This story originally published in The Times Herald.

In the past six years, more than 250 students who weren’t finding success in traditional schools have earned high school or general education diplomas through the St. Clair County Virtual Learning Academy.

They were students who either were expelled, dropped out or weren’t finding their footing in classrooms.

“They’ve experienced something that rocked their world, that didn’t allow them to continue. They’re all good kids, they just had a bad circumstance that got in the way of the traditional learning calendar. They probably didn’t know how to ask for help or who to ask for help when they were starting to get stuck and that just snowballed,” said academy director Denice Lapish.

Educators say the St. Clair County Virtual Learning Academy’s unique makeup is helping an underserved population of students succeed, and has become an example for other educational institutions around the state.

What makes the Virtual Learning Academy different, and what makes its students succeed, is that it has a real, brick-and-mortar building. The academy, in Port Huron Township, has teachers and classrooms. Students aren’t required to attend certain classes as certain times, but each student has an individual learning plan that mandates some coursework be completed in VLA classrooms.

“People are surprised at how we’re really physical. We are physical, not just virtual,” Lapish said.

She said the building and staff provide much-needed structure for students who might otherwise avoid doing the online work at home if left to themselves.

Lapish said most other virtual education programs rely on parents to help students succeed.

“They depend on the parent to be the teacher, the mentor, and the lead person in that individual’s life. And sometimes that works with people. But when you get into the higher level courses, it’s more difficult. The chemistry, the algebra II, all of that,” she said.

Nicholas Bailey, 20, is an example of how VLA’s added structure helps students who might fail if left at home.

When he first enrolled, he said, he avoided the Michigan Road campus. Then he caught himself skipping the online work as well.

“I had other stuff to worry about,” he said.

But after embracing the two-fold VLA strategy, he is considering enrolling in a culinary program after getting his diploma from VLA in the summer.

Out of the 56 graduates this year, 31 are college bound, four plan to enter the armed services, nine plan to go straight to the work force, three plan to enroll at Blue Water Middle College, and nine are undecided.

Curtis Huff, 17, left Port Huron High School to attend VLA.

“It was too difficult to get to classes on time,” he said of his experience at Port Huron.

At VLA, Curtis will be graduating earlier than had he stayed on at his first school because VLA does not require students to take elective classes.

Curtis expects to receive his diploma in December after finishing another four classes.

Lapish said she averages two visits a month from outside educators wanting to see how the VLA operates, and that academies in Eaton and Midland counties have based their programs on the VLA model.

“We are the leader and kind of like the prototype for research and development,” she said.

But Lapish said the program is not less expensive than traditional schools.

“I’m sure in most districts they’re looking for a little piece of that and how to be able to do it. It’s expensive to buy laptops, to pay for the curriculum, to pay for the monthly Internet, to have highly qualified teachers year-round working 7 ¹/₂ hours a day versus the shortened day,” Lapish said.

This year it will operate with a $1.8 million budget. The academy contracts with RESA for some of its staff and administration and leases a building from RESA in Port Huron Township for $95,000 a year. The school has a director, assistant director, counselor, eight teachers and a secretary.

RESA bought the building from Port Huron Schools in 2001 for $380,000 and renovated it for a sleek and contemporary look.

The program provides students with laptops and Internet access when they are at home. They have 24/7 access to the online curriculum as well as live access to VLA teachers. Students also do work out of classrooms on some days, both independently and through one-on-one instruction with teachers.

The emphasis on the program’s physical aspect is repeated in other innovations around the school.

Changes emphasizing “diversity and movement” were put in place within the past few months after a year of study, Lapish said.

Visitors to the building first encounter in the front office an office assistant standing behind a raised platform with risers. In the main hallway, two more staff sit with their computers at high tables with raised seating. In the classroom, teachers stand at podiums instead of sitting at traditional desks, and students have the option of sitting at regular desks with their laptops or standing at raised tables. Students can sit on oversized balls instead of chairs, or they can walk the hallways as they listen to lectures.

There is also a large garden behind the building where fruit, vegetables and flowers are grown from seed in the school’s greenhouse.

“We’re trying all sorts of things to be more healthy. We offer choices for not only the environment but your approach to it,” she said.

Having a physical campus means VLA can offer something else online-only schools can’t: It has private ceremonies for graduating students and their families.

VIRTUAL LEARNING ACADEMY

• Applications for enrollment are currently being accepted for students who have dropped out or have been expelled from their home district in St. Clair County and neighboring counties.
• The program is free to students and offers an alternative way to earn a high school diploma.
• The academy also is available to home-schooled students and students who have been involved with the courts.
• Call (810) 364-1362 for more information.