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Olivia Moniz likes math class best.
But the New Bedford ninth grader hasn’t had a run-of-the-mill math class this year. Starting in the fall, Moniz attended school on a computer in her bedroom, videoconferencing with teachers and classmates at TEC Connections Academy, a virtual public school open to students across Massachusetts.
Moniz was one of nearly 5,000 students enrolled in a Massachusetts public virtual school this year, and one of about 130 students from New Bedford. But amid tightening budgets and decreasing enrollment facing schools statewide, local districts want students like Moniz (and the dollars tied to her enrollment) back.
This week, New Bedford became the eighth district in Massachusetts to found its own virtual school. That’s in addition to two statewide virtual schools, known as “commonwealth” schools. Starting in September, the New Bedford Virtual Learning Academy (VLA) hopes to enroll around 200 total students in grades 6 through 12. Fall River has submitted a proposal to open a virtual school, too.
“Our main aim right now is to get back some homeschool students, some commonwealth [virtual learning] students,” said Darcie Aungst, New Bedford’s deputy superintendent.
Those homeschool students are another group the district hopes to attract into the new virtual school. New Bedford had the highest number of homeschool students of any city or town statewide in a recent year — and about 250 students are currently homeschooled.
The pitch to homeschoolers or those attending other virtual options is that they can get the same flexibility while remaining attached to the district. Attending a virtual school based near home, administrators say, would allow students to join clubs, school music groups, and sports teams. They’d also have nearby access to the counselors, nurses, and special education services the district already pays for.
“Kids feel more connected… [and] we want to see our kids’ faces every day,” said Aungst.
And if any of these students — the type who prefers greater learning flexibility — enrolls in New Bedford’s new virtual school, the district could get an additional $13,000 per student, based on the current state funding formula.
“From a financial point of view, that’s good,” said School Committee member Rick Porter.
For the district, it’s a win-win. Administrators say they’re plugging a growing financial leak while also offering a new option to students and families.
For Olivia Moniz, the New Bedford ninth grader who attended a commonwealth virtual school, the local option would have been compelling. After less than one year in online school, she’s now back in-person at New Bedford High.
“It wasn’t working out,” said her mother, Von Marie Moniz, explaining that the individual support in her daughter’s special-education plan was difficult to manage. In effect, her mother became the paraprofessional in the learning plan. “She’s a teenager… and didn’t always want to listen to me,” she said.
But on Monday, Von Marie, who was elected to the New Bedford School Committee in November, cast a vote to bring the new virtual learning option to New Bedford. It passed unanimously.
“I would’ve preferred something like that,” the elder Moniz said, referencing the district’s plan to have strong in-person options for virtual students, especially those with special learning needs. “Support from the local district is the key difference,” she said.
And of course, “More money poured back into our schools is really a great thing,” Moniz said.
What’s it like to go to virtual school?
In Brockton, the school day for roughly 100 virtual learning students starts as you might expect. Homeroom. Attendance. The Pledge of Allegiance. Morning announcements. Then a brief “passing period” before the first period.
Then students are taking notes in math, English, or history classes. There’s even virtual physical education, with stretching or fitness instruction. It just happens through a screen.
“We have so many kids that love it so much. It’s been good for them,” said Diane Lynch, the principal of Brockton’s Virtual Learning Academy. “They weren’t thriving in a brick and mortar world. Now they walk away with a diploma.”
Virtual schools attract such a wide variety of students that it’s hard to capture the student body. There are medically fragile students, students with special learning needs, and students with severe anxiety. But there are also students who want the freedom to work ahead, child actors who live on the road, and students who simply prefer learning where they want.
“Whatever their path, that’s great,” said Lynch. “This gives them a pathway to get support… getting them back to where they want or need to be.”
At the Greater Commonwealth Virtual School (GCVS), one of the two statewide virtual schools, principal Andrew Costa says that people’s experience with virtual learning in the pandemic is not a good representation of online school.
“The misconception is, ‘just go on Zoom and teach.’ There’s a whole bunch of knowledge and skills going on behind the scenes,” Costa said. “Teachers are navigating the technical side, implementing different tools, and balancing it all while engaging students in a virtual learning program. They can’t just go in and wing it for a lesson.”
“We’re really going into students’ homes in a sense,” Costa said.
The pandemic, however, launched the popularity of virtual learning into a new stratosphere. Since then, the state department of education has granted GCVS’ request to raise its enrollment cap, now up to 1,200 students. Even so, the school has a waitlist of hundreds of students. The exact number fluctuates throughout the year, but about 300 students at any time would like to attend GCVS but cannot, Costa said.
TEC Connections Academy, the other statewide virtual school, is now among the five largest schools in Massachusetts. With 2,970 students, it’s smaller than Brockton High, but bigger than New Bedford High or Fall River’s Durfee High — and it has a waitlist of hundreds more, too.
Costa said there’s a lot of overlap with the homeschool market: “Parents who want to homeschool but don’t have the skills, [they say,] ‘I can homeschool, but someone else is doing the teaching and I’m there.’”
The commonwealth virtual schools are providing in-person experiences, too. They host field days, field trips, and meet-ups for parents.
These statewide schools also offer virtual learning that starts in kindergarten, which is rarer in the single-district virtual schools. For young students, a parent or guardian is required to be present, acting as a “learning coach,” helping their child stay engaged. Starting in high school, however, “asynchronous” options are available, where students can work at their own pace without the live interactions and guidance of a teacher.
“This doesn’t work for everybody. We’re up front about that,” Costa said. “It may even work for a period of time, like for a student going on an out-of-school suspension, it might be an option to remain on track academically.”
Lynch, a 30-year veteran of Brockton Public Schools who started as an elementary school teacher in the district, said: “I’m sad to say that the newer generation is very receptive to this way of learning.” Why sad about it? “Old-timers like me can have a different disposition and not be as receptive to [virtual learning],” she said.
But having worked at the virtual school since it opened in 2021, Lynch has grown to see what the school can do. “We are getting our kids ready,” she said. “It’s a different, wonderful path for kids.”
Does virtual learning… work?
The Light’s analysis of available achievement data found that, overall, virtual learning academies tended to score lower on MCAS state assessments — especially in math. However, virtual learning academies tend to have a higher percentage of “high needs” students, a category that includes English learners, special education and low-income students.
Isolating the scores of these high-needs students shows that virtual schools are doing relatively better. On the 8th grade English MCAS, for example, virtual schools tended to outperform their host districts (or, for the statewide schools, the state average). Even in math, where high-needs virtual students underperform their peers, the gaps are smaller than when comparing the overall student body.
Some virtual academies are so small that they’re excluded from the state’s dataset to protect student privacy. Only one student took the 8th grade tests at Taunton’s Public Virtual Academy, for example, so the scores weren’t published.
In New Bedford, administrators said they’re planning to hire a principal and eight new teachers to staff the virtual learning academy. That number could change based on the needs of the students who enroll.
If enough students with occupational therapy or speech needs enroll, for example, the district may have to hire for those roles. Otherwise, current staff at other schools may provide those services.
Virtual schools are required to meet all legal standards for students with disabilities. But according to the state’s department of education, parents may still decide that the version of services available at virtual schools may not best fit their needs.
Costa, the GCVS principal, says he’s all for districts offering their own virtual schools. “I don’t see them as competition at all,” he said. “If single districts are seeing a need beyond what is currently offered, if they can find a program that works for kids, that’s what this is about.”
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
