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Online Learning Trend Grows

“Virtual Academy Brings Class to Kids’ Fingertips”
by Robert Nott
The New Mexican
July 25, 2013

New Mexico Connections Academy, the state’s second virtual-learning charter school, is opening next month and already about 300 students from around the state have enrolled.

On July 1, Athena Trujillo, an Albuquerque native, was appointed principal of the Santa Fe-based school, which serves students in grades four to 12.

Virtual learning academies allow students to work on a personal computer at their own pace from home, though students are still required to check in with teachers, perform classroom activities, including homework, and take part in physical-education classes and field trips.

Trujillo, who has worked for various New Mexico and Texas school districts for about 24 years, said by phone Monday that online schools are offering the state-mandated curriculum, including such elective courses as art and Spanish. She said they can serve the needs of students who do not comfortably fit into the traditional social setting of a brick-and-mortar school facility, including those who either need extra time and attention or learn at an accelerated pace.

She acknowledges that such online centers do not meet the needs of all students, “Just like a traditional school is not for everyone.”

“When I look at the traditional school’s history and how it evolves — well, now we have alternative high schools, schools for teenage mothers, and specialized charter schools that address the specific talents of our students. The whole idea is that we can serve a population of kids who need this kind of access, just like another school — the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe — can serve a specific population. There’s a need for that school, and there’s a need for our school.”

Belen resident Karen Hoyt, who just moved with her son, Ethan, to New Mexico from Pennsylvania, believes New Mexico Connections Academy is perfect for her son. He’s been enrolled in a Connections Academy in Pennsylvania for two years and is thriving, she said. In the traditional public-school system, Hoyt said, her son “was falling through the cracks. He was not getting the attention he needed, and he was being bullied.”

Now, he goes to school on a laptop provided by Connections Academy. His grades have increased from C’s and B’s to B’s and A’s, she said. He checks in with his teachers and principal by phone on a regular basis, and she keeps track of his work from home to confirm he is fulfilling course work obligations.

Hoyt does not agree with criticisms regarding either the quality of education or the lack of social interaction for online students today. “You can go to any college and do online course work,” she said. “You can get a master’s degree online. This is preparing our students for both their future and further education.”

Trujillo agrees. “The new buzzword is ’21st-century skills,’ ” she said. “Take a look at what 21st-century skills mean today. It means getting our kids ready for a technologically advanced world.”

Albuquerque teacher Lindsey Edwards, who will teach fourth and fifth grade for Connections, said by phone that in retrospect, had she been able to engage in online learning as a child in the Massachusetts public schools, she could have moved much quicker than some of her student peers.

“I might have learned mathematics much faster,” she said. “Students can rewatch or relisten to lesson plans online rather than push forward with the rest of the class. I think it would have accelerated my critical thinking and reading skills.”
Asked whether fourth- and fifth-graders are prepared for such computer-based learning, she said, “They’re better versed on a computer than I am.”

She said online learning also encourages more parental involvement, especially at the elementary school level. “That’s something all teachers are for, and this model makes that engagement more accessible,” she said.

Online learning has been gaining steam over the past few years, with a recent Center for Education Reform study estimating that a quarter of a million students nationwide are enrolled full time in virtual academies. About 50 such institutes existed in the country in 2000; there are more than 200 now. New Mexico Virtual Academy, the first such school in the state, opened in August 2012 in Farmington and currently has about 500 students in grades six through 12 and another 200-plus on a waiting list, according to a school representative.

Many of the virtual schools around the U.S. are run by private companies, including K-12 Online Learning — which operates the New Mexico Virtual Academy — and the Baltimore-based Connections Education LLC, the parent company for New Mexico Connections Academy in Santa Fe.

Critics argue that these schools take much-needed public funding away from traditional schools and siphon it into these private companies.

Trujillo responded that although private entities may be running the schools, New Mexico Connections Academy was not borne out of a desire for profit. “The connection we have with private companies is the curriculum source, which any school has through text books or any curriculum it purchases,” she said. “Ours happens to be an online curriculum.”

The New Mexico Public Education Commission, which approves or denies state-charter school applications, initially denied the Connections Academy charter.

During the last legislative session, Rep. Mimi Stewart and Sen. Linda Lopez, both Albuquerque-based Democrats, joined others in supporting House Bill 460, which would have ensured that the Public Education Department, as well as individual school districts and charter schools, could not contract with private entities to run a public school or its programs. The legislation made it to the governor’s desk, but she did not sign it into law.

Trujillo said New Mexico Connections Academy, which opens on Aug. 12, has already hired 11 instructors and plans to hire up to 16 staffers for its first school year. She said its initial budget will be largely based upon its eventual student enrollment. Last year, one of the school’s board members estimated that the annual operating budget would be somewhere around $2.4 million.

The school provides the computers and online curriculum to each student. There is no deadline for enrollment this year until the school meets its 500-student cap. English language learners are encouraged to apply, Trujillo said.

Trujillo said the school will host an open house with the principal and teachers at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Courtyard Marriott, 3347 Cerrillos Road. The school’s office address is 4001 Office Court, Suite 201-204, Santa Fe, N.M., 87507. Visit www.newmexicoconnectionsacademy.com for more information.