Enrollment up in Upper Darby’s first cyber school platform

UPPER DARBY » More than 200 students have enrolled in Upper Darby School District’s cyber academy since it launched at the start of the school year.

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dan McGarry and cyber academy Principal Candice Riccione announced at a school board committee meeting on Tuesday that 214 students across all grade levels are receiving instruction on the district’s new learning platform. Approximately 90 percent of those students are in seventh grade or higher with 41 deemed special education and another six are English Language Learners. Another 57 were on administrative home study.

Enrollment has increased in just the first semester of the school year from 86 pupils. With that, the number of stipend teachers will be increasing from 21 for the fall semester to 39 for the spring semester.

The Upper Darby Cyber Academy was created as another comprehensive learning opportunity for students. Students are being taught through an educational online program through Pearson Connexus. They find their assignments and learning materials online and a teacher will check in to see how they are progressing. A one-year contract with Pearson was approximately $190,000 for 501 program licenses. After the 214 used for academy students another 59 of these licenses are currently being used for alternative education for disruptive youth and other educational services.

Investment in Pearson was at no additional cost to the district due to shifting certain funds from areas like homebound instruction.

Another reason for creating the cyber academy was to reduce the number of district students going to cyber charter schools, which cost the district approximately $3.7 million in tuition last year. The cyber academy option has prevented 127 students from attending a cyber charter school and another 19 were recruited back to the district from a cyber charter school. Any immediate savings in charter tuition costs have not yet been verified.

Riccione and McGarry expect the cyber academy to keep growing in the future.

“There are reasons why it’s growing,” said McGarry. “Students would rather learn on an online system than attend the school.”

Expecting an increase in enrollment requires more staff, technology and resources to be attributed to the academy. At present there are two full-time personnel in Principal Riccione and one guidance counselor. A fulltime special education teacher is expected to start there on Feb. 10 and a full-time administrative assistant position has been advertised. More teachers, whether fulltime of stipend, will also be considered.

The district is looking to make an in-house online program at some point and pushing away from Pearson.