The Community Schools of Frankfort Board approved the implementation of the Frankfort Virtual Academy for the second semester of the 2023-2024 school year.<\/p>\n

Cindy Long, Frankfort High School Principal, approached the board on Tuesday evening to request the approval of the virtual academy to be launched during the spring semester this year. Long commented that 21 students had left Frankfort High School this year due to their need for a virtual option for education. Long expressed that the virtual academy would begin by contacting the students that transferred into a virtual school and inviting them into the program to re-immerse them into the Community Schools of Frankfort corporation. Long continued to state that the remaining open spots would be filled by students with extenuating circumstances, such as those working a full-time job that conflicts with their current in-person schedule, those with medical needs and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, there was a need,\u201d Superintendent Dr. Matt Rhoda said. \u201cWe\u2019re losing these kids. What do we do? We want to keep them. We want to have options. Our hands are tied right now. What do we do? And then, a group of educators got together and put together our first iteration of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long explained that the program would provide two opportunities for students, 100% virtual and hybrid. Long expressed that the school will encourage students to participate in the hybrid version of the academy to maintain their connections with faculty and fellow students, but the team that developed the academy recognized the need for some students to attend a completely virtual school due to extenuating circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kept talking through scenarios from do we want kids to come in-person a little bit, but we kept coming back to if we don\u2019t offer 100% virtual, we\u2019re going to lose them anyway,\u201d Rhoda said. \u201cWe wanted to be able to provide both 100% virtual as well as a hybrid, always trying to even get the 100% kids to get connected back because we feel like we all need to be connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first semester of the academy will be funded through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund dollars, known as ESSER funds, to help test the success of the program before investing corporation funds. Beyond the first semester, utilizing EdOptions and Edmentum for the program would cost $2,400 for a full semester. The school will work alongside Edmentum to ensure the program aligns with the curriculum and provides resources for those partaking in virtual courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could change and get better each time,\u201d Rhoda said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than a credit recovery system. This is a direct instruction and support from staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long commented in her presentation that the students will be encouraged to partake in the hybrid version for a multitude of reasons, including the need for social interactions, easy access to local instructors for questions and the feasibility of certain subjects, such as AP Calculus, art classes and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor any program, we want to be able to give our kids options that are going to help them be successful when they leave us,\u201d Rhoda said. \u201cHere is another option that Community Schools of Frankfort, Frankfort High School\u2019s able to offer to our high school kids to help them be successful getting through high school and on track for either enlistment in the armed forces, a career tech program, college or gainful employment when they finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The academy will be open to high school students grades 9 through 12, including non-resident transfers. Long stated that the first semester is seeking to launch with less than 50 students to keep as many students within the Frankfort High School walls as well as avoiding the need for the academy to be classified as a separate school.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you go over 99 kids, we\u2019ve got to be our own separate school,\u201d Rhoda said. \u201cWe\u2019ll monitor that, and if we start nearing that, then we\u2019ll have to look at a separate. It will still be called the same thing. It will just get a Department of Education new number, and there will have to be an administrator over it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bud McQuade, school board member, asked Long about the possible complications with the program that could arise. Rhoda commented that many of the potential problems remain unknown, and the school will continue to address the issues as they arise.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time that we don\u2019t have kids with us, they lose out on some of that personal connection,\u201d Long said. \u201cI think that they lose out on the expertise of people that are around them and mentorship that is around them. I think we could have a large number of kids that think this is the program for them. That\u2019s always my fear\u2013the max exodus, everyone wants to go\u2013but then again, I look at what our kids have at school, and \u2026 I do believe that many of our students want to be at school every day, and even if they don\u2019t want to be, they know that they need to be with us every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The handbook was updated to address the potential issues that could occur with an academy student that is not meeting expectations in the courses where the student will participate in an in-person meeting with parents to formulate a solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to allow students to be a part of something that we recognize isn\u2019t working for them and they\u2019re not working for,\u201d Long said. \u201cWe won\u2019t allow that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhoda commented that the needs of students for virtual learning and the opportunities in a virtual world was highlighted throughout the pandemic, and he proposed that the virtual academy could help re-incorporate the students that left for virtual schools as well as introduce new students to Frankfort High School in the future that need virtual accommodations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel strongly that the time is now because we know that we are losing our kids,\u201d Long said. \u201cWe know that they want to be with us. They always ask, \u2018don\u2019t you have some sort of virtual program? Couldn\u2019t I do this? Couldn\u2019t I do that?\u2019 We recognize that our kids want to be with us, and they want the safety net of being at Frankfort High School, and that\u2019s something that we want to provide, but we have to move along and meet them where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The board approved the Frankfort Virtual Academy with a unanimous vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"