Worcester County School District offering new blended virtual learning program next year

WORCESTER CO.- Blended Virtual Program, a new way of learning coming to the Worcester County School District next year.

“We really did not feel that having some kids zooming in from home and having some kids that were physically at the school doing face to face was the best learning environment to continue for next year,” Dee Shorts, Chief Academic Officer for Pre-K to 8, said.

The Superintendent recently announced this program.

There will be a specific program geared for K through 5 students, where Worcester County teachers will teach, and another for 6 through 12 students, where they will be using a system called Apex.

We’re told this blended virtual learning program will be more like a traditional school day and very rigorous.

“There’s significantly less flexibility with this program because we need this to be something that people choose to do,” Annette Wallace, the Chief Academic Officer for grades 9-12 and the Chief Operations Officer, said.

“All the curriculum will be Worcester County Public School curriculum it will be delivered by one of our teachers, you cant turn your camera off, you’ve got to attend everyday, we are going back to our regular grading policy,” Shorts said.

One parent we spoke with said this program may be good for families who aren’t comfortable sending their kids back just yet, but argues in-learning person is the most successful option.

” I think if the kids are all made to go back none of them will be left behind but if not and you sort of have this hybrid situation they are really losing another 12 months in school,” Tony Weeg, a Worcester County parent, said.

While there are details that still need to be worked out, the district wants parents to know they should really only choose this option if virtual learning works best for their student.

“We are honestly very hopeful that our younger students want to stay face to face, we still believe that for all of our students that is the best learning environment,” Shorts said.

We are told that for the k through 5 program, students will need to have someone there with them during their virtual learning.

Officials are really urging parents to look at the information on the district website to make sure this is the best option for them.

We are told the school district is accepting applications until June 17, and you can find those on their website.

The June 17 application deadline will give the district time to figure out how many students are interested and where to place teachers next year for the program.