I am in need of a web site for Pa with all info I can get.
Are there any people out there who have done this or know the ins and outs of this program.
Also, from what I have learned so far, our school dist. pays for this? No out of pocket money from parents??/
Please any correct info. will be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Katgirl
Have you looked at your tax bill lately… I think that is out of pocket!
Go to the SESD website @ http://www.sesdweb.net there is a link to homeschool/cyber school information. You can also go the the PA Dept of Education (google it) and they will give you info as well.
Check out 21st Century Cyber Charter School (http://21cccs.org) for grades 6-12. Our children just completed their second year at 21cccs. Our son graduated from there in June and our daughter will be returning as a freshman this fall. We absolutely love it and wish we had learned about it earlier, but that’s another story!
There are about 12 different cyber charter schools in PA. My grandson is enrolled as a second grader in Commonwealth Connections Academy. (http://www.connectionsacademy.com) Some offer only upper grades, some offer K - 12, and some haven’t worked up to offering 11 or 12th yet. There are yahoo forums that discuss pros and cons of all the schools. Try groups.yahoo.com/groups/pacyberschoolers
And yes, because they are charter schools, there are no tuition costs. Many also reimburse you for internet connections and give you money to participate in community classes, such as dance or karate, for physical education.
Different schools use different curricula and different ways of recording attendance and completed assignments. K12 is actually a curricula that Agora uses. CCA uses Calvert for the elementary ages. In the summer, they send your student a computer to use and all the books and materials he/she will need for the year. You facilitate the learning with the support of a teacher who contacts you by phone or email throughout the year and when needed. Usually there are portfolios that need to be sent into the teacher for the purpose of grading.
Thanks alot for all the info. Atleast now I have directions to turn to. I have to get my children out of KD High school, professional and personal reasons.
I now know several students who plan on enrolling into cyber school, as they feel KD is a joke all ways around. So thank God I have a choice to continue them there or make a change that I feel is for the better for them. Thanks again!! Katgirl
I have waited this long because I wanted to do alittle investigating with students and parent.
I will reply to the other question soon. Right now , not much time to get all involved. Katgirl
While living in MD we were in the military and kept our residency in Idaho. We thought the schools were really bad in MD and homeschooled the kids. We used K12, and yes we got it all for free.... aside from the property taxes that we paid, of course :o) One thing you need to remember, it is a Charter school and not an umbrella school… You are still required to have your children take all state testing. This is because you are still on their “books”, so to say, and your children are still enrolled in the district. Of course, this is PA and not Idaho… there might be different rules. Some states allow you to be involved in extra curricular activities and also AP courses.
I don’t know if you have ever homeschooled before, but using K12 especially with more than one older child it will be very beneficial to have at least one laptop or multiple desktops. K12 is about 80% online and it was rare for us to actually read text out of a book, you do have the capability to print the text though. And if you have a slow or unreliable internet connection it makes school pretty much impossible.
One more thing, they do placement testing for your children as well, if your child places low you can always move up a grade throughout the year. Because it does not work like a traditional school year, your child can be on say chapter 1 test 1 and then can pick right back up where they left off instead of the customary 2 month review. You might not have teacher support over the summer, but if your child advances from say 5th to 6th grade by april of that school year they will get all of the materials and be able to work year round.
I don’t know you, but make sure that you really are ready to do this with your children. I jumped very fast into homeschooling and was overwhelmed. The kids fell behind a bit and then when we moved here the curriculum is a lot more advanced than I we were ready for.
http://www.k12.com
Sorry for the novel, but I hope that helped a bit… :o)
21st Century Cyber Charter School (21cccs) also requires that our children take all state testing, but of course it is based in PA. They do supply all books and each child receives a computer, which you rent for the school year for $1. (This was the only money out-of-pocket, except for the huge chunk for our school taxes - but we have to pay that no matter where our kids attend school as long as we live in SESD.) I also agree with autumnwyndsong that it can be overwhelming, but I found making a schedule helped our family A LOT! I found the teachers and staff to be more than accommodating and always available. We receive a phone call every week to check on the kids and we received a progress report every three weeks via mail, so we were always up-to-date. (You can also check progress and grades on-line at any time.) Again, autumnwyndsong is correct, make sure you have a reliable/fast Internet connection (which, by the way, 21cccs partially reimburses you for)!
