Happy February!
This month has been an exciting one for our virtual program, and we’re looking forward to sharing the highlights with you!
To start, Session 2 of our Offerings has officially wrapped up! Over the past six weeks, students explored an incredible variety of classes, from Animation and Electronic Music Making to Creative Writing, Furry Animals, American History, and Pop Culture Through Philosophy—just to name a few! Our third and final session of Offerings for the school year begins on April 14th, and we can’t wait to see what new educational experiences our students want to explore! After that session wraps up we’ll be hosting our second Showcase Event, where students will have the opportunity to present everything they’ve worked on.
Last week, one of our staff members, Cassi, led our bi-annual values-setting process during our school meeting. This was a chance for students to reflect on what aspects of our school community matter most to them. It was so amazing hearing from students what they love about the school and the things they think are important to our community. The top three values chosen by our students were acceptance, autonomy, and kindness!
Meanwhile, two of our virtual staff members, Pat and Lexie, hosted our sixth Parent Circle of the school year. Our discussions with parents often align with the group advising topics we explore with students. This month’s theme was the “Flow State”—a mental state where a person is fully immersed and completely engaged in an activity. We asked parents if they had ever experienced this feeling and invited them to share examples, such as getting lost in a book, working on an art project, writing, or watching an engaging movie. The conversation was lively, and we’re looking forward to our next Parent Circle!
We also hosted our fifth Staff Values Discussion, focusing on ways to support students who wholeheartedly embrace self-direction but find it challenging to build relationships in the virtual community. While being part of a virtual community has its advantages, it also presents unique obstacles. It’s important to have ongoing conversations about how to make this educational experience meaningful and effective for our students!
As we begin preparations for our third Camp IRL event, we recently hosted a student and parent info session. Camp In Real Life is an exciting opportunity for our virtual students to spend a week at our in-person program in Orange County, California! Last year, we welcomed 17 virtual students, and it was an unforgettable experience. Our students engaged in many fun activities on and off campus, and we can’t wait to make even more memories this year!
In addition to Camp IRL happening in June, we will also be celebrating a major milestone for some of our students—graduation! As part of the Diploma Program, students write a Story reflecting on their educational journey, which they will share with the community at the ceremony. To support them, we recently introduced a Diploma Story Writing activity to help guide them through this meaningful project.
On the creative side, our Yearbook Committee has started the process of designing pages and collecting photos! The yearbook is a true group effort, with students and staff contributing their creativity and imagination to shape how it looks and comes together.
Finally, we wanted to highlight some of the amazing travel adventures our students embarked on this past month! One of the greatest benefits of a virtual self-directed program is the flexibility to learn from anywhere; we believe world-schooling is an incredible educational experience and love hearing all the fun things students did while they were away. In February, our students took trips near and far including a birthday trip to Great Wolf Lodge, a fishing trip to Florida, a family reunion ski trip, a birding road trip, and even a trip to Japan!
That’s a wrap for this month’s update—we’ll see you next month with more updates!
