The momentum is building for us to work together to build a personalized learning system that will help us keep pace with changing times through the creative use of technology, flexible learning opportunities for students and partnerships with communities. ~ James Gorman, Deputy Minister of Education, British Columbia

How one online school creates blended school experiences for students Karen Flello, Kim Lemieux, Sally Morgan, Clint Surry

Our Presentation  Context  A brief history of SIDES  The challenges we have faced  The partnership models we have introduced to meet those challenges

SIDES – Who are we?  Regional distributed learning school – part of the Saanich School District, located at the south end of Vancouver Island  Established 1988 (one of nine original DL schools) to serve a small geographical area; now able to provide education to students from around the province  Two sites – 70+ staff  Serves students (K – 12 and Adults)  Teaches and provides support to 100+ students with special needs designations

SIDES – Where are we?  SIDES is one of 50+ distributed learning schools serving both school-age and adult students in British Columbia.  British Columbia covers a geographical area of 366 thousand square miles.  Vancouver Island is home to BC’s capital, Victoria, and is located off the south-west coast of mainland B.C.

Our Context Ministry of Education (e-Learning Unit, Compliance Branch, Student Assessment Branch, etc.) I School District (Saanich) (Board of Trustees, Senior Executive, Unions) I South Island Distance Education School

The Early Days

The history [of Distributed Learning in BC] is like going from the sandbox, to the monkey bars, then straight to Cirque du Soleil. ~ Nick Smith, “The Quiet Revolution,” The Tyee, 2006

School à la Carte

Early Reactions… As a classroom-based and online teacher, when I read about it, I thought I could actually hear the sledgehammers thudding on the school’s outer walls. I began to wonder if the term ‘significant changes’ on the opening page of the memo to teachers was intended as mere understatement or laughable irony. Is this mere change or the beginning of a deconstruction of the 150 year experiment we call public schooling? ~ Nick Smith, “The Quiet Revolution”, The Tyee, 2006.

 Competitive educational environment created by provincial policies  An historical perception of what DL was compared to today’s reality  Changes from the needs of “exclusively SIDES students” to the needs of the cross- enrolled DL Challenges

 School year conflicts (10 month/12 month)  University requirements for student entry  Mandatory provincial information system  Government assessment and data collection systems System Challenges

“…Now is the time for courageous leaders, at all levels, to emerge and add their 'voices' to the debate. There are no experts with 'the answer' - we will have to invent the future ourselves together as we go along.” Anonymous From whom will the answers come?

Cross-Enrolment Opportunities  K – 9 shared students – program based – arrangements between schools  10 – 12 shared students – course based – students choose; Ministry funds

Blended Learning Students are able to work on online curriculum which is augmented by face-to-face seminar sessions  Summer Session  English 12 & AP Literature and Composition

“Flex Studies” & “Partials”  Originally developed to support credit recovery  Allowed students to receive credit for prior learning and add only the Prescribed Learning Outcomes still required  Successful model, but has been halted due to policy changes

DL Support Block  Ministry mandated  Both schools receive funding  Students work on a variety of courses in the same block

Cohort Model  Neighbourhood school teachers use SIDES curriculum  Students are supported and assessed by their subject-area specialist in the neighbourhood school

Thank you for joining us. Karen Flello – Vice Principal Kim Lemieux – Secondary Department Coordinator, Teacher- Librarian, Senior English Teacher Sally Morgan – Course Development Coordinator, Senior English teacher Clint Surry – Senior Sciences teacher, Staff tech support School District #63 (Saanich)

The momentum is building for us to work together to build a personalized learning system that will help us keep pace with changing times through the creative use of technology, flexible learning opportunities for students and partnerships with communities. ~ James Gorman, Deputy Minister of Education, British Columbia