Mass Legislators Look at Expanding Virtual High School in the Bay State

Feb. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Maynard, MA – On Friday morning, Senator Jamie Eldridge and four other Massachusetts legislators gathered at Clock Tower Place in Maynard to discuss bringing Virtual High School’s online learning program to more middle and high schools in the Bay State.

The event, sponsored by Virtual High School Global Consortium (www.govhs.org), the pioneer of K-12 online learning and course design for teachers, discussed how schools can use online learning to increase student interest and performance in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and AP (Advanced Placement) courses.  

“Over the last few years, many schools have decreased the number of AP courses they offer because of budgetary constraints,” said Liz Pape, President & CEO of Virtual High School (VHS). “What’s more, the Bay State lags behind the national average for students interested in pursuing a STEM major. We provide an easy, affordable means for schools to make more AP and STEM courses accessible to their students.”

To date, the non-profit has partnerships with 183 schools in Massachusetts and is looking to bring their nearly 400 classes to every school in the Bay State.

Pape began by recounting the organization’s growth from meager beginnings as a federally-funded, 5-year project with five member schools in Massachusetts to an international best practice with 15,000 students per semester from 676 member schools in 35 states and 36 countries. In addition, students, teachers and administrators from Maynard, Concord-Carlisle and Westborough High Schools provided legislators with an intimate look at the VHS programs presently underway at their schools.

“One of the greatest things about VHS is that it truly differentiates instruction through readiness, interest and learning profiles,” said Peter Badalament, Principal of Concord-Carlisle High School. “The idea that kids can take a course in something they are interested in is a wonderful idea that all students should have access to.”

Elana Vaitzblit, a Senior at Concord-Carlisle High School, relayed her experience taking VHS’s Preveterinary Medicine and Animal Behavior & Zoology courses. “I have always really liked animals and these courses made me realize I was more interested in behavior than in animal science. The opportunity helped me to decide the colleges to look at, which was something I had been struggling with for a while.”

Helin Azizoglu, a Junior at Concord-Carlisle, also took a VHS course seeking direction with her college major. “My school doesn’t offer that many law courses and I have always been interested in criminal law so I took American Law & Justice. I am now planning to major in pre-law. I tend to procrastinate so it also taught me time management and organizational skills.”

About Virtual High School (VHS)
Virtual High School is the pioneer of online course design and instruction for teachers and online education for high school students. Virtual High School partners with schools to provide rigorous, student-centered online courses that help expand vs. replace existing curriculum options. Members of the VHS collaborative include over 15,000 enrolled students from 676 member schools in 35 U.S. states and 36 countries. The recipient of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) 2005, 2007 and 2008 awards for Excellence in Programming and Excellence in Best Practices and the Stockholm Challenge 2001 Award for exemplary use of technology in education, VHS was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.govhs.org or call (978) 897-1900.

Press Contact: VHS: Carol Arnold, Arnold Communications, carol@arnoldcomm.com, (877) 718-4604 x2.

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The pioneer of K-12 online learning and course design for teachers, Virtual High School (VHS) is a non-profit collaborative of high schools, middle schools, teachers and students.