The Westfield Public School District was one of seven districts in the Commonwealth that started a virtual school in the fall, taking advantage of a law that had been on the books for a number of years allowing for the establishment of single district virtual schools. The other towns that opened virtual schools this year included Springfield, Pittsfield, Peabody, Attleboro, Chelsea and Brockton.
Prior to the pandemic, no district in the state was taking advantage of the opportunity until funding became available through ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund), which in Westfield is paying the salaries for the principal, teachers, secretary, nurse and for supplies for the Virtual School.
There are two Commonwealth-run virtual schools, Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School which initially opened in 2010, starting as a single district school, and Tec Connections Academy which opened in 2014. Commonwealth schools are allowed to enroll anyone in the state, whereas single district virtual schools can only accept students from their district.
While the other districts that opened virtual schools last fall serve kindergarten through twelfth grade, the Westfield Virtual School opened with 100 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. However, Westfield is now talking about expanding to add grades 9 through 12 for the 2022-23 school year.
Enrollment at the Westfield K-8 school has been steady, according to WPS Director of Curriculum and Instruction Susan Dargie.
“We’ve hovered around 100. We may have had a few more than that. Just like the brick-and-mortar schools, some students are new, some have left. Enrollment has been pretty stable since it started,” she said.
“It’s going well. It’s a year of growth. We have regular meetings at regular times where we discuss things like enrollment, and the best way to provide special education and English language learner services. Like with anything new, you anticipate certain needs and others need to be addressed as they arise and work through them. We have successful students and satisfied families and successful educators. Yes, I would say it’s going well,” Dargie said.
“We’re committed to continuing the virtual school as long as we have parents and families that want to do remote learning. We know that we have students that prefer to learn virtually, and we want to keep meeting the needs of our students as long as the need exists,” said Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski. “If interest wanes, we’ll address that. Right now, we have steady interest, and we’re looking to expand it to grades 9 to 12 next year.”
Dargie said among the initial applicants last summer were some students who were medically compromised, and others from families that were concerned about COVID-19. Another reason was because the child had done well in the remote learning environment.
Dargie said enrollment is higher in the upper grades at the Westfield Virtual School than at the elementary level, with about half as many students in kindergarten through fourth as there are in the fifth to eighth grades. She said next year, while the district had previously committed to expanding the school to ninth grade to allow students in eighth grade who wished to continue with the school, they are now looking to add ninth through twelfth.
“We are planning to expand the virtual school. We have had more recent conversations about opening it fully through grade 12 next year, to open this opportunity up to all students in the district,” Dargie said.
Czaporowski said there are different reasons why people want to add grades 9 to 12 next year, and they’re not necessarily related to COVID. He said the high school program will be a mix of learning directly from teachers and self-paced Edgenuity classes and electives. He said core subjects including English, science, math and social studies will be taught by a WPS teacher.
The high school hours of 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. provide students the flexibility for internships, job shadows, and college courses, and the district would continue those services for students in the Virtual School. Czaporowski said there would still have to be an adult that’s willing to work with the students at home and monitor their progress, a requirement for all students in the school.
Dargie said the Virtual School could work for some students in their junior or senior year. “There are students at the high school for whom this is a good fit because of other things they’re doing, such as dual enrollment. They may only have a few credits to complete at the high school and might choose to do those in a remote environment,” she added.
She said administrators are working with the Virtual School Principal Thomas Osborn and his team on the plan, which will have to be voted on by the School Committee.
“Once we make our decision whether to expand to grade 9 or to grade 12, the School Committee has the authority to approve or to not approve. If we’re changing our configuration, we need a vote by the School Committee,” Dargie said.
Dargie said the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has been very supportive, offering guidance at monthly meetings facilitated by a consultant for the virtual schools and at office hours that principals and administrators can attend. “As for accountability, DESE will be looking at our MCAS scores. We’ll be able to see the success of students in grades 3 to 8 compared to peers,” she said.
“Because it is different, it is reasonable to check in with parents about their intentions to continue with their children at the school. We’re also looking at high school students and parents and looking at their interest for next year. We have 20 eighth graders who will either stay in or go to high school,” she added.
Dargie said that while the COVID situation has changed, it also hasn’t. She said one of the advantages of the Virtual School has been the continuity of learning; not worrying about the need to quarantine for five days due to close contacts, waiting on test and stay results, and wearing masks. “For some kids, it is good,” she said.
“Let’s say COVID goes away completely for next year; maybe the vast majority of kids will want to go back to school. We don’t know yet. It’s hard to gauge right now where peoples’ interests are. We will be sitting down to determine what we want as far as guidelines, what we can put in place and what we want to add. If it doesn’t make sense or there is little interest, we may not move forward [with the expansion],” Czaporowski said.
Dargie and Czaporowski said the district is committed to the Virtual School. “We are planning for next year. We have said from the beginning that we’re going to do this for the three years of ESSER funding. That will determine sustainability; where we are at the end of those three years will determine the future,” Dargie said.
“We are feeling like we made a good decision to offer this option to our students and families. Our goal is to have Westfield students in our public schools and to keep them in their community. We have established a new school community that is positive and is helping kids be successful,” she added.