As parents navigate Zoom classes, cyber charter schools have been teaching this way for years

With parents having had to get a crash course in online learning in recent months, there are schools across Pennsylvania that have been doing it for decades – online cyber charter schools.

But what exactly is a cyber charter school, and is it the same thing parents have been navigating since the governmentmandated shutdowns began last March.

Rich Jensen, the new CEO at Agora Cyber Charter School, and Douglas Wessels, the director for public affairs with PA Virtual Charter School, recently discussed their programs and options for parents. Both schools are based out of King of Prussia but serve students from all over the state.

Jensen described Agora as a

20-year-old school where the students utilize online learning as its primary means of educating students.

“As a Pennsylvania charter school, we are held to a lot of the exact same standards as brickand-mortar schools. So we have to do state testing just as any district would.”

Jensen said they have about

500 teachers from kindergarten to 12th grade, with about 125 state-certified teachers in special education.

With many parents having had to step in and quickly to adapt to the online Zoom classrooms and meeting at specific times, Agora has been doing so for the past 20 years.

“Our model is very much focused on synchronized instruction and what that means is that the teacher logs in at say 11 o’clock and the entire class that is assigned to that class block logs at 11 as well,” Jensen said.

Once the teacher and class have logged in, and the attendance is taken, the teacher then goes into an interactive lesson that can run from 45 to 75 minutes, depending on the grade level. Jensen said the classes include the same teaching techniques as regular brick-andmortar schools such as guided learning, small group work, and direct instruction.

“In our model, we have all four corners [of the state], and so you can have one class with students from Philadelphia, some from Erie, some from the Scranton area and a whole bunch of students in the middle of the state,” Jensen said. “So it provides a unique opportunity for students to learn of different cultures and ways of living throughout the commonwealth.”

But what about a student’s ability to get involved in extracurricular activities?

Wessels said students are legally required to be allowed to participate in any activity that is offered by the district where they live. Still, sometimes students might not feel comfortable returning to that district. So they also have a verity of organizations such as chess club, drama club, student council, National Honor Society and others.

According to Wessels, the difference between a brick-and-mortar charter school and a cyber charter school is that the latter

uses technology as the primary means of educating students. The brick and mortar charters typically have a seat count that is controlled by the local school district. The district also often decides whether a charter school gets approved.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education authorizes the cyber charter schools. They can serve students throughout the state from the high-performing districts on the Main Line and provide an escape to those students stuck in schools labeled as failing.

With the number of students attending the brick-and-mortar charter schools set by the individual school districts, students in the failing or underperforming districts sometimes have to compete in a lottery system to attend.

Wessels said the number of teachers determines the cyber charter schools. This year for the first time, they also had to use a lottery system.

There are 14 public cyber charter schools in the state and the 1.7 million students throughout Pennsylvania are eligible to attend.