March 27, 2013 at 5:24 p.m.
Hodag Tracks offers more options for students
Virtual learning program expanding possibilities in education
Hodag Tracks offers more options for students
In an effort to keep up with the ever-changing times, the School District of Rhinelander is offering a virtual learning program called Hodag Tracks. According to the district's virtual learning coordinator Kandi Bartelt, Hodag Tracks exists to give children more options when it comes to education.
"Basically, it's our program to give families curriculum options, scheduling options, those kinds of things. It is for kindergarten through 12th grade. The kids who participate are members of the school district, so they are enrolled in the district like everyone else is," Bartelt said.
While the program is available to students at all grade levels, the shape of the program varies from grade level to grade level.
"Our elementary kids are all out of our elementary charter school, (the Northwoods Community Elementary School), and they are assigned a grade level teacher that works with them and helps them get through the curriculum," Bartelt said. "They still can come in for activities. A lot of them still come in one or two days a week to do like gym and music and art and that kind of stuff so they are not completely at home. That's their option."
At the middle school level, students have the choice of going through the district's other charter school, the Northwoods Community Secondary School (NCSS), or James Williams Middle School.
"For middle schoolers, they can go through James Williams Middle School. With them, I have a lot that split their schedule to take some classes at the middle school because they want to be there for gym and band and those things, but they are doing their core courses at home. So, they have options there," Bartelt said.
"Those kids can also go through NCSS. They have a virtual option as well, but those kids have to be in-house 50 percent of the time because the charter is a community-based school, so they have to be in there at least 50 percent of the time to meet those requirements. They tend to do the same projects and everything that the charter school does, it's just that they might be doing some of it off-site."
When it comes time for high school, the program shifts to more of an added option that offers a larger array of courses in an online format, though there are still students that are 100 percent virtual.
"The high school tends to be more online courses. Most of those kids have a regular schedule at the high school and then are adding online courses, but I do have some that are 100 percent virtual taking, generally, one class at a time. So they'll do one class in three weeks and roll in the next class in order to get enough credits for graduation," Bartelt said. "We do have extra AP (Advanced Placement) courses online that aren't offered in-house. We have several kids taking things like macro and microeconomics and other classes that we just can't offer in-house, but our online program really opens up the AP offerings for our high-end kids."
As for what types of students typically use Hodag Tracks, Bartelt said it varies on a case-by-case basis, though most of the students tend to be more independent learners.
"The kids that use this program really are our more independent learners. At the elementary level, it's really the homeschool families that take advantage of the program but when you get to the higher levels they really need to be independent learners because the courses are closer to independent study courses where you have teachers available to help you when you need it. It's not where you're all going to log in at 1 o'clock and the teacher is going to show up on your computer screen and everyone goes through the material. It's not that type of a program, because we are not a virtual school, we are a virtual program," Bartelt said.
That distinction is key, Bartlet said, especially when it comes to students open enrolling into the district.
"There's a distinction between those at the state level. I cannot take full-time open enroll students into the virtual program. They have to have physical attendance at the school building. Those kids can add an online course to their schedule, but they can't stay home 100 percent of the time and be in our virtual program. You have to be a virtual charter school in order to accept open enroll students that are not on campus. The state makes that distinction," Bartelt said.
"If the child is a Rhinelander School District student, they can take all of their courses online, but if they are a, let's say, Merrill School District student that wants to open enroll to our district, then they can't because an open enroll student has to have physical attendance. They can still take advantage of the program, but they need to have physical attendance at the schools."
The program is not a way to avoid the standard school day, Bartelt stressed. The students still need to be online on time and are still required to take all state tests.
"Attendance still counts. Truancy still counts.The kids have to be making progress, so it's not a way to avoid school. You still have to take care of what needs to be taken care of," Bartelt said. "The kids also have to come in for all state testing or even district-wide testing. If all second-graders are going to be taking a test in the district, the virtual kids have to come in and take it as well. Graduation requirements are the same, so they have to cover everything everyone else does."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at marcus@rivernews
online.com.
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