The Little Rock School District, facing a shortage of teachers to meet the student demand at the district’s new Ignite Digital Academy, is asking families who want to enroll in virtual school to do so by 11:59 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 7. The school district had previously said families could enroll in the virtual school as late as Aug. 16, the first day of school. They still can, Superintendent Mike Poore said today in an interview, but they’ll have to begin the school year in-person until the district can hire new teachers or shift others to the virtual school.

Enrollment numbers in the virtual academy have grown dramatically as the delta variant of the coronavirus has surged. In July, around 250 K-12 students had enrolled; today, there are around 1,000, Poore said.

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Ignite is a significant change for the LRSD. Last year, most Little Rock educators simultaneously taught virtual and in-person students. Many students began the school year in virtual school but as coronavirus cases declined, they returned to the classroom. Those students had the same teachers throughout the year. If a student enrolls in Ignite, she will have virtual-only teachers. For families who choose virtual school because of concerns about the pandemic, perhaps because their children are too young to be eligible for the vaccine, the district will hold students’ spots in the in-person school in which they’re now enrolled for one year.

Poore said the district’s outreach today would include a request to families who might have previously signed up for virtual school, but might be rethinking that decision in light of a Pulaski County judge’s preliminary injunction against enforcement of a state law that bans public mask requirements. The LRSD Board will meet Thursday to approve the district’s Ready for Learning Plan, which will include a universal mask recommendation. The board is expected to approve the plan.

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Students must commit to at least one semester of virtual school. That timing could work for families unwilling to send young kids back to school before they’re vaccinated. Health officials have estimated that vaccines, at least for children ages 6-11, could receive emergency use authorization by the Federal Drug Administration this fall. But others have said it might not be available until early next year.

Students must also commit to a scheduled (synchronous) or flexible (asynchronous) path. The flexible option features pre-recorded and pre-programmed instruction, which students can complete on their own time, though they’ll still be required to submit work daily. In scheduled instruction, teachers will interact with students at appointed times and students will be able to interact with each other as a class or in small groups.

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Last year, teachers virtually administered the NWEA Map tests elementary students take, while virtual students were asked to take ACT Aspire standardized tests in-person. There’s no state law that requires students to take summative exams, but the district this year will request that all Ignite students test in-person. For K-6 students, that will happen at the former Henderson Middle School, where the younger grade Ignite teachers will be stationed.

The LRSD received a waiver from the state to increase class sizes at Ignite. Here’s the max for each grade:

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K-1: 25 students

2-3: 30 students

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4-5: 35 students

6: 4040 students)

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7-12: 40 students per section/class with a 170 total student max per teacher.

Ignite will have dedicated counselors and students will still be able to pick up breakfast and lunch from their traditional school. Virtual students remain eligible for extracurriculars.

K-6

Any parent of an elementary school child who went to school virtually last year knows that it requires a lot of supervision. That’s sure to be the case this year as well, but any parent of K-2 students who chooses the flexible path should be prepared to spend a lot of time helping their student, Stephanie Franklin, principal of the Ignite K-6 and Terry Elementary, said.

Even those students in the flexible mode will receive regular live literacy and math instruction. That’ll be daily for kids K-2 and several times a week for grades 3-5. That’s a change from the district’s original plan. The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education told the district regular math and literacy instruction was a nonnegotiable. Franklin said she thought that was sensible.

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What will the day look like for scheduled students? Franklin was reluctant on Wednesday to outline a precise schedule while students were still enrolling. “Just as with a brick and mortar school, the schedule is dependent on how many teachers and students you have,” Franklin said. That students have the option of two different paths further complicates scheduling, she added.

But she said that scheduled instruction wouldn’t mean that a child is sitting in front of a screen for six hours. A standard day would likely include a lesson that’s the appropriate length of time for a certain grade, live instruction, time for the student to complete an assignment or activity, followed by the same cycle again. The projection for K-6 students is 3-3.5 hours of live onscreen time. Completing assignments will take longer of course. Students will have opportunities to do paper and pencil work, take a picture and upload it, though perhaps not for every assignment.

Virtual school last year was a disaster for many families with elementary school students. How will Ignite improve upon virtual school? “Dedicated teachers,” Franklin said. “The fact that they had a choice. Teachers applied and were hired. As opposed to being told.” Having a dedicated instructional technology coordinator, Millicent Sanders-Anderson, to help with curriculum design, tech questions and troubleshoot is key as well, Franklin said.

Franklin said some of the educators at Ignite wanted to teach virtually because of health concerns. Others loved it last year, despite having to pull double duty. Some are relatively new teachers for whom using digital tools is second nature.

Franklin agreed to take on supervision of the lower grades at Ignite in May when coronavirus numbers were declining. As of Wednesday, 505 K-6 students were enrolled in Ignite, and Franklin said that number was growing steadily. That’s more than the 450-500 kids enrolled at Terry Elementary, where she’s also principal. Her assistant principal Aimee Young has been invaluable in managing both schools, Franklin said.

Franklin said she was still hiring teachers to meet the growing demand.

Despite the unexpected chaos of this year, Franklin believes Ignite is important for the district. Six to seven years ago she worked in the LRSD administration in the technology department. When she attended national conferences, it was evident Arkansas and the LRSD in particular were behind as far as digital education went. “We as a district became grossly aware of that when the pandemic hit,” Franklin said.

7-12

While students at all levels struggled with virtual school last year, many secondary students thrived, according to West High School of Innovation Principal Karen Heatherly, who doubles as leader of the upper grades at Ignite. Part of the original vision of West High School was to incorporate digital learning, so it made sense for her to take on leadership at Ignite, she said.

There are 252 students enrolled at West High. As of Wednesday, 419 were virtual students. Heatherly said she was still trying to hire for several teaching positions. She didn’t expect the mask ruling to have much effect on her enrollment. A lot of students who are old enough to drive, may have jobs they want to keep while attending schools. “Some students, when the pandemic hit, they got jobs to help support their families,” Heatherly said. 

Virtual school works for students who aren’t looking for a lot of speciality courses, according to Heatherly. Not surprisingly, Ignite won’t offer the sorts of fine arts, drama and theater classes you’d find at Parkview, for example. “We simply can’t offer all those electives because there’s no way to employ all those teachers to do it virtually,” Heatherly said. “We’ll have AP, pre-AP. But they’re not tied to a speciality program. If students want to be able to graduate and have a fulfilling high school experience, this is the right pathway for them.”

In addition to a dedicated counselor, Ignite is looking to hire a social worker, Heatherly said. Those staff members could go as far as making home visits to a student who’s disengaged.

 

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