Community

Pickens Virtual Academy registration extended

PICKENS COUNTY, Ga – Pickens Virtual Academy registration has been re-opened until midnight Monday, July 20th due to internet issues across the county. The contract deadline has been extended until Wednesday, July 22nd at 5:00 pm. If a contract is not received on time, the student will attend traditional school.

Link to Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgUlPmPCZkQgCkP_Ud6W9ci4Nxsb3RRpRi4n0E4Ox6fsOzIQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

From an earlier article:

Virtual vs. Distance

Anita Walker, Director of Curriculum, said there will be a difference between the virtual academy and distance learning and it’s a difference parents need to understand.

“In the spring, we did distance learning. What we are doing here is the Pickens Virtual School. There will be one teacher working with several students across different grades,” she said.

Should the school district experience a second wave and becomes labeled as significant, then students attending as traditional students-those in a physical classroom–will revert to Distance Learning.

“With distance learning, they will be with their regular teacher and that teacher will be the one assigning lesson,” said Walker. “Those in the virtual academy won’t be affected, they will just continue to do what they are doing.”

Time in class

Several parents asked about how many hours an elementary student would spend online doing school work.

Audrey Harrell, with Pearson Connexus, said it’s a question she doesn’t like to answer.

“It really depends on the student,” she said. “The program isn’t just click, click, click, there is engaging material. Still, some students will fly through it and others will need more support,” she said.

Pearson is flexible so while students should sign in and work everyday, when they sign in is up to the student and parents.

Townsend said they are working to determine the best way to track attendance.

As far as the amount of on-line school work versus off-line school work, elementary students will have about 40-50-percent of their school work online. The remainder will be consist of physical activity or hands-on learning using easily available materials.

Middle school students can expect about 60-percent of their classwork to be online and high school, about 90-percent online.

School calendar

The school will set up the calendar for the students based on the traditional school calendar, so there would not be classes when the schools are on break, but students can work ahead, said Harrell.