School asks students to commit to cyber

Milton Area High School’s virtual learning options this year are limited to the district’s Cyber Academy except under certain circumstances.

“Milton Cyber Academy is basically our only virtual option unless you are COVID-19 positive student or you are part of a close contact list,” said Co-Principal Mr. Michael Bergey.

“(The Cyber Academy) is a completely asynchronous program, which basically means that there is no live instruction piece,” he added.

Mr. Bergey said that last year students could call into the school to attend virtual classes when in need of a sick day. However, last year’s student attendance and grades showed that the “flex” options would no longer be a good idea, added Mr. Bergey.

“That option [flex virtual courses] was abused, and sometimes kids didn’t feel like participating,” said Mr. Bergey. Eliminating the flex option was the best for student’ academic needs, he added.

Mr. Bergey said he hopes that the new regulations on virtual school will have a positive impact on students. A lot of students need that extra support in class from teachers, he added.

The new expectations of virtual courses provides teachers with consistency and helps them build relationships with students, said Mr. Bergey. “It provides teachers with a little more leverage to create that personal relationship with students that sometimes gets lost on the other end of the computer,” he added.

Full time virtual students can work at their own pace to get assignments done by their due dates, said Mr. Bergey. Some Milton teachers are assigned to  the Milton Cyber Academy, he added.

“A good resource for our kids in our cyber world is to know that these are our teachers at the end of the line able to help them,” added Mr. Bergey.

According to Mr. Bergey, most cyber students learn from articles and videos. They keep in contact with their teacher through email, he added.

English Teacher Ms. Angela Ranck said that coursework and grading for cyber school is different than in-person grading. “While I am the person that grades the open-ended assignments, the grade is dependent on a rubric that is provided to me by Edison Learning,” she added.

All the materials, plans and lessons are made by the company that runs Milton Area’s Cyber Academy: Edison Learning, said Ms. Ranck.

Ms. Ranck said that she has never met most of the students in cyber. “We have nothing in common or no relationship beyond the fact that they were assigned to me,” she added.

Mr. Bergey said that before COVID-19, there were 30 to 40 people per year that were enrolled in Milton Cyber Academy. “Last year, we started the year with over 300 kids enrolled in our cyber program. The numbers significantly dwindled by the end of the school year to like 150 kids,” added Mr. Bergey.

If a student were to attend an outside cyber school, it would cost the district $12,000, said Mr. Bergey. If a student in a special education course were to enroll in outside cyber courses, it would cost the district $25,000 per year, added Mr. Bergey.

“The cost to the district per cyber student is roughly $2,000 to $3,000,” said Mr. Bergey about Milton Area’s Cyber Academy.

Currently there are more than 90 students enrolled in Milton’s Cyber Academy, said Mr. Bergey. He added that expects two to three students every week to enroll in the cyber courses.

Students who wants to transition into or out of Milton’s Cyber Academy have to wait until the end of the marking period, said Mr. Bergey.