Published Online: July 12, 2013

St. Martin expands virtual school program

ST. MARTINVILLE, La. (AP) — About 240 students in seventh through 12th grades in the St. Martin Parish school system opted for a full online school experience last year and now the district plans to expand that option to its students in first through sixth grades.

Superintendent Lottie Beebe tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/1axRCj5 ) the program is a way to recoup home-schooled and private school students.

The expansion was based on parents' requests, but also was done because of the success of the program and the number of students seeking options outside of the public school system, Beebe said.

The numbers showed that 130 students in the parish are home-schooled and about 230 attend non-accredited private schools, she said.

"Just looking at those numbers, we said we would be successful," Beebe said.

Last year, the district set up a virtual school site in a district-owned building adjacent to Breaux Bridge Junior High where students in seventh through 12th grades could take their courses and receive tutoring help. Students, however, were only required to report to the site for testing.

Because of the different learning needs of younger students, the program for first through sixth grades is more structured. Though the younger students still work at their own pace, they have scheduled, interactive class time with a teacher. District teacher support will also be available to the young students for tutoring.

The younger students will be required to report to a virtual school site for testing — though they must be accompanied by a parent or caretaker on site visits.

The district opened up two new help sites for the younger students in the program at St. Martin Technology Center in Cecilia and a lab space in St. Martinville Primary School.

The Breaux Bridge site is also available to the younger students for tutoring and testing only.

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com


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