Allendale County School District will be offering a new Virtual Academy for the 2020-2021 school year to accommodate families of Pre-kindergarten through 12th graders who prefer students to experience virtual learning at home. Students receiving their education through our new Virtual Academy will remain fully-enrolled in their regular school. Academy teachers are certified Acellus teachers and ACS teachers.
This accredited online learning platform will be based on South Carolina curriculum standards and will be delivered through Skooler and Microsoft Teams, our current learning management tools. Courses will be designed using the curriculum platform of Acellus and supported with teacher-designed assessments, lessons, activities and supports. Courses will be offered as full virtual courses with opportunities for online instruction, tutoring, intervention and teacher support. Students must maintain discipline and complete all online tasks and activities.
Students will follow a schedule of virtual classes just as they would in a traditional brick and mortar school. Thus, students are expected to attend and participate in scheduled class sessions. Students will receive standards-based content, participate in classroom discussion, submit assignments and demonstrate mastery of learning from the safety and comfort of their homes. Teachers will be able to provide instant course participation data such as student online engagement, assignments completed, assessments scores and course/subject average. Students are expected to adhere to completion and submission of all assignments, projects, assessments and activities. The Acellus platform will be utilized in both the at-home virtual and school-site hybrid setting. This will allow for streamlining of resources and instructional materials, as well as teaching and learning for students across the district regardless of their instructional model choice. Teachers and students will be able to enjoy a blended model for instructional purposes.
Students who qualify for special education services will receive accommodations and modifications according to their IEP or 504 plan. Any required face to face accommodations will be provided while ensuring the safety and health of the student and teacher.
Students will follow ACS school calendar start and end dates. Students will have opportunities to build relationships with their teachers. Many student and family engagement opportunities will be available as students will still be able to participate and have access to school activities such as sports, band, cheerleading, JROTC, CATE classes and fine arts.
View the full draft of the ACS 2020 - 2021 Reopening Plan here.