ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — It’s been three years since Colorado students ended the 2019-2020 school year at home on computers, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close. While most students have returned to traditional brick and mortar schools since then, Adam 12 is seeing strong interest in its Five Star Online Academy.
Principal Adria Moersen said the school is even expanding to a new building for the next school year.
“What we found is that there is a core group of families and students and teachers who are really passionate about online learning,” Moersen said.
Five Star Online Academy opened in the fall of 2021, well after the pandemic began, so there was no longer a need for social distancing. In-person days have been a big part of the model. Students have the option of coming to school a few days a week for group activities or projects, and FaceTime with teachers.
On fully online days, students have Zoom classes and asynchronous time to work at their own pace. Ninth-grader Scarlett White said she likes the flexibility.
“I feel like people automatically assume you’re trapped in your room all day, on a computer in your bed, but in reality it's not like that,” she said.
White said she knows of many students, like herself, who chose online school to get away from a negative situation at their traditional school. Sixth-grader Florah Herrera said there were distractions like smoking and vaping and other behavior issues at her previous school.
“Online isn't where I want to be away from people. It's just it's a safer environment for me,” she said.
Other districts in Colorado expanded online programs after the pandemic, but enrollment has declined. Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools are ending their elementary online programs after this school year. JeffCo Public Schools and Douglas County School District are continuing their online programs for K-12 students. A spokesperson for Douglas County said 781 students are enrolled in eDCSD, which is a little over 1% of students in the district.
One aspect that may keep online schools going into the future is that teachers seem to like it.
Five Star Online Academy has been fully staffed this entire school year. High school English teacher Kara Highfill works from home three days per week.
“Online offers that ability to be more flexible and get more of what you look for as a teacher — that ability to help students on an individual basis that you don't necessarily get when you're in person,” Highfill said.
Moersen said this version of online school doesn’t look anything like the early days of the pandemic. The school has just been approved as a multi-district online school so it will be open to any student K-12 in Colorado for the 2023-2024 school year.
“We really have the opportunity to partner to be thoughtful and to get students and teachers who were choosing to be here. That really makes us such a thriving community,” Moersen said.
