Nearly 600 students have started school from the comfort of their homes as Louisiana’s first online charter school for kindergarten through 12th grade opened.
Students enrolled in the Louisiana Connections Academy, based in Baton Rouge, will be learning primarily at home with computers, email, Web conferencing, software, and telephones.
They are each supposed to be under the supervision of a parent or guardian who serves as the student’s “learning coach” and who has to sign a “contract” with school officials that spells out their commitment.
On the other end are certified teachers huddled over computers in cubicles. They teach the same math, science, English, and other classes as are taught in traditional public schools.
“I would say the general profile would be a family whose children have not thrived in the brick-and-mortar setting for a variety of reasons,” says Caroline Wood, the school’s principal.
