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2015-2015 Annual Report of Progress

POB 1050, 30 Linden Street Exeter, NH 03833

Phone: 603.778.2500

Fax: 866.651.5038 E-Mail: info@vlacs.org

Web: www.vlacs.org

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VLACS ANNUAL REPORT 2014-15

Introduction

VLACS experienced growth on several fronts during the 2014-15 academic and calendar years. The launching of our new website promoting multiple, flexible personalized pathways and offerings has truly turned our mission, “to use the latest technology to provide students with anytime, unlimited access to a rigorous, personalized education that helps students learn today, graduate tomorrow and prepare for the future,” into a more authentic student-centered model.

Additionally, the traditional pathways of courses and competencies, offered since the school’s inception during the 2007-08 academic year, continue to provide for exponential enrollment growth that reached close to 25,000 enrollments at the close of the 2015 calendar year. Within the traditional mode, VLACS now offers a full time option to middle School students, who could be admitted to full time status as of July 2015. To meet this demand, VLACS continues to hire experienced, New Hampshire certified instructors, who additionally need to meet rigorous training standards before enrolling students in their online classrooms.

Beyond the traditional with its new website, VLACS now offers additional opportunities for students to choose from a menu of personalized pathways. The website allows them to identify and choose how they learn best; integrate options that will best serve their learning style; and both develop and show evidence of deeper levels of understanding for the course competencies they must meet to gain credit. New options or pathways include Learning through College, Learning through Projects, and Learning through Experience. We expect to have an additional pathway, Learning through Teams, available over the course of the 2015-16 academic year.

Section I

Progress Toward Achievement of Mission

Our mission is to use the latest technology to provide students with anytime, unlimited access to a rigorous, personalized education that helps them learn today, graduate tomorrow and prepare for the future. Progress made to the extent that we fulfill our mission is measured on an ongoing basis through: student and parent surveys conducted at both the entry and exit points for each enrollment activation and completion; course/competency completion rates; state test and SAT results for our full time students; Advanced Placement test results for all our students; graduation rates; and post graduation pathways our full time students take to measure their college,

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career, and citizenship readiness. We have found at most measurement points used for our annual review signify high levels of satisfaction by all stakeholders; and achievement rates continue to show stability and progress. This is particularly noteworthy for the following reasons:

● As a school we have continually raised expectations for both students and staff. An example of this was raising our competency passing rate to 85% and our student/course completion success rate to 88%. These high expectations were met in the 2013-14 academic year and as a staff we continue to strive to improve to meet a 90% student/course completion success rate.

● Eighty one percent of VLACS students taking the AP test fell into the range of being qualified to receive college credit. This is remarkable because any student who has completed prerequisite courses is eligible to enroll in an AP course at VLACS. Some students taking VLACS AP courses may have not met the prerequisite requirements (e.g., grade point average) for taking an AP course at their home school.

● Similarly, our Early College courses have also experienced exponential enrollment growth; and students taking these courses are completing them at an 87% student success rate, which is consistent with our overall student/ course completion rate. This is particularly noteworthy, because our wide (and growing)selection of dual credit courses are options not available to students in their communities or home schools. Additionally, one of the new pathways launched by VLACS during the 2014-15 academic year, Learning Through College, provides an opportunity for students to earn an associate degree along with their high school diploma.

Progress Toward Academic Goals

Academic goals are measured through widely diverse methods including: standardized testing, course completion/competency proficiency, graduation rates as well as college, career and citizenship readiness. These are all specifically addressed in Section IV of the Annual Report. In addition to these measures, VLACS surveys students to determine multiple factors that contribute to students’ academic success; ranging from the registration process and accessing the course, to the quality of the course and instructional support they experienced. Our surveys for both students and parents are designed to determine that goals are being met to:

● Provide access to courses by students through a device connected to the Internet from any location

● Ensure that student/parent relationships with instructors are being met ● Ensure that courses /pathways offered are equally or more challenging and

engaging than those experienced at their brick and mortar schools.

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The 2014-15 survey results, notations & comments below represents those selected survey responses previously reported out on our Annual Reports, and best represent the feedback we are seeking to best determine whether VLACS is meeting its stated goal and threshold for providing students the conditions to best determine their success.

Survey results indicate that students are accessing our courses both through high-speed connections and a variety of devices, and that the registration process is easy or very easy for 94% of our students.

Cable/Modem DSL Satellite/Cellular Network

School’s Network Don’t Know

35% 10% 10% 2% 43%

Very Easy Easy Difficult Very Difficult

Online Registration Process 33% 61% 6% <1% Accessing VLACS Courses 66% 31% 3% 0%

1. Based on survey results, students taking a VLACS course, indicate they preferred VLACS courses equally or better at a rate of 69% compared to courses taken elsewhere. It is interesting to note that VLACS Partnership with all New Hampshire public high schools has increased blended opportunities available to students in brick and mortar schools. This likely provides better access to technology at physical school sites, as well as the support options (academic help desk, tech help desk, etc) VLACS provides

