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Virtual High School

Spring 2007

Virtual High School Global Consortium is the worldwide leader in collaborative online education and professional development.

When our high school opened three years ago, there were only eighteen students and two teachers. Now we have over sixty students and our staff has grown to five full time

high school teachers and numerous elective teachers. Even though we are adding additional face-to-face teachers on campus, VHS is an important part of our elective program. Our students appreciate the range of courses, enjoy the online format, and like being able to interact with students from around the globe.

Founded in 1988, Shekou International School (SIS) in South-ern China is Shenzhen’s oldest international school. Serving over four hundred and twenty-five students, representing thirty-two nationalities, it is the only school in the area fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Students range from nursery school through grade 12.

East Meets West, North and South: A Global Perspective

In this issue

visit: goVHS.org

1 School Showcase

2 From the CEO

3 What’s New

4 CLO’s Message

5 Course Spotlight

6 Site Coordinator Corner

7 Teacher Spotlight

8 VHS at a Glance

Carol Neeland, VHS Site Coordinator, Shekou International School

Senior Erika Rey, VHS Bioethics Symposium student, and sophomore Chan Jeong Park, VHS Preparing for College Admissions and Financial

Aid student discuss VHS questions with Site Coordinator Carol Neeland.

continued on page 4

Our school currently offers two sections of Basic Mandarin Chinese Language and Culture as well as one section of World Conflict: A United Nations Introduction. The Basic Mandarin Chinese course was designed and taught through VHS by one of our Chinese teachers, Doris King. Another of our Chinese teachers, David Dai, subsequently attended the NIM training for the same course and is teaching a second VHS section of it for the first time this year. Arthur Klatt, one of our high school social studies teachers and our Model United Nations (MUN) advisor is teaching the Model U.N. course.

The mission of Shekou International School is to provide a comprehensive and challeng-ing academic program, and to enable students to continue their learning with the knowledge, abilities, and understanding gained from their experience living abroad. VHS helps us achieve our school’s mission in many ways. It helps prepare our students for re-entry into their home countries and for U.S. colleges. Many of our students who are U.S. citizens are required to take U.S. History and U.S. Government. They can take these options through VHS and some of them have even opted to take the AP sections of these VHS courses.

Additionally, our school’s Expected Student Learning Results: effective communication, the ability to demonstrate personal management, work collaboratively, and be complex thinkers, are all reinforced through student participation in VHS courses.

� VHS Network Spring 2007

VHS NetworkLiz Pape, President & CEOSuzanne Harlow, Editor

VHS Network is published biannually to share the successes and collaboration of the VHS community and to promote program expansion through the addition of schools and course offering opportunities.

VHS Network encourages contributions from VHS member schools, teachers, site coordina-tors, and students. Please send your ideas for contributions to:

Suzanne Harlow, Editor sharlow@goVHS.org

978.450.0509

Virtual High School Global Consortium3 Clock Tower Place, Suite 200

Maynard, MA 01754tel 978.897.1900 fax 978.897.9839

goVHS.org

Our MissionThe mission of Virtual High School is to develop and deliver standards-based, student-centered online courses to expand students’ educational opportunities and 21st century skills and to offer professional development to teachers to expand the scope and depth of their instructional skills.

VHS Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded by The Concord Consortium and Hudson Public Schools of Massachusetts.

Copyright©2007 VHS, Inc. All rights reserved. Noncommercial reproduction is encouraged, provided proper credit is given. Virtual High School, VHS and COVE are registered trademarks and NetCourse is a trademark of VHS, Inc.

“The fact is, our young people are woefully under prepared for the demands of today’s workplace.”

– Ken Kay, President of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/).

In past VHS Network newsletters, we’ve discussed how VHS courses are de-signed to foster 21st century skills de-

velopment. The VHS philosophy is that online courses can and should be more than content on a screen. Our courses foster project-based learning and critical think-ing skills and are actually classrooms—but online. VHS course design is constructivist in approach, and includes virtual classroom activities such as online discussions among all students, online team and group proj-ects, and online presentations.

Unique in the Virtual High School Global Consortium model is that our on-line classrooms consist of students from around the world. Students can interact authentically with students from other locations, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. VHS students are given the unique opportunity to participate in vir-tual global classrooms, gaining the global awareness and appreciation that is a criti-cal part of 21st century skills as defined by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

No longer are students only communicat-ing and learning with and from students from their own neighborhood. No longer are students’ world views constrained by their school’s zip code and local culture, and no longer are students taking online courses that offer little beyond content mastery.

“VHS courses let you make friends with people all over the world.”

– Shekou International School student

Global awareness and citizenshipIn this newsletter, we will continue to ex-plore how the VHS Global Consortium of member schools fosters the critical 21st century skill of global awareness and citizenship. Through the offering of our global language course, Basic Mandarin, our course teachers, including those from Shekou International School in China, are working with students all over the world to develop their speaking, writing and lis-tening skills in Mandarin. Meanwhile, administrators from Shekou International School are expanding their membership in VHS as school enrollment grows, using the extensive VHS course catalog to support the school’s mission and growth. Students from Shekou are gaining global awareness skills as they participate in VHS courses

with other students from all over the world. Students in US schools also benefit from Shekou’s students in their VHS courses, as ideas, discussions and opinions are shared in VHS virtual global classrooms.

