Virtual high school a good fit for some

YAKIMA — Carolyn Kondor completed her freshman year at Yakima's Eisenhower High School. But it was a struggle.

At Ike, the teen says, there were too many students, too many distractions, too much stress. There was just "too much of everything."

So, about three months into her sophomore year, she transferred to the newly formed Yakima Online! She's a senior now, 17, and still enrolled in the online high school. Her sights are set on graduation in June.

"It's a good fit for me," she says. "I love the people here. It's easygoing, but it keeps you on track."

Yakima Online!, in its third year, offers an alternative to the district's traditional, brick-and-mortar high schools and its other, more conventional, alternative programs.

Started in fall 2007, Yakima Online! graduated four students its first year. Last year, 13 students graduated from the online school. And this year, Arlene Franz, the district's coordinator of online programs, anticipates between 30 and 40 more.

"It's about individualizing learning for students and finding ways to help them be successful," says Franz, who helped start Yakima Online! and has worked with the school since its inception. "We don't want anyone to be forgotten or left behind."

Open to students in grades six through 12, Yakima Online! partners with Advanced Academics, an Oklahoma City-based company that has implemented online learning programs in 30 states.

Advanced Academics is a subsidiary of DeVry Inc., one of the largest publicly held, higher-education companies in North America and the parent organization of DeVry University, among others.

Yakima Online! is available only to students who live in the Yakima School District. Enrollment hovers around 125 students. Nearly half are superseniors, or fifth-year seniors. Most are in grades 9-12. And almost all of them stay at least a year.

Some had fallen behind in traditional high-school settings due to a variety of reasons, such as learning disabilities, work schedules, increased responsibilities at home, homelessness, and illness or other health-related issues, including pregnancy.

Others are accelerated learners or previously home-schooled students.

Many — like Kondor, who was diagnosed with depression three years ago — come to Yakima Online! because it feels like a good fit.

"It works for me because I can work from home," says Kondor, who works between 15 and 20 hours weekly at a local nursing home. "It's less stress. With my depression ... it doesn't become overwhelming."

But, she says, online school isn't for everyone: "You have to be very independent and have self-discipline."

Across the country, an increasing number of students are turning to online education to replace or supplement traditional schools. Enrollment in online courses reached 1 million in 2007, according to the North American Council for Online Learning.

And, as of last fall, 44 states offered significant supplemental or full-time online learning opportunities for students, according to the council. Some experts predict up to half of all courses in grades 9-12 will be provided online by 2019.

Yakima Online! — whose mascot is the "cyber star" — is a virtual school, but it's not all online. Midterm and final exams must be taken at the school. And students are required to check in, in person, once a week. Once a month, they're supposed to bring a parent or guardian.

They are also required to put in 25 hours of school time per week. Most students complete their hours and assignments at home.

The school is staffed by a counselor, registrar and secretary. It runs on a semester schedule. Students start with a required introductory course and work with staff to set up individual learning plans.

Twenty-year-old Sofia Gonzalez is trying to complete her junior and senior years of high school in one year. She had dropped out and is now married and the mother of a 7-month-old son. She says she likes the flexibility Yakima Online! offers and usually works from home.

"It has a lot of advantages," she says. In fact, without this option, "I wouldn't have gone back to school."

In its first year, says Jack Irion, the district's deputy superintendent, Yakima Online! primarily aimed to recapture and retain students who would otherwise be counted as dropouts. Now, in its third year, Yakima Online! has "really expanded in terms of who we serve."

Cody Yearout, a 14-year-old freshman, came here this fall straight from middle school.

"I got Cs, Ds and Fs in middle school, and I goofed around a lot," he said. Plus, "I got in trouble, sometimes."

These days, "I'm passing all my classes.

"I'm actually staying out of trouble, even at home."