By Gary Keyes, Coordinator Alternative Schools, Lancaster School District
One size fits all is not the mantra of 21st century. Today parents are demanding educational options. The Lancaster School District is proactive in reaching out to these families. The Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academy or “LAVA” is one program that we make available to our community.
LAVA allows tech-savvy learners to access multi-media enriched curriculum. It encourages students to take ownership of their learning while accessing core curriculum. Every subject is delivered online, with support from a fully credentialed teacher. Each online course is an interactive, media-rich experience that engages 21st century learners. The online curriculum is also customizable allowing the teacher to modify lessons to meet the needs of individual learners in order to reach and teach diverse populations of students with distinct needs and learning styles. The LAVA teacher has the ability to accelerate, provide remediation and enrich all curricular areas.
One feature of LAVA that sets it apart from other on-line programs is that students come into a computer lab each day where they work on their lessons for a three-hour block. There is a fully credentialed teacher and a para-educator available for academic support. Students are expected to work an additional 2-3 hours each day at home. The course work is challenging and comprehensive and fully aligned with common core standards.
LAVA serves primarily students in grades 5 – 8, who are looking for an alternative to the traditional school setting. These students include those who are academically advanced and require a more challenging curriculum than is offered on a comprehensive campus; students who are experiencing chronic health conditions that impede their ability to attend a regular class; and students who desire a more sheltered environment than can be offered on a larger campus.
If this sounds like what you have been looking for, come to an open enrollment next month.
The open enrollment meeting for the Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academy (LAVA) will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 10 at 44310 Hardwood Street in Lancaster. Call Gary Keyes at 661-726-5454 or KeyesG@lancsd.org for more information. View a LAVA brochure here.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The AV Times.
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Darius White says
I am curious as to the results of the LAVA experience so far. When the LAVA Academy was introduced around 3 or 4 years ago, I asked about the “target demographics” and issues this program is catered to. The following demographic and issue data is taken from their brochure: 1) Students and parents who are looking for an alternative to the traditional school setting; 2) Students who are academically advanced and require a more challenging curriculum than is offered on a comprehensive campus; 3) Students with chronic health conditions that impede their ability to attend a regular class; and 4) Students who have been unsuccessful academically but have not been found to have a learning disability. At that time, all but one issue already had a program in place to address the specific issue. The one issue that did not have a program in place at that time was item 1: “Students and parents who are looking for an alternative to the traditional school setting.” It’s my opinion that LAVA was created to mainly target this one issue, which I interpreted to mean “students don’t want to go to school, and their parents don’t want to be held accountable for their student being in school.” I also found it interesting that a large uproar from parents being given truancy tickets from LASD for their students not being in school occurred a few months before LAVA was introduced to the community. It seems that the main reason for this program’s creation is to provide yet another excuse for both students who don’t want to go to school and their parents who won’t take the time to ensure that their students are in school. We’ve yet again created another solution for a “symptom” rather than address the “cause”: Parents who don’t want to be bothered with being parents.
Nancy P says
…and I’ll bet the kids still won’t show up for school.