Chicagoland

Online courses now offered to Catholic school students in grades six to 12

By Michelle Martin | Staff Writer
Sunday, November 24, 2013

Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago now have a new way to offer middle and high school students classes they could never have before with the “Virtual Academy.”

The online classes, taught by real teachers, are being provided by Keystone Academy, a well-known virtual school. The Virtual Academy was announced Oct. 22.

“We saw some real value in implementing online courses for kids in grades six-12,” said Dominican Sister M. Paul McCaughey, the superintendent of Catholic Schools. “It could be that they want to take a different language that their school does not offer, or maybe they learn differently and while they can master physics, it takes them more time. … The schools can use it however they want to.”

That means that schools will work with parents to decide how, or if, to incorporate courses from the Virtual Academy in their children’s school life. Some schools may have students who sign up for the same course work on it online while at school; others may allow or even encourage students to sign up for classes for enrichment purposes, but not give them school credit. Students who cannot attend school in person because of long-term illnesses or other issues also could benefit from the online courses.

“We’re leaving it pretty flexible for the first few months to see how they will use it,” Sister M. Paul said.

Staff from the Office for Catholic Schools chose Keystone Academy because it already has good national credibility and because its curriculum lines up fairly well with what is taught in Catholic schools in the archdiocese, although religion is not offered.

Cost for each class ranges from $289 for a one-semester class to $399 for a full-year class or $499 for a full-year Advanced Placement class. Whether the Catholic school would pay the tuition, in the case of a class that would replace one the school offers, or the parents would pay is up to the school.

Sister M. Paul said she is not aware of any other Catholic dioceses working with Keystone, although she believes one other launched an online academy just weeks before the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Virtual Academy went live.

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