Student Survey

Preferred VLACS course

Somewhat Prefers a VLACS Course

Liked Both Equally

Somewhat Prefers a Physical School Course

Preferred School Courses

Not Sure

Students Enrolled in NH Schools

30% 13% 26% 12% 14% 4%

Parent Survey Prefers a VLACS course

Somewhat Prefers a VLACS Course

Likes Both Equally

Somewhat Prefers a Physical School Course

Prefers a Physical School course

Not Sure

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My child has completed a middle or high school course & he/she

17% 13% 44% 12% 14% Question not posed to parents

When asked if VLACS courses were easier or harder than traditional high school courses, 63% of students responded that they were as hard or harder, while 86% of parents indicated that they thought courses were as hard or harder than traditional high school courses. While the results of this survey question is trending toward a bit easier for students (by 4% from 2013-14), it should be noted that with increased enrollments each year, we have more students at this point who are more experienced online learners, both by taking multiple VLACS courses and an increased use of blended learning opportunities at their home schools.

Student Survey

Much Harder

Harder Equal Easier Much Easier Don’t Know

Students Enrolled in NH Schools

6% 25% 32% 22% 12% 3%

Parent Survey Much Harder

Somewhat Harder

Same Somewhat Easier

Easier

Compared to a traditional school, a VLACS course was…

7% 27% 52% 12% 2%

Communication with the instructor remains consistently high and still continues to improve with 92% of students indicating that the quality of their communication with their instructor was excellent or good.

Student Survey Excellent Good Fair Poor Compared to a traditional school, a VLACS course was…

62% 30% 6% 2%

93% of responding parents believe that communication between both their child or themselves, and the VLACS teacher was good to excellent.

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Parent survey Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor Communication with instructor

49% 29% 15% 5% 2%

Additional data points gathered to support the quality of instruction beyond communication was to determine satisfaction with the instructor’s encouragement with their child and the instructor’s knowledge of the course and subject area. These areas continue to be viewed as a strength by parents, and we feel they are also critical success indicators for the increasingly high student success rate/course completions that VLACS experiences.

Parent survey Strongly Agree

Agree Neither Agree or Disagree

Disagree Strongly Disagree

Instructor was Helpful & Encouraging

58% 32% 7% 2% 1%

Parent Survey Strongly Agree

Agree Neither Agree or Disagree

Disagree Strongly Disagree

Instructor was Knowledgeable about Course & Subject

60% 32% 7% <1% <1%

Parents continue to exceed our survey benchmarks when asked about their son /daughter taking additional VLACS courses, or recommending VLACS to other parents. The survey indicated that:

1. Eighty-eight percent of responding parents would encourage their child(ren) to take another VLACS course.

2. Ninety- three percent of responding parents would recommend VLACS to other parents.

Individual parent comments left as part of the survey process appear at the conclusion of this report following the question regarding ‘parent satisfaction.’

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Progress Toward Programmatic Goals

In our most recent application for Charter Renewal in September 2012, we wrote:

Program development and budgetary decisions using public funds are focused on what will best meet a variety of student needs ranging from a small rural school with limited options; to home school students needing more opportunities for challenges; to the student who can’t attend school because of health or parenting issues; and finally for those students who are at risk for dropping out of school or need an alternative in order to stay in school. Affordable student-centered courses and programming has resulted in a full range of learning options that include:

● Extensive selection of courses and development of course competencies that have provided equal access to comprehensive academic options for all New Hampshire students, regardless of the economic ability of their local community to provide those options.

● Personalized student learning pathways with acceleration and credit recovery options to build career readiness; allowing more students to graduate on time and take advantage of internships and extended learning opportunities

To these ends, VLACS continues to evolve. VLACS successful execution of a Next Generation Learning Challenge grant resulted in the launching of a new learning model, website, and technology infrastructure, which in the online world can be the equivalent of building a new school. Our programs continue to support traditional needs of students and New Hampshire schools through the increasing number of core, elective, Advanced Placement, and Early College courses. Students continue to use these options in greater numbers; and schools have integrated greater flexibilities into their programs as a result of these options and VLACS’ dependability to have courses available at the point of student need.

Newly launched and available to students during the 2014-15 academic year was the aforementioned Learning through College Pathway that allows students an opportunity to leverage the Early College courses they take into an associates degree. The grant that allowed VLACS to develop the Learning Through College Pathway, has also helped fund development of additional pathways (Learning Through Projects & Learning Through Experience) that are becoming available during the 2015-16 academic year. These pathways, along with Learning Through Teams, currently under development, provide a student-centered program platform that provides options for individualizing and personalizing the student learning experience. Traditional courses remain available, but all pathways are competency based, allowing students to combine competencies from any of the pathways to earn a traditional high school credit that can be viewed on a student transcript.

Middle School course programming continues to expand, and enrollments also continue to accelerate. As of July, 2015, VLACS provided a full time middle school programming

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that mirrors our high school program in that it is competency based; has an advisory and full guidance services for students; and allows the flexibility of time/pace and place that many of our full time students experience. Our experience with middle school students indicates that the built in flexibilities of online learning provides deeper understanding and allowances for acceleration when appropriate. VLACS full time middle school students will also be taking all state mandated tests beginning with the 2015-16 academic year. As of the start of the 2015 -6 academic year, VLACS had 38 middle school students enrolled on a full time basis, and 1,291 part-time elementary and middle school students enrolled in courses.

