Ashland High School and other local schools in Ashland have been designing a new platform that accommodates students who struggle in a traditional learning environment and can’t maintain a full schedule on campus. This blended learning program is known as Grizzy On-Line Academy. In the past, Ashland High has not had an alternative for students who do not intend to go to college or for the students who want to study abroad and accelerate their learning. In response to scenarios that are more common than we think they are, Ashland High School is offering students the opportunity to a blended learning program.

Some issues that prevent students from maintaining a full schedule include life circumstances such as working to support family, insecure housing, providing supervision to younger siblings, or being pregnant and becoming a parent. Others may want to accelerate their education or specialize their learning that requires a more personal approach. It has been noted that our schools have been unable to provide satisfactory alternatives for students who need a learning environment off of school campus. It seems that upon the pandemic, our schools began to develop this curriculum to provide more than one educational opportunity to students since it’s clear that’s what the times have been calling for.

Students who wish to take this path for learning would still be required to attend in person, however, the other half of their classes will be online and would be adjusted based on one’s individual needs. Access to special education and 504 services would be made available through the high school as needed. Students would have a required advisory class to attend once a week to keep them updated and connected to the high school while they are away half of the time. Technology support would also be made available to families and teachers through assigned staff to ensure connectivity and access to a device.

As far as curriculum, teachers will be provided with selected tools that allow for a high-quality curriculum that is aligned to CCS. Teams of teachers, admin, and support staff will make the selection to ensure instructional support to the students as needed. There will be support provided by teachers by meeting weekly with the student to review learning progress, goal setting, consulting with home learning coaches, assign district assessments based on the individual’s needs, and help connectivity for the student by providing them multiple opportunities through the school community. The home learning coach will join this same meeting at least once a month to track and report the student’s progress. Educational assistant support would be made available during the school day through zoom calls for students to join similar to Office Hours. These zoom calls offer tutoring and supervision made available to students in need of assistance.

This blended learning program is still in the works and being developed as we speak. This is just a rough outline of what our schools have come up with so far with the intention of accommodating to the needs of specific populations of our students. It’s in Ashland High School’s interest to provide more than one learning opportunity and environment for our students and teachers to ensure the best educational experience there is for everyone. Our school wants everyone to feel that it’s a great day to be a Grizzly!