Virtual High School teachers also have the unique opportunity to share discus-sions and collaborate with their peers from around the world. Nowhere was this more evident than at the Online Learning Confer-ence held this past September, to celebrate Virtual High School’s ten year anniversary. We hope you enjoy reading about this mo-mentous event, described in more detail in our CLO’s Message, in this issue.

One final note. This newsletter, in addi-tion to celebrating our ten-year conference and our global network of schools, also marks a new beginning. Beginning with this newsletter, our new name is Virtual High School Global Consortium. We are unique among the virtual schools, which are generally statewide and state-led initia-tives. VHS Global Consortium is the only virtual school that works with an interna-tional school membership and offers genu-ine opportunities for students to learn in global classrooms—online. VHS Global Consortium leads the way in developing 21st century teaching and learning skills.

from THE CEO Liz Pape, President & CEO

Preparing our Students for Global Citizenship and Competitiveness

Virtual High SchoolGlobal Consortium

www.goVHS.org

goVHS.org 978.897.1900 �What’s New

VHSbelieves…that student-centered online courses can be designed and delivered to students to promote a high quality collaborative learning environment in which student ex-change and interaction is a valued compo-nent of the instructional process.

…that educational opportunity need not be limited by barriers of time and place and lack of qualified faculty. Rather, we believe that high-quality education is possible — today — for all students in all locations. Online education offers any school with Internet connectivity a wealth of trained, experienced faculty mem-bers qualified in numerous disciplines, for teaching a wide array of courses de-signed to meet the needs of all students. An innovative, standards-based curriculum delivered online offers diverse, exciting learning choices for students, and the op-portunity and skills to participate in a na-tional and global community.

…that online teaching should augment rather than replace traditional classroom teaching. Virtual High School online courses are a proven, flexible solution for schools needing an expanded curriculum, teachers seeking new horizons, parents wanting more involvement with their chil-dren’s education, and a society grappling with ways to offer opportunity to all its citizens.

…that the goals of education are ad-vanced best by putting value and service first. When schools work together in a collaborative network such as VHS, they become part of an abundant and gener-ous educational community that promotes the affordable sharing of professional resources.

VHS Veteran Teachers Celebrate Ten Years in Online EducationTen years ago the online education move-ment started with a handful of pioneering educators who saw a need and answered it. Their accomplishments were celebrated at the Advancing Online Learning Con-ference, hosted by Virtual High School (VHS), on September 28-29, 2006. Ten-year VHS veteran educators pictured here with VHS President and CEO, Liz Pape (back row, 2nd from r) and VHS founding Board Member, Sheldon Berman (back row, r) are (back row, l to r) Peggy Collins and Gabriel Cruz, from Hudson High School and (front l to r) Tracy Sheehan, from Westborough High School, Christine Randall, from Marlborough High School and Paul Vital, from Westborough High School.

Team Professional Development Now Available Through Virtual High School!21st Century Teaching Best Practices, for teachers and educators everywhere! Now, all educators can take advantage of the more than ten years of experience VHS offers in preparing classroom teachers to use the Internet to enhance instruction. This four-course series is appropriate for educators with traditional classroom experience, who are interested in adding online components to their classroom instruction. Best Practices courses are available for individual enrollment or for groups of teachers from one district or region. Please contact VHS at 978-897-1900 to learn more.

Referral RewardsReferral Rewards Programs are now available from Virtual High School. Please contact Virtual High School at 978-897-1900 for more information.

goVHS.org 978.897.1900 �

Go for the Gold! Virtual High School Loyalty Program

School Membership

Algonquin Regional High School GoldCollingswood High School GoldForks High School GoldHillside High School GoldHudson High School GoldMarlborough High School GoldWestborough High School GoldAnna High School SilverBishop Fenwick High School SilverChesterfield County Public Schools SilverHolliston High School SilverIpswich High School SilverJefferson Area High School SilverLincoln County High School SilverLowell High School SilverMedfield High School SilverMonroe County Public Schools SilverMt. St. Joseph Academy SilverNantucket High School SilverPope John XXIII High School SilverRidley High School SilverTiffin Columbian High School SilverVilla Rica High School SilverWare County High School SilverWoodsville High School SilverAbington High School Silver

Congratulations to the following Gold (ten-year) and Silver (five-year) VHS member schools. In appreciation of their ongoing support, VHS is offering reduced teacher professional development tuition

fees to schools that have maintained continuous membership in VHS for more than five years. Contact the VHS Office at 978-897-1900 for more details about the VHS Loyalty Program.