New programming, pathways, and options; a new website launch; and continued increasing enrollments has also lead to increased service needs for all stakeholders to ensure continued student success. All programs continue to be supported by academic help desks manned by certified instructors throughout the week, especially when a student’s assigned part time instructor might not be available. VLACS also continues to maintain technical help desk that has increased staffing to meet student demand. In addition to the support systems already in place, VLACS has instituted a tutorial option where instructors can recommend a student receive specific help and needed support from Skills Coaches, specific to a competency area or key understanding that an individual student may be struggling with.

Guidance continues to grow its programming to support full time students by connecting course/pathway competencies to college, career and citizenship readiness competencies established through the school’s Advisory Program for full time students, which has now been extended to full time middle school students. Each full time student is assigned an advisor, and the programs are elaborated on in Section III of this Annual Report. Additionally, Guidance has continued to grow its Student Center online, which can be accessed by all students. Once in the Student Center, they can access both help desks; additional student resources like help videos, resource and homework sites, school policies, etc.; and a page to join online clubs, including Digital Photography, Music, and Book Clubs.

Progress Toward Organizational Goals

The aforementioned Programmatic Goals being advanced has resulted in the evolvement of student, instructor, parent, and partner school supports that primarily address the increased need for customer service to help navigate through the new website; and professional support to effectively communicate new pathways (Projects, Experiences, Teams, and Early College) available to students in addition to traditional courses. Further, competencies are built into all pathway options, allowing students to select increments from each individual pathway to combine into the equivalent of a course credit that is traditionally viewed on a student transcript.

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VLACS has effectively utilized student, parent and instructor surveys to provide feedback to inform us of areas that are both working well and are in need of additional support(s). In an effort to track the effectiveness of our communication with students and parents connected to current and new programming, we have also expanded and tweaked the survey questions to monitor the quality of our customer service and professional development for all staff. The results of the surveys are one of the factors for deciding where to focus our professional development efforts at monthly meetings for office and full time staff; quarterly meetings for instructional staff; and our annual two-day Aspire Conference for all staff.

Examples of some of our customer service survey questions and results follow:

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Student Communication with Guidance,Admissions,

Technical,etc.

47% 35% 13% 6% 1%

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Parent Communication with Guidance,Admissions,

Technical,etc.

49% 35% 11% 3% 2%

As an organization, VLACS continues to recognize that a large part of helping students succeed is constantly evaluating our communication with NH schools, since the largest percentage of our students enrolled in our courses also attend their local schools. We continue to enroll large numbers of part time students from New Hampshire elementary, middle and high schools; and every public high school in New Hampshire and a majority of middle schools now partner with us. We continue to hold Partnership trainings for schools on a regular basis on-site in Exeter, and also conduct virtual trainings and updates each month that all stakeholders (both current and future students & parents, as well as partner schools) can attend. With our new course/pathway offerings and the launching of our new website, it has been especially important to create systems for proactively communicating, and to help meet our customer service expectations we have:

● Reached out with phone communication to key personnel at each individual partner school following the launching of our new website to inquire what

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clarification, training or assistance might be needed to navigate the website and/or course/pathway options.

● Assigned liaisons to check in with NH schools establishing blended learning labs, allowing those schools to build in increasing flexible options for students.

● Conducted monthly Virtual Open Houses for students, parents, partner schools.

● Developed specific Literature for schools to clarify roles schools and parents play with VLACS and enrolled students to better delineate between partner schools and VLACS regarding the student/parent/school relationship

● Sent out regularly scheduled informational newsletters to update important information, changes and updates or reminders to targeted audiences, including parents and partner schools.

Section II

Responsible Use of Public Funds

Based on annual independent auditor’s reports, Board of Trustees’ policies, and meeting minutes there is sufficient evidence to prove that the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School is using public funds responsibly.

Quarterly Financial Reports

VLACS continues to employ a Chief Financial Officer and produces quarterly reports. The reports are reviewed by both the CEO and the Board of Trustees; and submitted to the NHDOE as required.

Purchasing and Billing Practices Meet Acceptable Standards for Public School Accounting

Purchasing and billing practices are governed by Board of Trustees policies and have been reviewed by an independent auditor.

Trustee’s Minutes Indicate Clear Communication of Accurate Information About the School’s Accounting and Financial Condition

Each meeting of the Board of Trustees includes the following financial information:

1. Trustees review all financial statements from the months prior to the meeting. Additional information regarding any financial transaction is provided to Trustees,

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upon request. VLACS administrators answer all questions regarding the financial statements.

2. At least five members of the Board of Trustees sign two copies of each month’s Detail General Ledger, which is a record of all financial transactions.

3. The Board of Trustees approves an annual budget in May/June of each fiscal year.

4. The Trustees meet five times a year and the all agendas include budget reviews. All Trustee meeting minutes can be found at http://vlacs.org/about-vlacs/board-meeting-info/

Annual Audit A copy of our most recent annual independent audit management letter follows:

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Section III

Promoting Student Attainment of Expected Knowledge and Skills

VLACS continues to utilize assessment data and measure student attainment of expected knowledge and skills across a broad spectrum; ranging from a number of standardized tests to individual course competencies requiring all students to demonstrate a level of understanding at 85% or better. All assessment results, formative, summative, and alternative, aligns with the goal that students are college, career, and citizenship ready post graduation.

