The session will be held Tuesday, 6:30–8 p.m., at the Clarion Hotel Myrtle Beach, 101 Fantasy Harbour Blvd., Myrtle Beach.

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The school has opened enrollment for next school year.

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Representative Eric Bedingfield, another bill sponsor, reiterated Allison’s points at the podium. He stressed that school choice was an issue of how lawmakers set the field for parents to make choices, rather than a micromanagement of specific school policies and programs. “Parents have the most information and best motivation to make decisions for their own children,” he insisted, noting that even the best classroom in an absolute sense might not be the most appropriate for each specific student seated in it.

for the rest of the article, go to School Choice: A Tale of Two Sons, Two Schools

The Equal Access to Interscholastic Activities Act would permit home school, charter school (including virtual charter school) and governor’s school students to participate in the interscholastic activities of the district where they live. The bill, yet another attempt at this type of measure, currently is in a Senate subcommittee and will die if not passed by the Senate and House of Representatives by the end of the legislature’s session in June.

“The only risk to this is the clock,” said Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, a member of the Senate’s education committee who said he supports the bill.

For the rest of the article, go to Proposed bill must beat the clock to benefit home-schoolers

The long-term alternative school for all grade levels now provides more virtual learning along with traditional learning – as well as therapeutic counseling and career counseling. The school district has also expanded its collaborations with at least eight social service, faith-based and law enforcement programs.

For the rest of the article, go to School Board will hear update on alternative learning, construction

For the rest of the article, go to This Week at Mauldin High School – Feb. 19-25

The district plans to increase the number of courses it offers online from three to 11.

Cory Tressler, the district’s director of virtual learning, said that expanding the offerings will give students a better opportunity to take high-level courses. Often these courses are not offered at each high school — too few students are interested in taking them to justify the cost or there’s no teacher available for them.

Currently, keyboarding, advanced placement physics and advanced placement calculus BC are offered. About 150 students are enrolled in the courses. Keyboarding is the most popular.

Next year, AP courses in world history, environmental science, Spanish and French will be added. Classes in creative writing, art history and contemporary music also are planned.

Teachers of each virtual course record their lectures and notes and post them to Moodlerooms, an online space where students can watch the videos, submit assignments and interact with the teacher.

Bluffton High School teacher Kevin Sandusky, who teaches the AP physics course, said teaching virtually can be challenging. Physics is visual, hands-on subject, he said, and doesn’t lend itself to teaching via computer.

He also realized how much he was energized by being in front of his pupils.

“I can’t teach without an audience,” he said. “I would go for about five minutes and then get tongue-tied. And I’ve been teaching for 15 years.”

Only practice has made him better, he said.

A box arrives at your door, filled with the school supplies your daughter Sally will need for the year. On your home computer, she logs in to her classes, gets lessons from her teacher, completes her homework assignments. No more school bus, cafetaria, gym, bully, favorite teacher, crush on the boy who could draw.

This approach to schooling is picking up steam. In fact, every state that borders North Carolina has a virtual charter school. Yes, even South Carolina.

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“The first 45 minutes and last 45 minutes of each day will be used to work on individualized things. There won’t be any homework because the children will have spent the day being very physically and mentally active and when they leave they should be able to be children again,” she said. “And the teachers won’t have a lot of homework, either. People forget teachers also have a lot of homework.”

Seeking students

With the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, the school will be one of seven new public charter schools, joining the 13 schools operating within the South Carolina Public Charter School District. Program emphasis varies among the schools and includes a Chinese immersion curriculum, creative arts, gifted and talented, and several virtual schools that provide online instruction.

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The winner will be announced March 1 and will receive a trip to the Virtual School Symposium in October.

For the rest of the article, go to 3 finalists named for online K-12 teacher award