Small High School, Big Opportunities

By Tara Grosso

For smaller high schools like ours, offering students a diverse and enriching curriculum can be hampered by having limited local resources. It’s no secret that fewer students often means fewer course offerings—a reality that can restrict student choice and hinder their academic aspirations. Before online learning emerged, the answer could only be solved in one of two ways: either hire more teachers to cover the additional workload or offer fewer course options to students.

Today, small schools don’t have to settle for limited course offerings. By establishing a partnership with an online education program like VHS Learning, small schools can offer courses that align with their school’s goals and open up new opportunities for students, enabling schools to utilize their resources more efficiently. Our 300-student high school (Hull High School, in Hull, Massachusetts) discovered this win-win scenario about 12 years ago and hasn't looked back since.

I was the library media specialist and after my first year of working at my school our principal decided to partner with nonprofit VHS Learning to better serve the academic needs of our student population. We initially used VHS Learning for credit recovery and later added electives. We currently purchase 25 student enrollments plus receive another 10 at no charge from the STEM Advanced Placement (AP) Access Expansion Opportunity (SAPAO)—a statewide initiative funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) designed to increase Massachusetts students’ participation in advanced STEM coursework. SAPAO has provided Massachusetts high schools with access to ten AP STEM courses free of charge. Advanced course options include AP Computer Science Principles, AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, and more.

Top 5 Reasons We Use Online Learning to Enhance Our School

Here are some of the top ways we work with our online learning partner to provide new opportunities for students:

1. Let students delve into AP courses. Our small high school doesn’t always have enough students interested in specific AP subjects or enough AP teachers to teach all the different subjects requested. For motivated students who want to take those extra classes, the online learning program gives them a chance to add those advanced classes (e.g., AP Statistics, AP Biology, and AP Psychology) to their schedules. Last year, one of our students who wants to be a pharmacist took both the AP Statistic and AP Chemistry classes online through VHS Learning.
2. Offer unique elective courses. Students can take a wide range of electives that they wouldn’t have access to in our traditional classrooms. Our school is located on a peninsula that sticks out into the ocean, for example, so they absolutely love the fact that they can take Oceanography. This semester, some students also took Psychology of Crime, which was new for us, and a few others began taking Business Law. The options are virtually limitless.
3. Break down barriers for students. We encourage our entire student body to give online learning a try. Being in an online classroom helps the students from our small school learn with and from students from around the world, leading to a better understanding of global perspectives. We always encourage someone to go for it, even if they're dubious and unsure about the difficulty level. We just tell them to give it a chance. This year, we started offering American Sign Language (ASL) for the first time and we also offer a “Who Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?” course to help students discover possible careers. We had two students who both did well in the latter course several years ago who I still keep in touch with today.
4. Teach soft skills for success in college, career, and life. Success with online learning requires students to keep up with due dates, be self-motivated, and take control of their learning. These are all soft skills that translate well in college, the workplace and life in general. If a student runs off track a bit with his or her coursework, we also encourage them to advocate for themselves, communicate with their online teachers, and get the support they need to be able to get back on track.
5. Prep students for career success. Our online learning program also teaches students the basics of time management, which is extremely critical as these young people move from high school to college to career. The 200+ different courses also help students who aren’t sure about their future college or career paths. They can try out a few different options and decide what is or isn’t right for them. The great thing is that these courses can be taken as electives and with much less pressure.

Let them Take a Risk and a Chance

This year, two of our 52 high school graduates got accepted into Harvard University, and both took AP courses from VHS Learning. We’re immensely proud of this accomplishment and of our entire graduating class. In fact, one of them has been taking online courses from our partner since her sophomore year, and most recently took AP Statistics and AP European History.

Whatever unique subject our students want to explore, they can find it online. There are so many options available within a safe, secure environment and our students can stretch themselves academically while also expanding their horizons by meeting students from all over the world.

Tara Grosso is the Library Media Specialist and VHS Learning site coordinator at Hull High School in Hull, Mass.