To meet this goal, VLACS measures student understanding well beyond the traditional, standard methods, by offering personalized, student-centered learning pathways that allows students to fulfill and demonstrate understanding of essential knowledge and skills in a manner best suited to their learning style. Those standardized and variable results follow below

Are students meeting proficiency standards as measured by state assessments?

VLACS has the flexibility and capacity to admit full-time students on a rolling admissions basis, and this can present challenges given the fixed timing and conditions standardized testing can present. For example, during the Smarter Balanced testing period, VLACS provides satellite testing locations throughout the state that requires students to travel and take tests in unfamiliar settings on unfamiliar equipment. Despite these challenges, our students continue to be consistently at or exceeding state averages. Additionally, when indexed for achievement level and college readiness, VLACS students exceeded the NH state averages in Math (37% to 36%) and English Language Arts (89% to 59%)

In next year’s 2015-16 report, we will also be including middle school results since began admitting full-time middle school students in July of 2015. Currently for high school students, we track the time a student has been enrolled in our classes on a full time basis to better assess the impact our instruction has over the length of time a student is enrolled. Additionally, SAT scores for our full time high school students are included in this section, since those scores will be the basis of comparison as of the 2015-16 academic year.

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2014-15 Smarter Balance Results for VLACS High School Students:

VLACS Scaled ELA/Literacy Score-2663/New Hampshire Scaled ELA/Literacy Score-2599

ELA Scores by Period of Student Enrollment

Less than 6 Months

7-12 Months 13-18 Months 19 Months or more

4= Proficient with Distinction

1 2 1 3

3 =Proficient 4 3 1 6 2= Partially Proficient 0 0 0 3 1=Substantially Below Proficient

0 0 0 0

VLACS Scaled Math Score- 2614/New Hampshire Scaled Math Score- 2581

Math Scores by Period of Student Enrollment

Less than 6 Months

7-12 Months

13-18 Months

19 Months or more

4= Proficient with Distinction

0 0 1 2

3 =Proficient 1 2 1 4 2= Partially Proficient 5 4 1 5 1=Substantially Below Proficient

0 0 0 4

While the 2014-15 SAT results don’t fall under state assessments, they will be the state assessment given to all NH grade 11 students beginning in the spring 2016. SAT results continue to be close to or exceed the state average.

SAT Results: 2013-14

VLACS Average Score State Average Math 562 531 Critical Reading 573 499 Writing 527 482

SAT Results: 2014-15

VLACS Average Score State Average Math 506 513 Critical Reading 535 497 Writing 506 511

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Are students meeting reasonably defined measures of proficiency? VLACS continues to employ a wide selection of resources to measure student progress, understanding and proficiency. Recently launched Personalized Pathways have substantially increased resources to provide additional methods for students to demonstrate understanding of competencies. A core standard for measuring proficiency remains the requirement that all students must meet individual competencies for all pathways/courses with a grade of 85% or better in order to earn credit. With students meeting competency expectations at a Student Success Rate (SSR) rate currently at 89%, which is exceptional for a virtual school; it is fair to claim that VLACS students are meeting “reasonably defined measures of proficiency.”

One of the Personalized Pathways available to students during the earlier stages of the 2014-15 academic year was Learning Through College (LTC), which was an expansion of our Early College course program. Dual high school and college credit courses have been available through VLACS and the Community College System of NH (CCSNH)/eStart since the 2008-09 academic year. Additionally, dual credit offerings also became available through Southern New Hampshire University(SNHU) during the 2010-11 academic year. LTC provides students with a pathway to earn an associate's degree through SNHU along with their high school diploma. The chart below provides a snapshot of the success or students have had taking Early College courses. It is interesting to note that the student success rate, while slightly lower, is consistent with all VLACS courses and quite exceptional for Early College courses taken online by high school students..

2014-2015 2008-2014

CCSNH/eStart 309 1081

SNHU 200 239(2010-14)

Total Dual Credit Enrollments 509 1320

Total Passed & Completed 442 1151

Percentage Passed & Completed 87% 87%

Are students making progress toward meeting state proficiency standards?

VLACS students certainly meet and exceed state proficiency standards when viewing standardized test scores and other standards of measurement. Regarding dropout and

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graduation rates, VLACS continues to make progress, and it is critical to understand the variables that impact the VLACS rate compared to traditional schools.

Over the past two years, VLACS dropout rate has been cut in half, dropping from 3.79% for the 2012-13 academic year to 1.87% in 2014-15. It is important to note that our largest cohort in the high school dropout category are those students in the 18 to 20 year old range, who have previously dropped out of school, returning to VLACS as an option; or were on the verge of dropping out from their local schools as a soon to be 18 year old student. We have addressed the more unique needs of this cohort in our Advisory Program, and it has made a difference. The new learning pathways that allow for Learning Through Projects and Learning Through Experience should also impact in lowering dropout rates going forward.

