi Robertson and Jen Hinderer will serve grades 7-12.
In her correspondence with families, Allen encouraged parents to show students a positive outlook in regard to the school year ahead, regardless of the challenges.
“Since March we have experienced significant change in our community, state, and nation and at times, it is easy to react with anger and frustration,” Allen wrote. “However, I hope that we can all stay positive and collectively focus on making this the best opportunity for students given our circumstances.”
Virtual Academy enrollment
A class-by-class breakdown of the number of Marysville students opting to enroll in the Virtual Academy for 2020-21.
Alt-K 11
K 61
1st 73
2nd 84
3rd 81
4th 93
5th 62
6th 84
7th 65
8th 56
9th 50
10th 63
11th 51
12th 47
Total 882