GREGG: Hoosier Academy charter school fits learning to student’s lifestyle

Many people are unaware that Indiana has an online K-12 charter school, Hoosier Academy, with 2,000 students enrolled. Including hybrid students, those who attend two days a week in three brick-and-mortar locations, the total enrollment is just fewer than 3,000.

These “virtual” students are supported by public funds, have online teachers, and gather at sites around the state to take ISTEP and End of Course Assessments. They take world languages, participate in Advanced Placement courses and receive Special Education services. Participating families are also provided with community events scheduled to bring students together to meet their teachers and administrators.

Lynn Black is Head of Schools for Indiana’s online charter school, and he has oversight of all areas associated with a public school district: finance, operations, human resources, curriculum and instruction, as well as professional development.

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Education: State buys into ‘New Tech’ approach

Virtual flexibility

The Hoosier Academy, a 3-year-old charter school with campuses in Indianapolis and Muncie, is trying another fresh approach to education — focused on instruction tailored to each student.

The academy has both an entirely virtual school — taught through a computer audio-video link — and a virtual/in-class hybrid program.

The Virtual Pilot School serves 220 students from across the state in first through sixth grades. The Muncie-based hybrid program, K-8, has 150 students. And the Indianapolis campuses — one is K-8 and the other a high school — have about 625 students combined. The students in the hybrid program meet on campus two days a week and work from home three days a week.

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Indiana virtual school to enroll students

Laystrom said the school will serve a wide range of kids, from those who are ahead or behind academically, to those who simply need a different school environment.

That said, any Indiana student can be considered for enrollment, she said.

Connections Academy has 18 public schools in 17 states.

The organization also has a nationally accredited private virtual school called National Connections Academy that serves students in states in which the virtual public-school option is not available, Laystrom said.

Indiana Connections Academy is the second virtual charter school in Indiana, said Lauren Auld, spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Education.

Hoosier Academies, a combination virtual and bricks and mortar school that opened in 2008-09, was the first.

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