The high school graduation rate also needs to be viewed differently from the traditional brick and mortar school that is measured by whether a student graduates over a four-year period. VLACS is a competency-based program where students must demonstrate understanding at 85% proficiency or better before getting credit. While some students can accelerate their pace with the built in flexibilities, many students also take longer. This can result in our full time students exceeding the four-year metric used when determining graduation rate. However, it should be noted that no matter how long a student takes to finish graduation credit requirements, the state reimbursement to VLACS will equate to four years or for just credits earned. In a traditional school, if a student takes 5 years to graduate, for example, the district will receive 5 years of state reimbursement; essentially receiving reimbursement for seat time along with earned and unearned credits.

VLACS had 198 enrolled full time students during the 2014-15 academic year with 46 graduating seniors, including one out of state students. Eleven of our graduates received New Hampshire Scholar status. Our full-time students are finding that VLACS can be a benefit to both gaining admittance to college as well as prepare them for handling the demands of blended learning expectations and online platforms they will experience once in college. This year we had students accepted to both Harvard and Dartmouth, and our graduates continue to give us feedback indicating their VLACS coursework prepared them well for meeting college academic demands. Proficiency for VLACS is that all students are college, career and citizenship ready. Over 70% of our 2015 graduating class are enrolled in a 4 or 2 year college, and a list of colleges where VLACS graduates were accepted are listed below:

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● University of New Hampshire ● University of Maine ● UMass- Amherst ● University of Connecticut ● University of Colorado- Denver ● Plymouth State University(2) ● Keene State College(2) ● Southern New Hampshire Univ.(2) ● Rivier University ● New England College(2) ● Springfield College ● Green Mountain College ● Champlain College ● New England Institute of Technology ● Mass. College of Pharmacy(MCHPS) ● Bay Path University (2) ● Lakes Region Community College ● Manchester NH Community College ● New Hampshire Technical Institute

● Dartmouth ● Harvard ● Brandeis ● Lesley ● Simmons ● Franklin Pierce(2) ● St. Anselm(2) ● Hofstra ● Johnson & Wales ● Mount Ida College ● Mount Holyoke College ● Morrisville State College ● Nazareth College ● Quinnipiac University ● Roger Williams University ● Mount St. Mary’s University ● Cazenovia College ● Savannah College of Art & Design ● International Harp Therapy Program

It is important to note that over 60 students indicated through their guidance counselors and advisors that they were preparing to graduate and participate in VLACS’ June graduation ceremony. Forty-six met the requirement in time to meet the NHDOE cut-off date for purposes of reporting numbers of graduates for the 2014-15 academic year. However, in keeping with VLACS anytime, any pace competency based opportunities, some of those seniors completed requirements in early July. It is still timely to meet post graduation plans and insures that all graduates are given the time needed to demonstrate the required understanding of all competencies rather than narrowing the time for completing work to meet a specific date. While the VLACS graduation occurs for all students each June, there are students who finish requirements well ahead of the graduation date; and students who need some extended time beyond that date. All students have an opportunity to participate in the graduation ceremony if they choose.

Are students making progress toward any non-academic goals established within its Charter?

College, Career, and Citizenship readiness has been highlighted in several areas of this report, and the non-academic/non-measured supports in place to ensure a level of readiness to succeed for our students can best be seen through the expectations they must meet each year up through our Advisory Program, which is closely tied to academic success. In addition to advisory, VLACS continues to expand clubs, forums, and Student Center enhancements to provide and encourage opportunities for students to participate in online interactions with each other.

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Some of the Advisory goals students must meet include:

● Development of a College, Career and Citizenship Ready Plan(C3 Plan)with specific goals that must be met each year.

● Advisory competencies are in place that include reflective components that are processed with the student, advisor and parent

● Community service and job shadow/internship experiences are expectations integrated into the competencies that must be met

● An exit process/experience is held for graduating seniors, which includes a Discussion Based Assessment and opportunity to reflect on their VLACS experience and potential possibilities for application post graduation.

There have been some remarkable student stories over the past few years of internship, job shadow, and community service activities, including the 2014-15 academic year. As Advisors meet with students and parents each year, some interesting student experiences emerge that sometimes connect competency achievement with internships and community service. Examples of those stories include:

● A student joined her small town volunteer fire department and ultimately was the only female in the department. She learned what it was like to be a first responder and began training and gaining an understanding for what was needed to become an EMT. She had no specific post graduation plans prior to the experience, but indicated that she’d like to pursue a career as an EMT.

● Two students shared experiences of volunteering initially with 2016 political campaigns. One of the students moved into an internship role after volunteering, fulfilling some of her American Government course requirements.

● A student who thought she wanted to go into a physical therapy career, did a job shadow with an Occupational Therapy Assistant in both a hospital and school setting. She was able to see various therapy implementations and also the coordination needed with school teams. In reflection, she indicated that the experience gave her pause for whether she’d be a match for such a position, but at least take high school courses that would prepare for related fields for her college major.

● Another job shadow included a student who connected with the Catholic Medical Center’s Special Care Nursery. She experienced the processes leading up to

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deliveries as well as treatments required for both sick and premature babies. She indicated that the experience helped her clarify her interest in being a pediatric nurse, as well as what background, education and training would be needed.

● A student, who interned at his local library, indicated that he discovered the community benefits and help it provides to people in the community. He chose working in a library because of a curiosity for what working in a library would be like. His work included shelving books, entering and managing data, and assisting at the desk. In his reflection, he indicated that the experience peaked his interest in perhaps becoming a librarian, but he wanted to continue his work there to get a better sense of the possibilities.

Section IV School Sustainability

Does the school’s governing board function effectively and in accordance with public meeting laws?

Yes. The school’s Board of Trustees meets on a regular basis and follows all public meeting laws and regulations. All school policies are available on the school’s website. Board of Trustee meeting minutes can be found at http://vlacs.org/about-vlacs/board-meeting-info/

Has the school established systems to manage operations efficiently?

Yes. The school has employed certified administrators and sufficient support staff to manage all school activities. Furthermore, the Board of Trustees adopted policies that guide the administration in the management of all schools operations including finance, personnel, and instruction; including the hiring of additional administrative and instructional staff as enrollments increase. These policies were reviewed and affirmed as part of our last charter renewal process in the fall of 2012 and subsequent visitation team report.

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Are systems in place to assure instructional quality?

Yes. There are two documents which are used as guides to assure instructional quality: (1) Instructor Phases of Development, and (2) Instructional Standards and Expectations. Instructors proceed through four phases of development during their VLACS career beginning with the hiring process; and then as an inductee, completing the process as a certified online instructor. Certified online instructors may also aspire to move through an additional phase where they can earn master instructor status. Throughout the development process, instructors are provided with support through mentors, peer coaches, and professional development activities. The instructional standards and expectations are used to guide inductees and mentors through the initial training process.

The same instructional standards and expectations are then used as the focal point of the instructor evaluation process. Classroom walkthroughs are conducted by VLACS administrators to document that instructional standards and expectations are being met. It should be noted that as the need to hire more instructors increases due to rising enrollments, increased administrative support is also provided to allow for the quality time needed for evaluation cycle to occur, appropriate discussions to meet specific needs to take place, and appropriate professional development programming to be developed. Targeted professional development opportunities are constantly evolving to meet specific improvement needs identified through the evaluation process; train instructors in technology updates or new programs that impact teaching and learning; and provide informal online opportunities for instructors to meet for support and sharing ideas.

In addition to these processes and documents, the VLACS administrative staff prides itself on providing the necessary supports to assist instructors in their work; including an annual Instructors Conference held in Exeter that is used for orienting staff to new technologies and policies along with the available follow up professional development to provide support. Frequent communication between instructors and the VLACS administrative office is regularly encouraged along with required quarterly staff meetings held online in the evening.

VLACS continues to operate through a lens of several staff goals and provides support beyond the traditional professional development to address specific individual, cohort, and/or subject area needs at the point they are needed. Because of our online environment capabilities and the relational professional trust we have nurtured since our inception, instructors generally can have concerns addressed by office staff or other instructors at the point of need. To this end, VLACS focuses on two critical survey

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questions(noted below) that are annually asked of instructors that help us understand if our Professional development and instructional support goals are being met.

Goal 1: VLACS staff members will indicate on an annual survey that they are provided with the necessary professional development opportunities to advance their skills and understanding of the methods for delivering and supporting learning using distance learning technologies. VLACS personalizes learning for both students and adults, and over 90% of VLACS staff members continue to indicate that they are fully provided with the necessary professional development opportunities to advance their skills and understanding of the methods for delivering and supporting learning using distance learning technologies. The remaining percentage tends to be from a cohort of newly hired staff with less than a year’s experience and are receiving ongoing training from assigned mentors. VLACS’ rapid enrollment increases have resulted in the hiring of 40 additional instructors, guidance personnel and support staff during the 2014-15 academic year. Instructors have strong mentor support while they begin with a small number of students and get proficient with both the technologies and protocols and expectations for instructor-student relationships and course outcomes.

Additionally, VLACS’ peer coaching program, which has been in place for 6 years, continues to grow its teacher-leaders. The peer coaching program provides instructors with the opportunity to gain mastery in the use of online teaching technologies, as needed. All instructors participate in a self-assessment and administrator led evaluation program on an annual basis. It should also be noted that all staff is surveyed in July of each year to determine specific areas that they feel additional professional development support is needed, and those areas are targeted for specialized training at the 2 day annual instructors’ conference held each August.

Goal 2: VLACS staff members will indicate on an annual survey that they have the necessary resources to support their work with students. The most recent annual instructor survey indicates over 90% of staff members have 100% of the necessary resources to support their students. As noted previously, the remaining percentage consist primarily of newly hired staff and they receive specific personalized support by connecting regularly with their instructional mentors and professional development opportunities available to all staff. Additionally there is anytime, anyplace support available through the school’s professional development page that continues to provide instructors with a single location for accessing courses and for connecting with colleagues to request help or support.

Some sample comments regarding professional development and support from instructors taken from our most recent annual survey follow:

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● I am 5+ weeks into my time as a VLACS faculty member and I have learned a lot! I have dealt with grace period inactivity, and an academic integrity issue. I have sent progress reports and had my first monthly calls. I am learning the ins and outs of genius and how to properly log communications. Thanks to all the staff who have offered me support!

● I appreciate all the time staff takes to support instructors and students in a timely fashion.

