Virtual School ‘staying put’ in WSD

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This article was published 05/06/2023 (859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Virtual School was born out of a public health crisis, but its operators say the recent launch of Winnipeg’s newest digital model for grades 9-12 was a long time coming and they have no plans to log off.

“There’s a significant number of families that still require an alternative option — COVID-19 or no COVID-19,” said Aaron Benarroch, who oversees the Winnipeg School Division’s aptly-named online high school, WSD’s Virtual School.

“It may not be optimal, but it’s as optimal as it can be at this moment in time for many parents and their children.”

WSD is wrapping up its virtual academy’s third year of operations this spring.

The division initially launched the program as a way to meet the needs of kindergarten to Grade 12 families with immunocompromised members amid much uncertainty in the fall of 2020. One year and millions of vaccine administrations later, the school was downsized to offer high school credits to anyone interested.

There are currently 138 students registered in the semestered program. While the majority of registrants are online full-time, roughly four in 10 have a different home school and chose one or more virtual classes for scheduling purposes this term.

The principal said any eligible resident can sign up, regardless of the reason they do not want to participate in a brick-and-mortar classroom — from health concerns to bullying to child care responsibilities, among countless factors.

“Some students may not be able to attend live, for whatever reason. It could be that they can’t be in a social setting,” Benarroch said, noting teachers use Google Suite to deliver and record lessons for a mix of synchronous and asynchronous instruction.

“We want to meet students and families, in particular, where they’re at and to be able to be a real option for parents who need this kind of service to help their students stay engaged in learning, in school as opposed to not being in school at all.”

The school is staffed by six teachers and a guidance counsellor who work out of the Adolescent Parent Centre (136 Cecil St.). Families meet with the counsellor regularly and students are encouraged to visit the physical premises in Weston for one-on-one support whenever they require it.

Chief superintendent Pauline Clarke said the Virtual School is “staying put.”

Even though InformNet — Manitoba’s online high school, which operates out of the St. James-Assiniboia School Division — exists, WSD has long-wanted to run a local program to give students even more flexibility to earn credits, Clarke said.

Earlier this year, in a bid to create urgency around the worsening issue of chronic absenteeism, the Stefanson government gave divisions a summer 2023 deadline to update their policies on student presence and re-engagement.

Citing officials’ renewed focus on attendance, families involved with the Manitoba Remote Learning Support Centre, the virtual elementary school the province launched in 2021, have criticized officials for discontinuing the flexible option for young students.

Enrolment in inner-city and central schools dropped by 3,148 between the start of 2019-20 and 2020-21, a period during which public health officials declared a pandemic and cancelled in-person instruction. The disruptions prompted transfers, switches to home school and disengagement from academics entirely.

Clarke is a proponent of personalized school programs and alternatives to the 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. school day in recognition students have complex lives outside of the classroom.

The division has done away with pandemic policies about medical notes and does not require a referral from an agency of any kind to register in its Virtual School.

Students who live outside the division can also apply if they are under the age of 21, have yet to graduate and live in Manitoba.

While there are no extracurriculars or special electives, Benarroch said his employer has made it a priority to offer core courses and prerequisites for different pathways upon graduation.

Grade 12 essential math, applied math and pre-calculus math are all available.

“We individualize every student’s programming and I think that is one of the keys to success. We offer what the parents and the students feel they’re capable of,” the principal said, adding 14 students are anticipated to graduate this year — a minor increase, albeit an increase from 2022.

While Benarroch noted that common belief is the best place for all students to learn is in a traditional classroom, interacting live with peers and teachers, the reality is a minority of children and youth require an alternative.

The pandemic accelerated the education sector’s professional and technological capacity to work in virtual environments, in turn making it possible to meet that minority’s needs, he added.

It costs upwards of $1 million to operate the school annually.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie