Online program could save failing Moses Lake students

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake School District officials will sponsor an open house next month to promote the district's online learning program. The date will be announced.

Actually the district has two online programs, according to Dave Balcom, executive director for secondary operations. The district contracts with an outside firm, the American Academy, a program which just finished its third year.

Last year the district started MLSD Digital, its own program. The MLSD Digital program will move to a new building for the 2013-14 school year, Balcom said, on district property at 1020B Ivy Ave.

The MLSD Digital program had about 65 students in its first year, Balcom said.

The object was, and is, to "try and retrieve students who had walked away from our high schools," Balcom said. Young people to age 21 are eligible for the program.

In the first two years 10 students received their diplomas through the online academy, Balcom said.

The American Academy is open to high school students only (grades 9 through 12) and students are provided with a laptop computer, Balcom said. The MLSD Digital program is open to sixth, seventh and eighth graders as well as high school and doesn't supply a computer, he said.

Students are required to complete about 25 hours of coursework per week, Balcom said. The MLSD Digital program has an instructor, he said, while the American Academy has an adult mentor. In both cases students are required to meet with a supervising adult at least one hour a week, he said.

Even in an online setting, "that adult connection is still so powerful," Balcom said.

An online program does require concentration and self-discipline, he said. "There are pretty strict requirements, and you've got to get stuff done."

Some of the students involved in the program were close to a diploma before they quit school, he said. Of the 80 students who enrolled in the first year, about half were within two credits of graduation, Balcom said.

The online course isn't for everybody, he said, but it will be a viable option for some kids. "It has given kids an opportunity as opposed to just walking away."