INSIGHT SCHOOLS GOES LIVE FOR SCHOOL BOARD

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum editor

Online schooling theory turned to fact last week for the Quillayute Valley School District board.
The meeting was held in the QVSD board meeting room inside the Skill Center on South Forks Avenue.
Insight School of Washington’s Executive Director Dan Day and Principal Greg Rayl provided a live online demonstration for the school board and QVSD Superintendent Diana Reaume.

Boardmembers spoke into a microphone hooked up to an Internet-connected laptop computer, conversing with a teacher and student located elsewhere in the state.

The QVSD serves as an umbrella school board for the Insight School of Washington, and at the start of the 2007-2008 school year had almost 1,300 students enrolled from the online school.
As of this month the enrollment was down to 861, with the Insight administrators saying a top goal of the school was to stabilize the enrollment by more carefully screening students who enroll. They said the number should climb back up as the second half of the school year moves on.

The online student, identified only by her first name, described using digital textbooks, receiving one-on-one instruction online from her teachers and  being able to hold down a full-time job while completing high school.
The girl said while going to a bricks-and-mortar high school she felt held back by the pace the slowest students in her class kept the learning at.

She also felt relieved, she said, that there were on social cliques to face due to the online, networked set-up of the school, while she also felt connected to other students through text messaging and by attending social events at restaurants and elsewhere with other online students.

Boardmember Sam McElravy said he perceived the system working more for advanced students then being an out for students unwilling to work in a standard high school.

All boardmembers stated they were impressed with the online demonstration.

Attending the meeting and giving a presentation was Insight School of Washington Executive Director, Dan Day, who is the former College President at Corinthian Colleges in California, and principal, Greg Rayl, the former principal of Yelm and Kalama High Schools.

Day told of the acquisition in Jan. 2007 of Insight Schools, the parent of Insight School of Washington and similar online high schools located across the country.

The for-profit school system was purchased by Apollo Group, the owners of the University of Phoenix, the largest for-profit university in the world, and a global leader in online education for working adults, recently purchased Portland, Ore.-based Insight Schools. The sale marked the move of Apollo into high school-level, online education.

Frank Walter, former QVSD superintendent, is now the vice-president of education for Insight Schools.

Day said Insight School of Washington has yet to make a profit. The QVSD benefits by receiving education funding for each student enrolled.