As a part of Ohio's participation in the nation's first Digital Learning Day on February 1st, a group of students, parents and teachers were invited to share their testimony in support of digital learning before the House of Representatives Committee on Education. VCS Branching student Faith Washington, was one of these participants. She is a senior at Reynoldsburg High School and is enrolled in our Mandarin Chinese course.

"I wanted to try something new so I signed up to take my first online class. I wanted to escape getting mixed up with students who often over-socialize in this shared academic environment which plays a part in a student's ability to learn," stated Washington in her testimonial. "I am currently taking online Chinese. My online Chinese course is so exciting I often forget to switch back to English." Read her entire testimonial here!

It is never too early to start planning for summer school! We have finalized our dates and pricing and we believe everyone will be very happy with our lineup for 2012. 

This summer, we will have one 10-week session, with a flexible starting date. Students in grades 6-12 can begin their coursework on May 21st and continue to register through June 15th. Summer session will end on July 27th. We have also significantly lowered our prices. 

Summer 2012 pricing is as follows:

Full-time VCS Student     Non-VCS Students 

Half credit course: $25        Half credit course: $99

Stay tuned for the final course listing and registration information. We hope to begin registration in mid-February. 

The redesign of our public website, vcslearn.org, has been in process in recent months. By nature, the website is a work in progress, and will never be completely "done", but it is scheduled to go live in the coming weeks. Some highlights include:

• Rotating features on the front page
• Social media icons throughout for easy sharing
• More videos and photos throughout the site
• Staff listings, including photos and contact information
• A section for current students to log into the LMS and view important information
• And much more!

Open this PDF to see screen shots of various pages. Watch for more information as we prepare to launch!

On January 17, the high school held their annual awards assembly. Roughly 75 students were in attendance, as well as the high school teachers, principal and guidance counselor. Students received an award for each A or B they earned in a class, and teachers had the opportunity to create their own awards such as "Best Effort", "Most Improved" or "Best Attitude." More than 800 awards were given out. What a great accomplishment for all our students!

 

The VCS Learning Center at COSI hosts a variety of fun, educational opportunities throughout the year. On January 20, the learning center hosted a College and Volunteer Info Fair. Participants met with college admissions counselors from Bradford, DeVry and Ohio Dominican University. Organizations such as the Red Cross and COSI also spoke on volunteer opportunities.

Upcoming events include a field trip to the Columbus College of Art & Design on February 22, March Math Madness Night on March 9 and a Health Fair and Literacy Night in April. Stay tuned for more details on these upcoming events! Questions? Contact teresa.walton@vcslearn.org. 

Did you know that 1 in 3 children are not reading at grade level when they enter the third grade? Reading is crucial to the success of all students--it is the academic skill that lays the foundation for all learning. Statistics show that 74 percent of the children who are poor readers in third grade remain poor readers in the ninth grade. Often they can't read well as adults either. In some cases, reading difficulty can be caused by dyslexia. There is help available, no matter the cause of the child's reading struggles. Please see how VCS Ohio can help children become better readers! Free face-to-face help is available. Click here to download an informational flier.  In the Dayton area, call Stacey Whittaker at (937) 408-6042. In central Ohio, call Becky Petry at (740) 345-1995.  

VCS has a new partnership with Ohio University, Athens Campus. This partnership creates an opportunity for a virtual field experience for pre-service education teachers. Our goal is to provide a valuable field experience, while supporting our students' learning needs and growing the field of virtual education. This partnership is still a work in progress, but we hope to ultimately standardize the experience. 

Our first field experience student is Shandra Smith (pictured left). She will be working with Mrs. Conner in high school language arts. 

Kids become lifelong readers for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes there's one key book that captures a kid's imagination and opens him or her up to the exciting world of fiction. Other times, a teacher who assigns great books in class sparks a hunger for more. In some cases, parents influence kids' appreciation of books by sharing their own love of literature and modeling reader behavior. Common Sense Media has developed a list of tips for developing and nurturing your child's love of reading. Find some of these helpful tips below, or read the entire article by clicking here. 

Jon is a student adviser in Knox County