District 742 Starting Online School Next Month

(KNSI) – For the first time, District 742 is letting kids go to class online for the 2023-24 school year.

The Central Minnesota Virtual Academy is for 6th through 12th-grade kids and has been in the works for two years. Around 30 middle schoolers have signed up, and 127 high school students will be taking at least one online class.

St. Cloud Area School District Director of Innovation and Instructional Technology Ryan Cox told KNSI News they’re excited to get the program off the ground and expect there will be a learning curve. “We know this first year that we’ll make mistakes and that there will be areas for improvement. We’re a school. We believe in learning. And that goes for our students, as well as our adults. And so, we’re already starting to make notes of areas that we can make improvements on for next year before the program even begins.”

Cox says the online school will let kids control their schedule. “We’re instituting a more asynchronous model. The asynchronous model means that the students control the pace, place and space of their learning. That’s a key area.”

He says students can pick what they’ll work on that day, whether it’s social studies, language arts, or science. The kids will have a series of assignments, assessments, exercises or projects throughout the week. Teachers will give them about a week’s worth of material, and then they can control their workload. Attendance is based on the work they complete each week versus actual seat time.

The program has dedicated teachers in each department to help students with questions or who need help. Cox says it was a team effort to get the online school started, and it came together because of the support of every department.

For more information or to enroll, click here.

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