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Dear online parent,
Since we launched our online school we have listened to our online students and their parents. Common feedback and concerns include issues with the realtime class schedule and hybrid learning.
Online students didn’t think they were receiving enough teacher attention or support during class. They felt that the teacher spent more time with the in-class students, and didn’t help them enough.
For International online students in different time zones, the live lessons are at inconvenient times. Timing is even difficult for local students who take supplementary courses, the realtime classes usually conflict with their existing school schedule.
Other students have been concerned about the amount of time needed to complete their course work. When combined with fixed class times this makes it difficult for them to maintain after-school activities like sports, music lessons and part-time jobs.
For the reasons outlined above, we will move to an asynchronous learning model in the second semester of this school year. This will separate online students from the live classroom. The increased flexibility of asynchronous learning should help students manage their time, and gain balance between school and life.
Lectures and activities will still be presented through Google Classroom, but they will be pre-recorded. To ensure that online students receive the academic support needed to reach their academic goals, our teachers will offer regular (at least bi-weekly) meetings with students to give feedback, coach, and give remedial support if needed.
Lastly, over the past year we completed the launch of our online courses and have developed a comprehensive program. On reflection, we recognized that the introductory fees being charged were not covering our costs, and the program was not sustainable. Moving forward we must increase our fees to ensure that our online school will continue to be available.
The new online prices per course will be $1,380; $1,480; and $1,580 - for classes in grades 6 to 8; 9 & 10; and 11 & 12 respectively. Students currently enrolled in fall semester courses will be able to pay the previous fees for the second semester of this school year, but for the next school year, (2022-2023), the increased fees will apply.
Kindest regards,
Dr. Tom Steel
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