Poudre+School+District

Poudre School District

Contact: Heather Hiebsch (970) 490-3086

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**Program Descriptions:**

**Program 1: PSD Global Academy – Full Time Online Learning Program** “Global Education in a Local Community” This program provides students with an alternative to the traditional learning experience. The program serves students, grades K – 12, from various groups, including home-school students, Advanced Placement students and other advanced learners, alternative learners, extreme athletes and performers, and students needing credit recovery. The PSD Global Academy (PGA) provides a path to graduation and a Poudre School District diploma. The Academy emphasizes flexibility in its program offerings to meet the students’ needs and offers more than 150 online courses. Students participate in PGA on a full time basis choosing either one of two optional modes:

Regardless of which track a student enrolls in, //all// students are eligible to participate in extra-curricular activities, clubs, and social events.
 * __Option 1__ is a 100% home-based online program. Students augment traditional home-schooling with licensed teachers, socialization, and high-quality curriculum, while maintaining a home-//based// environment. Students and parents are required to be on-campus for CSAP testing, quarterly conferences, and other important events.
 * __Option 2__ PGA offers students a hybrid approach to learning that allows students to attend a brick and mortar school as well as the district virtual school. Enrichment electives are available to students on-campus.

PGA has 130 participating students.

The primary learning resources are the K12/Aventa fully online systems. K12/Aventa provides students with solid academic content that is rich in rigor and relevance. The self-paced courseware includes text, graphics, interactive games, audio/video, discussion boards, and collaborative activities. Assessments include multiple choice, short answer, essay, and oral free response. In addition to the Aventa courseware, some courses have been developed “in-house” by PSD teachers. These courses are hosted on the district’s Blackboard LMS.

Highly qualified PGA and Aventa teachers work with each student. For K-8 students, all of the teachers are local PSD teachers, except for the foreign language instructors. The 9-12 are taught by PGA teachers in the core courses; Aventa instructors teach the electives and world language courses. The teacher grades assignments, monitors student progress, acts as grade-level advisor for Student Support Team, and participates in RtI and IEP evaluations, as a “traditional” teacher would.

In addition to the teachers, students are supported by English Language Acquisition, Special Education (Integrated Services), and Student Services professionals as needed. Cross-functional teams also provide student support, including IT, Curriculum, Legal, and Assessment specialists.

The Academy’s staff is comprised of an administrator, an office manager, a counselor (.65FTE), five teachers (.4 - .6 FTE each), and a custodian for the Enrichment Center. In addition, the academy has the support of up to 5 volunteers each week.

The PGA has use of the Enrichment Center, a former elementary school campus that is used as the physical hub PGA activity (as well as housing some other district offices). The PGA campus is used to provide enrichment elective classes, academic support, extra-curricular activities, and social events. Each teacher has an actual classroom where they teach PGA students online and face-to-face. PGA also occupies administrative offices and has use of the gym / auditorium for special events (e.g. commencement ceremonies).

Students participating in the PGA Program are supported by district per-student funding; a percentage of PPOR is allocated per student. The cost for the courseware is approximately $150-300 per course / per semester, depending on whether a course is taught by a local teacher or by the K12/Aventa teacher. The program also is charged $ 2,000 for ten transferable seats for credit recovery.

**Program 2: Poudre School District – Online Credit Recovery Program** This program provides a credit recovery opportunity to high school students on a part-time, supplemental basis. The student is intended to earn high school credits so that he/she may catch up on lost credits, allowing the student to proceed towards on-time graduation. Each of the six PSD high schools has implemented their credit recovery program differently; some run the program as an after school or night school program, others offer it within the context of the regular school day. The program is funded by the individual high schools.

The Aventa system is used to deliver the credit recovery program.