Expanding the Curriculum at a Small High School with Online Courses
From the desk of Tara Grosso, VHS Learning Site Coordinator at Hull High School (MA)
As an educator at a small high school, I have always understood the importance of providing our students with access to a broad and diverse curriculum. At Hull High School, we have just 300 students in grades 9-12, and our school is limited in how many in-person courses it’s able to offer.
Like many small schools, Hull High School has teaching and resource constraints that keep us from being able to support an expansive local course catalog. This can be frustrating when we want to provide our students with learning opportunities to explore non-traditional subjects, prepare for Advanced Placement (AP)® tests, or work at an advanced pace.
While our minimal resources can be a barrier to providing a wider variety of course options in-person, VHS Learning has made it possible for our school to expand its course catalog through an online learning program. VHS Learning courses cater to individual learning styles and interests, and enable our school to provide expanded credit recovery, elective, and AP® course offerings to our students.
Expanding Learning Opportunities with VHS Learning
Our school began using VHS Learning about 12 years ago when our principal decided to partner with the online learning provider to better serve the academic needs of our students. Initially, we used VHS Learning for credit recovery and later added electives. Students now have the ability to take several AP® courses and advanced core courses, too.
One of the best parts of VHS Learning is that it enables our students to make choices about their education based on their interests or academic goals. We don’t always have enough interested students or qualified teachers to offer every AP® or elective course our students want to take. However, VHS Learning makes it possible for self-motivated students to take advanced and unique courses they wouldn’t have access to in traditional classrooms.
Reaching Every Student
Our school purchases 25 enrollments from VHS Learning, but we receive an additional 10 enrollments at no charge through the STEM AP® Access Expansion Opportunity. This statewide initiative is funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) and provides high schools with access to ten AP® courses free of charge. Whether they’re taking an interest-based elective or advanced coursework, our students benefit from direct access to VHS Learning’s 250+ course catalog.
We encourage every student to try online learning, even if they’ve never taken an online course and they’re unsure about the difficulty level. It’s important to me that our students feel empowered to explore these opportunities without the fear of failure.
Through online courses, students learn valuable soft skills, including time-management, self-motivation, and self-advocacy. I believe every student deserves an opportunity to begin building these skills during high school, and online learning provides a constructive environment to do this. Even when students struggle with coursework or deadlines, we encourage them to advocate for themselves, communicate with their online teachers, and find support to work through their challenges.
Supporting Students In Online Courses
As a VHS Learning site coordinator, I act as an onsite support liaison, helping our students navigate their online courses. I’ve completed training sessions that gave me a deeper understanding of the virtual learning experience and equipped me with techniques and resources to support our online learning program.
As an educator, I love how expansive the VHS Learning catalog is, but I also like how much my students benefit from the well-organized scheduling format. Our students appreciate the flexibility that VHS Learning offers. Some students prefer to complete their coursework at home, on weekends, or at night, and VHS Learning allows them to work at their own pace and on their own schedule.
Students are able to view all of their assignments for the course in the grade book, similarly to a college course. Not only does this allow them to schedule their assignments around their other commitments, but it also prepares them for their future academic endeavors.
The Options Are Limitless
Whatever subject students at our high school want to explore, they can find it online.
VHS Learning offers a supportive environment where students can challenge themselves academically and expand their horizons in global classrooms. It’s amazing to see how much they can accomplish when they’re given the right opportunities and support.
Through their online courses, our students have an opportunity to take risks, learn new things, and discover their passions. With VHS Learning, the options are virtually limitless!
