2 districts alleviate virtual waiting lists
Virtual education programs that were slammed with families seeking to enroll their children as coronavirus cases surged last month are stabilizing in two of the state’s largest districts.
The Pulaski County Special School District went to the state Board of Education last month for a 300-student addition to its 500-student Driven Academy conversion charter school.
Jessica Duff, a spokeswoman for the district, said Friday that not all of the families on the Driven waiting list responded to the invitation to enroll after the enrollment cap was raised.
The kindergarten- through-12th-grade virtual school now has an enrollment of just under 650 and will keep it there for the remainder of this semester, Duff said.
The Little Rock School Board authorized Superintendent Mike Poore more than a week ago to enter into a contract with the Pearson education company, if necessary, to accommodate some 300 students who were at one time on waiting lists for the district’s Ignite Digital Academies for elementary and secondary students.
Outsourcing the instruction, however, has not happened.
“There are no students assigned to Pearson,” Pamela Smith, a district spokeswoman, said Friday.”We accommodated those on the waiting list utilizing district personnel,” Smith said.
The Arkansas Board of Education meets at 10 a.m. Thursday. The agenda includes a report on at least one digital learning program hosted by an education service cooperative for students from several districts.
Campaign focuses on internet safety
The Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education has initiated its Social Media Awareness Campaign, known as SMACtalk, for the 2021-2022 school year.
The campaign focuses on online etiquette and developing healthy virtual relationships. It addresses how to properly vet information received online and it gives privacy protection tips. How to avoid online dangers, and knowing when to “unplug” from social media are other components of the campaign.
A new music video titled “Cyberwise” from Mr. Steve, The Music Man, was released last week to kick off the campaign. The high-energy video performance and other information is available at https://bit.ly/3DG8KDD.
Every school that uses the Facebook post featuring the video by Sept. 17 will be entered into a drawing to win a free concert by Mr. Steve at their school.
Resources for the campaign include a parent blog that features a first-person perspective about internet safety; posters, videos, articles, activities, and links to websites for schools and districts to post; new teacher podcasts; new videos featuring students’ perspectives; and links to games and other resources.
“When we first launched SMACtalk last year, our goal was to share helpful tips and resources for safely using social media and the internet,” Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key said. “The campaign, however, grew beyond what we expected, largely due to the overwhelming positive reception from educators, parents, and students. We are excited to expand the campaign this school year.”
Pupils given chance to help teachers win
Kinetic by Windstream is kicking off the 2021 school year with a chance for student-nominated teachers to win a $1,000 classroom-supply grant.
Students have until Sept. 30 to say why they think their teacher is particularly special. One teacher in each of the 18 states — including Arkansas — that Kinetic serves will win a $1,000 grant to be used for school supplies for the selected teacher’s classroom dedicated to student education.
Nominations can be made at any Kinetic retail site or online at https://bit.ly/3DMZLAj.