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Virtual school gives real boost to special children
April 15, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
It is Monday afternoon at the Bingham house, and the school day has just started.
Caleb, 7, begins to solve problems on his math worksheet, while his brother Micah, 6, works on the Raz Kids program on the computer. Melinda Bingham, their learning coach and mother, keeps track of what the boys are doing. After a while, the boys switch tasks; Caleb works on the computer and Micah tackles math.
Caleb and Micah are two of the 91 Lawrence Virtual School students in Shawnee County. The school, which was established in August 2004, is the largest virtual school in Kansas, currently serving 1,024 students.
Caleb, who is in his second year at LVS, was enrolled at a typical academic setting for only a short time. He attended three weeks of kindergarten at a Topeka school, but he had just started a new medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it wasn’t going well for him.
So Melinda and her husband, Rodney, who had been thinking about home schooling their children, started doing Internet searches for virtual schools that included special education programs.
Lawrence Virtual School popped up.
“Just a random search brought me here,” Melinda said. “And I’m so glad that it did.”
Micah has autism, and the Binghams knew they were going to need special education services.
“For Micah, this environment is much more conducive to him learning,” his mother said. “Crowded rooms with lots of people are a little bit much for him.”
Both parents work in education. Rodney is a teacher, and Melinda is a social worker in a local school district. Melinda works in the morning and is home with the boys in the afternoon to act as their learning coach.
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Centre School District Superintendent Receives National Award for Use of Technology in Education
March 27, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
LOST SPRINGS, Kan., March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Jerri Kemble, superintendent of the Centre School District and director of the Kansas Online Learning Program, has been named one of 2012′s Tech-Savvy Superintendents by eSchool News for her use of technology in offering blended learning to the district’s students.
Sponsored by GlobalScholar and JDL Horizons, eSchool Media’s 12th annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards recognize senior school district executives nationwide who best exemplify outstanding leadership and vision in using technology to advance their district’s educational goals.
In the four years Kemble has been at the helm of Centre School District, she has designed and developed a virtual school and blended learning program, connected students of every age with cutting-edge technology, successfully integrated online tools to educate students, parents and staff, and met with President Obama and Vice President Biden to discuss ed-tech in her district and beyond.
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District to offer virtual program
March 14, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
The Tonganoxie school district soon will have a virtual school.
The board approved, 6-0, with Kathy Baragary absent, Superintendent Randy Weseman’s recommendation to begin a virtual school starting with the 2012-13 school year. Enrollment could begin as early as April, Weseman said at Monday’s board meeting.
“This is the way for us to get into the virtual school business because that’s the way the world’s going, folks,” Weseman told the school board.
Weseman said there are 30 to 40 students currently in the district who are attending virtual schools through other districts.
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