MRSD’s new online program, coordinated by Dr. Tony Valley, has 10 students enrolled so far, but room to grow.

“We’re starting slow, but we’ll pick up,” Valley said.

Unlike traditional schools where students miss out if they’re not in class, the online program is set up so that students can start at the beginning anytime and work at their own pace, Valley said.

For the rest of the article, go to With Molalla’s new online program, the schoolhouse is your house

ORCA is Oregon’s biggest virtual school. It’s a public charter school, with no tuition, serving nearly 2,600 students across the state. My school year starts when I log onto my computer, the same as it does for my students. After 15 years of teaching in more traditional brick-and-mortar schools, I decided to try online learning. This is my sixth year with ORCA, so I made a choice that works for me.

For the rest of the article, go to The viewpoint of a virtual teacher

The Oregon Board of Education recently spent several hours kicking this question around before concluding that parents should be allowed to choose online schools — but only up to a point. A majority of board members supported parent choice only if there was a cap on how many students could leave an individual school district. In other words, parent choice for some, but not necessarily all.

For the rest of the article, go to Choosing online schools

Charter schools and local school districts have offered online classes for years. But a publicly-run online program for all of Oregon is new.

The Oregon Virtual Education Center was born literally across the street from high-tech giant, Intel, at the Northwest Regional Education Service District, in Hillsboro.

The ESD’s Paul Nelson says the center is starting with just five courses. Mainly those that can high schoolers need for graduation — but sometimes have difficulty with. Like Algebra 1, 9th grade English, and biology.

For the rest of the article, go to Could Online Classes Help Ease Oregon’s Education Problems?

In Oregon, education dollars follow the students. And this issue pits parent choice against school district stability.

Initially, each of six members of the state board suggested slightly different solutions. After nearly three hours of discussion, however, most board members said they would support parent choice but only if there was a cap on how many students could leave an individual school district.

For the rest of the article, go to Oregon Board of Education tackles parent choice and virtual schools

The debate over how to manage the rising need, though, pits entrenched forces, like the teachers’ union, against rising powers, like Oregon’s virtual charter schools. Rob Manning reports.

Oregon has a handful of online charter schools already in existence, but how to govern them is still in question.

Online schools raise questions that weren’t anticipated when Oregon’s charter school law was written.

For the rest of the article, go to Education Board Wrestles With Growing Need For Online Classes

The most obvious difference between the traditional 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday school routine is flexibility in time and space. But Howard says eliminating daily classroom interruptions makes her work with students more productive and rewarding.

“(Connections) is the best job I’ve ever had as a teacher,” said Howard. “Whenever I talk to a student, I’m focused only on that student.”

For the rest of the article, go to Online schools offer flexibility

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual Ed. Enrollment Caps Face Greater Scrutiny

For the 2009-10 school year, the Oregon School District offered online courses in an effort to recapture students attending virtual schools. Traditional high school students also were allowed to take one online course per semester.

For the rest of the article, go to Catching up: What did Oregon students think of online classes?

Oftentimes, when students and their families decide to homeschool or enroll at an online school, their motives are similar. Consider the following:

For the rest of the article, go to Online Courses Offer Options, Support for Homeschooling Families