Agora Cyber Charter School

The Agora Cyber Charter School is a US charter school founded in 2006. It is a full-time, online multi-district US charter school, offering tuition-free public education for students across the US state of Pennsylvania.

Two separate programmes are offered: a K-8 one for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and a high school programme for grades nine through twelve. Like many US charter schools, Agora works with a private partner, K-12 Inc; all content comes from K-12.

It had 5000-7,499 FTE enrollments in 2009-10. Although described as an online school, Agora expects that K-8 students will spend no more than 20-25 percent of their time on the computer (see details below).

The Agora Cyber Charter School web site is at http://www.k12.com/agora.

More details

As noted on the Agora web site:

At the Agora Cyber Charter School, all students interact with one or more state-certified teachers (depending on the grade level) and communicate regularly with their teachers through e-mail, telephone, and online meetings. Each Agora family receives a loaner computer and subsidized Internet access, as well as boxes of materials, including a wide array of textbooks, CDs, videos, and other hands-on tools and resources. These materials complement the interactive online elements of our program, ensuring that students receive instruction using the best method for each subject matter... In grades K-8, working closely with the teacher, the parent (or other responsible adult) serves as a "Learning Coach" to the child, helping to facilitate his or her progress and working to modify the pace and schedule as needed. At the high school level the adult is less involved, as students work at more of a collective pace with a class of students in conjunction with the teacher. Each teacher is state certified and trained in his or her specific subject area.

...Throughout the year, students are invited to participate in school gatherings, field trips (e.g., to historical sites, museums, zoos), picnics, and other social events. In select cities across the state students and parents also meet regularly in a school-sponsored location

...All charter school students are eligible to participate in extracurricular activities in their local school district...It is illegal for the school districts where Agora students reside to refuse to allow Agora students to participate in their extracurricular activities.

...On occasion, a teacher may visit you, but it will be announced and scheduled for a mutually agreeable date and time. During the first month of school, you'll receive an initial home visit by your homeroom teacher.

References

• Agora Cyber Charter School web site, http://www.k12.com/agora
• "Keeping Pace With Online Learning: An Annual Review of Policy and Practice". Evergreen Education Group, 2010, http://kpk12.com/reports/

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> United States
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