● An incredibly supportive group of people! It is awesome to work for people who care and willing to drop everything to take time and help you out.

● EFG(Essential Friends Group) has really helped in learning the ropes at VLACS and other best practices!

● I enjoyed the teenage psychology at ASPIRE-some outside the box topics to mix it up on adolescent student learning. I have always gotten a lot out of EFG and the book clubs-some more book club recommendations and curriculum building.

● We have lot of professional development in the area of technology available to us. There are many resources in Inside and there are also instructor office hours. It's just a matter of having the time to fit everything in. I recently signed up for the free webinars for voice thread and I'm looking forward to using those in the courses.

● At this point there is not more need. As a new instructor, I have felt and found that whenever I have a question, I am able to reach out to anyone and they are all more than willing to help me, or guide me to the correct person to get the help.

Has the school established an appropriate relationship with the local school district(s)?

The previously mentioned Partnership Program provides all NH schools with the opportunity to participate in regularly scheduled training sessions where local school officials learn how the school can support all students. It is interesting to note that when the Partnership Program first began during the 2008-09 academic year, school guidance counselors primarily attended training sessions. Current Partnership sessions often see teams of school personnel including central office/building administration, guidance, special education, blended learning lab facilitators, and technical/technician personnel. Teams attending from schools have greatly advanced the use of flexible scheduling, pace of learning, and blended online options at their schools. The Partnership Program is now connected to all public New Hampshire high schools, along with most middle schools. There are increasing numbers of organizations that support special needs students that also take part in the Partnership Program. Additionally,

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VLACS administrators are available to meet with special education personnel or to attend IEP meetings, as needed.

Are physical facilities safe, clean and suitable for the purposes of the school?

Yes. The school’s offices are located in a building owned by SAU 16, in Exeter, NH. The school district maintains the facilities that meet all local, state, and federal regulations. Due to the unique nature of the school, VLACS does not require traditional building based classrooms. However, there is enough space to both adequately provide office space and face to face professional development and training areas for instructional staff and Partnership Program participants. In addition, this past year, VLACS was able to set up onsite testing areas to accommodate small groups of students needing to access an area for standardized testing because if unavailability of space or resources in their local communities

Is the school emotionally safe for children and adults, free from bullying?

Yes. As an online school, many of the issues that typically plague traditional schools are not an issue. However, there is always the possibility that students could be affected by cyber-bullying or other negative behaviors. As per state law, VLACS is implementing all required changes to the Pupil Safety and Violence Protection Act (RSA 193-F:2) to ensure that students are able to learn in a safe online environment. VLACS has certified guidance counselors on staff who can assist students, instructors, and parents with any concerns. All VLACS personnel and students are required to annually review both bullying policies and bullying/safety issues of which to be aware. Additionally, the school’s partnership with New Hampshire schools and guidance counselors, along with organizations that support children, who are available to assist students with issues related to online learning offer strong supports for students. Furthermore, currently, 100% of VLACS instructors have taken an online sensitivity training on bullying, which is required training before any instructor begins to teach any course. This past summer, all staff received face-to-face training on adolescent issues at our Annual Aspire Conference, which provided increased awareness to trigger points and issues adults could be better aware of as they work with students online.

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Does the school have a viable financial plan to support its program?

Yes. According to an independent auditor’s report, the school continues to maintain a positive balance at the end of each fiscal year. The current funding rate, if adjusted for CPI on a regular basis, will be sufficient to support the school as it continues to grow, and the newly passed biennium budget that runs from July 1, 2015- June 30, 2017 should support New Hampshire enrollment requests. VLACS efforts to launch an adult education program were delayed until early 2016. Adult Education along with possibilities to expand out of state enrollments and pursue available grants that can generate additional revenue all enhances a continued positive outlook for financial viability.

Are there sufficient indications of continuing enrollment to sustain the school’s program?

As previously noted, VLACS has now partnered with all New Hampshire public high schools and a large number of middle schools. As a leader in competency development and the structure of our Learning Pathways built around competencies, schools and individual students are able to access and use our competencies in a variety of ways from traditional courses uses to competency recovery to providing pathways like Learning Through College, Learning Through Projects and Learning Through Experiences for more personalized options for students. The recent launch of our new website, which VLACS has been developing over the past year, further enhances the opportunities and options for “doing school” in a more personalized, student-centered way. Recognition of the construction and delivery of the competency based personalized pathways has ranged from our own NHDOE and State Board to the Next Generation High School Initiative held at the White House in November of 2015.

Prior to the launching of Flexible Learning Pathways, VLACS continued to experience exponential growth since its inception as evidenced by the chart below and has exceeded 22,000 enrollments at the start of the 2015-16 academic year. The charts below show our growth since inception; a breakdown of our enrollments; and the primary reasons students enrolled in VLACS courses. Given the relationship we have with New Hampshire schools, one can see that the indications for sustained enrollments are quite robust.

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Enrollment by Year

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Distribution of Enrollments

As enrollments continue to increase, both students and parents have indicated similar reasons that VLACS is chosen as an option through their survey responses. The primary reasons they identified in the survey include:

● Enrolling in a course to graduate on time. ● Resolving a scheduling conflict with options a student had at their school ● Either to accelerate to get ahead or to retake a course they needed so he/she

wouldn't fall behind ● A course offered at VLACS was not offered at their school or was a personal

preference ● The VLACS course was part of a home school curriculum.

