Regional remote learning option begins this fall for some local high schoolers

New London ― Several area school districts this fall will offer high school students a regional remote learning option aimed at giving them some flexibility in what courses they take, as well as when and how they take them.The pilot program is open to juniors and seniors attending New London, East Lyme, Lyme-Old Lyme, the Groton-based Marine Science Magnet, Old Saybrook and Waterford high schools, said New London Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie, one of the district leaders who began discussing the initiative in 2022.That year was a rebuilding one for most districts after two years of remote or hybrid learning prompted by COVID-19 restrictions. But Ritchie said she'd begun mulling over a remote class option long before the pandemic."I saw this as another way to offer options to students, like our year-round classes and our transitional kindergarten program, options that provide learning flexibility and treating students as individuals," Ritchie said. "This moves away from a one-size-fits-all model of learning."The program, set to launch in the fall, will enable older students to enroll in up to two remote classes taught by instructors from participating districts. A preliminary list of 22 possible classes will be winnowed down based on a student survey that closes on Sept. 3.Initial class offerings, each a half-credit elective, include literature-based options such as "Killer Stories: Crime & Mystery Writing," coastal navigation, American film studies, sign language, Emergency Medical Responder and a German language class.Ritchie said the top four student choices will be offered beginning in late September or October with another round of classes debuting in January.While labeled as "remote," the classes will include both on-your-own and in-person components in which students travel to different school districts for classroom instruction.Ritchie said the program allows school districts to offer creative classes they might otherwise be unable to offer due to a lack of qualified instructors or not enough students to fill a traditional class."So, a district without a German teacher has this option for students to attend a remote language lesson," Ritchie said. "Teachers get a chance to work with students they wouldn't normally interact with, and vice-versa."LEARN, a regional education service agency that oversees four Connecticut magnet schools, including the Marine Science Magnet High School, helped the districts create the program. LEARN Executive Director Kate Ericson praised superintendents for their willingness to seek out and implement new education models, especially ones that seek to upend the typical classroom model.She said creating the program involved conversations with teachers unions and state representatives."None of us learn the same way," Ericson said. "Twenty years ago, there were transportation barriers to a program like this that technology has helped address.This isn't a silver bullet but it's another layer to reaching kids in a way where individual school districts aren't doing this all on their own."Ritchie said five New London teachers volunteered as part of the first wave of remote instructors. The salaries for participating teachers, which are expected to cost between $7,000 and $8,000 per class, will be paid by those districts whose students take a particular class."This gives those teachers the option of supplementing their salaries with another class," Ritchie said. "This helps create full-time positions, while giving students the option of taking fewer classes during the day. If a student is behind, this is a way for them to fast track catching up in a way that treats them as individuals."The first wave of semester-long classes calls for a blend of evening classes that mix virtual, in-person and independent and group work.j.penney@theday.com