WILLCOX, Ariz. – Willcox High School (WHS) administrators partnered with EdOptions to provide Web-based courses to alternative education students. What they got was a versatile suite of learning solutions and a string of academic successes.
Once WHS began using EdOptions Stars Suite®—a a full offering of Web-based core and elective courses available anytime, anywhere with an Internet connection—they recognized the program’s potential to help all students. “We were surprised at how much we could use it,” said Joel Todd, former principal of WHS.
At WHS, a single failed course often had a domino effect on a student’s academic progress. For example, if a student failed freshman English, he would have to retake it as a sophomore, pushing sophomore English back a year.
WHS administrators now offer Stars Suite® courses to students who have failed a course, so they can retake the course immediately, rather than sitting through the same class for an entire semester.
“If we hadn’t had that option available, we really would have been in a bind,” Todd says. Last year Stars Suite® helped dozens of his 450 students to progress in their studies, rather than becoming stalled in a particular subject area.
The implementation of Stars Suite® also provided an unexpected answer to the problem of student-teacher conflicts. With only one teacher available for each course at the rural high school, there were few options for dealing with personality conflicts between teachers and students. Stars Suite® gives administrators the option of transferring a student from the traditional classroom environment into a Web-based course.
With regards to the EdOptions online learning program, Todd says: “It gives students the opportunity to recover credit, be on track for graduation, and most importantly, a feeling of success.”
Based on the successes WHS experienced with EdOptions, the school looked to expand their usage and began Willcox High School Academy (WHSA) in August 2009. WHSA is open four days a week from 3:30 to 8:30 PM for former dropouts to return to school and get their diplomas.
“This is a great program for students who found that for whatever reason that the regular high school setting was not working for them. It gives these young people a decent second chance at completing a high school diploma,” said Dr. Don Roberts, head of WHSA.
