Elkhart Community Schools hopes to slow its enrollment decline by launching a virtual school for students in grades six through 12. The school board last week agreed to ask the Indiana Department of Education for a separate school number for the program.
Director of Secondary Schools Cary Anderson said the district has lost hundreds of students to online options in recent years. The latest transfer report showed that almost 500 children who live in the district attend an online school. "We want to keep our kids in Elkhart," Anderson told board members. "We want to provide them with an equitable online solution, and we think that we have the people in place and the programming already in place to be able to establish this virtual school."
If approved, Anderson said it would begin next school year. “This program is designed to provide students with a flexible, asynchronous online learning option, while still ensuring they remain connected to the district’s academic expectations and support systems,” Anderson explained.
The virtual school would be located in the current Woodland Elementary School building. It would be staffed by a principal, along with a registrar/secretary and three teachers that are currently part of the School Without Walls program. This comes as Elkhart Community Schools looks to relocate several of its programs, amid its consolidation effort.
Anderson said the Goshen, Mishawaka and South Bend school corporations already offer online options, and he expects most districts to do so in the coming years.
Elkhart Community Schools holds the broadcast license for WVPE.