Other reasons ranging from being hospitalized or homebound to being an alternative to dropping out of school or part of a GED program were also noted. The results though

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still point to VLACS being an option to provide more equity for students across New Hampshire to choose educational pathways to both enrich and personalize their school experience; along with options to keep significantly more students on pace to graduate on time. These options continue to help graduation/dropout rates and allow all schools to develop blended options to keep students on an appropriate pace for graduation. Does the school demonstrate an ability to retain skilled and qualified staff? VLACS requires all teachers and administrators to be fully certified and meet highly qualified status as defined by the NHDOE and No Child Left Behind (aka Student Success Act) standards. Additionally, we only hire instructors who have had classroom experience in a face-to-face setting to better insure that they have experience in building the types of relationships needed with students to better facilitate their online learning success. The hiring, training, and retention model we use allows us to hire and modify to instructional/student enrollment needs to align with course/Learning Pathways registrations

Currently, 100% of VLACS instructors and administrators meet highly qualified status. Ninety-seven percent are fully certified, and the remaining 3% are in process of obtaining the necessary documentation for their NH certification, either through Alternative Certification or through the interstate reciprocity agreement.

The degree breakdown for the total of VLACS instructors and administrators follows along with the certification/subject areas for our instructors:

Degree Beyond Masters Master’s Degree Bachelor’s Degree NH Certified

Certification in Progress

6% 62% 32% 97% 3%

Subject No. Instructors

Science 19

Social Studies 23

Mathematics 28

World Language 20

Computers/Technology 13

English 24

Physical &Health Education 20

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The Arts (Music/Art) 8

Guidance 5

Total 160

Do parents report satisfaction with the school in the areas of academic programming, school-family interactions, and accurate and timely communication?

As noted in Section I, VLACS conducts extensive surveys with parents. Additionally, it has been noted throughout this annual report that many supports are in place to communicate with all stakeholders, including parents, partner schools, and organizations that assist our online students in a face to face setting. Those supports include: Face to face and online trainings; online open houses for all stakeholders; regular, periodic newsletters specifically tailored to each stakeholder group; technical and academic help desks that all stakeholders can access; and a well trained customer service oriented office staff that receives regular professional development to better support the ongoing needs of all stakeholders as more options and opportunities become available through VLACS.

We close out the 2014-15 Annual Report with a list of parent comments from our most recent 2015 survey, culled from responses that generated a better than 93% satisfaction rate ranging from good to excellent across a broad range of questions:

● We had some minor technical difficulties, which were quickly resolved. We also had an issue where my daughter requested a high school class in 6th grade. We were quickly contacted by guidance and the individual teacher, who then contacted her public school teacher and guidance counselor and she was allowed to attempt and eventually successfully completed the course.

● They[instructors] were pleasant and very informative. She explained everything about the course and what was expected as well as reassuring us that if my daughter needed help She could always contact her for support

● Whenever we have a technical problem, they respond very quickly and are able to solve the problem. The counselors have proven to be invaluable in helping us determine his path through high school

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● We would just discuss anything during the Discussion-Based Assessments(DBA). My daughter would have a DBA every 1-2 weeks, so we were frequently in touch. I would email the instructor with any questions about progress or anything.

● The teachers are great about getting back to me. They have done everything to make it easier for my daughter to stay on target.

● They have been great since his first course. He has had 3 so far. I feel this approach to learning gives the student a dedicated time with the instructor and without interruptions.

● My daughter has taken several courses and i find all the instructors to be patient and willing to work with our schedule as well as making themselves available often.

● My daughter has 4 courses, 3 teachers and ALL were excellent. explaining of course, going over material during monthly phone calls, answered all questions, very pleasant, helpful & encouraging to continue her good work!

● It was awesome! I think many of her public school teachers could benefit from the way VLACS teachers treated my daughter and myself! They are very positive and helpful. They also are very prompt in getting back to you.

● The course instructors were great, they seemed eager to connect with the students and offer additionally teaching one on one on the phone calls and DBAs

● Awesome! Excellent resource and alternative to public school. Learning is authentic and one on one communication opportunities with adults is invaluable. Access to dual credit courses is excellent preparation for their futures!

● The teachers and staff are very reachable and seem to care about the students. They have flexible hours making easy to set up meetings or DBAs. It's not easy, I actually think it is more difficult then traditional school, but I will say that I'm very much involved in her schoolwork now.

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● As a parent I am so happy to see my daughter go online to do her classes and enjoy doing them. She loves she can work at her own pace, teachers and help desk always available if needed and it has been a true blessing for our family.

● My child was not pressured to complete work on the teacher's schedule. He worked at his own pace and worked around his public school schedule, work and extra curricular activities. I felt that his quality of work was better with VLACS because the student has flexibility to do the work when it fits their schedule and may actually enjoy the class more and learn more.

● The compassion of the ALL the people who work at VLACS shines through when we speak to any member of personnel and that is what makes for a very positive learning experience for both student and parents!