School Membership

Archbishop Williams High School SilverAssociacao Escola Graduada de Sao Paulo (Graded) SilverCentral High School SilverClinton High School SilverColegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt SilverColegio Internacional de Puerto La Cruz SilverFontbonne Academy SilverFranklin High School SilverFred T. Foard High School SilverLeicester High School SilverLeland & Gray Union High School SilverMarian High School SilverMariemont High School SilverMaryland School for the Deaf SilverMaynard High School SilverMillis High School SilverNewnan High School SilverNipmuc Regional Middle/ High School SilverNorthbridge High School SilverOrange High School SilverPlymouth High School SilverRound Rock High School SilverSutton Jr./Sr. High School Silver

School Membership

Swampscott High School SilverSwansboro High School SilverTemple High School SilverWareham High School SilverWest Boylston Middle/ High School SilverBlue Mountain Union School SilverBunker Hill High School SilverCharles B. Aycock High School SilverDalat International School SilverEscola Americana de Campinas SilverFluvanna County High School SilverHopkinton High School SilverInternational School of Curitiba SilverLeominster High School SilverNorth Penn High School SilverPerkiomen Valley High School SilverPerquimans County High School SilverQuaboag Regional High School SilverRosewood High School SilverSpring Creek High School SilverSpringfield Township High School SilverTaejon Christian International School SilverTenafly High School SilverUruguayan American School SilverWare High School Silver

� VHS Network Spring 2007

On September 28, 2006 Virtual High School Global Consortium spon-sored a conference celebrating its

10 year anniversary. Attendees agreed that the sessions were informative, the food was fantastic, and the chance to meet people that they had known virtually—priceless. When speaking about the conference, what stood out in everyone’s mind was the high quality of the conference sessions and the messages shared by the key-note speakers. For this issue on Globalism it seems ap-propriate to build on the message provided by Michael Furdyk and his latest project: TakingItGlobal.org. Please take a moment to think about the following: a short time ago, our entire world was made up of the community into which we were born. News that used to take days, weeks or months to be communicated across the globe now becomes known the minute it hap-pens. It is into this world that our students are born and becoming educated. Although there are some who would attempt to isolate chil-dren by ignoring world events, world events have a way of finding our children both in and out of school. Outside of school, students are connected to others from around the world. They are

communicating via computer using email, instant messaging, text messaging, and blog-ging. The fact which cannot be ignored is that our children are not only becoming citizens of their neighborhood, their town, their state and their country—they are also citizens of the world. Being a global citizen involves more than knowing about world events, or following cat-astrophic news highlights. It means empathiz-ing, understanding, and caring about people in other places. There are some who would state that today’s students are too self-centered to care about others. Those of us involved in Virtual High School, either as teachers, site coordinators, or school administrators, know that statement is untrue. We often hear stu-dents talk with their fellow online students. In the social area of their classes they talk about their lives, their hopes and their fears, finding areas of commonality even though they are from different parts of the world and often from different cultures. TakingItGlobal disproves that myth as well. TakingItGlobal is an international organi-zation of over 125,000 members the major-ity of whom are younger than 30. Officially launched in 2000, its mission is to connect youth from around the world. It provides an

CLO’s messageDonna E. Scribner, VHS Chief Learning Officer

TakingItGlobal with Virtual High Schoolonline platform providing young people with inspiration and information while empower-ing them to become actively involved both locally and globally. By joining the online community, young people are able to share positive and nega-tive experiences about their own lives and the world in which they live. They can express their thoughts and feelings by using art, mu-sic, prose, film or even poetry. The site opens the eyes and ears of readers to the world out-side their own door using the tools and media they find most enjoyable. To help teachers, TakingItGlobal has created a teacher site: http://www.tak-ingitglobal.org/tiged/. Through this por-tal, teachers are able to provide students in their own face-to-face classrooms access to perspectives on global issues. It provides both teachers and students a platform for expressing their own creativity using tools encapsulated in an environment which can be overseen by the teacher. Even though we would love for every student to have a Virtual High School class experience, that is often not possible. Perhaps you will find a window of opportunity for your face-to-face students to build global awareness, at TakingItGlobal.org.

Each spring our school holds a forum just before the start of VHS registration. Our VHS veteran students pass along their words of wisdom to our incoming freshmen. They talk about the courses they recommend, the teachers they really liked, and the strategies they used for being successful students in their course. The veteran students also complete a survey that assists interested students in learning more about VHS courses. The survey includes the name of the VHS course they attended, a paragraph description of the VHS course, and a statement about whether the student would rec-ommend the course to other students. If a student recommends a VHS course, they are also asked if there any special qualifications or interests a student should have to be successful in the course. Stu-

Shekou International Schoolcontinued from page 1

dents are also asked on the survey what they liked best about taking a VHS course. Our students state that they enjoy the interaction with students in other countries, and the personal freedom and sense of accom-plishment they get from working on their own courses. A recently submitted student statement summarizes the VHS experience for SIS students quite well, “I think it was a valuable lesson to learn with new people over a distance - the world is getting closer, and I guarantee that I will have a chance to work with people over a distance, and this is why it’s important to learn how to interact with them.”

goVHS.org 978.897.1900 �

China, Mandarin, VHS, and Global Education

by Richard Kelly, VHS Curriculum Coordinator

Today you may not know the difference between “wu xia” and “wu shu”, but, chances are, ten years from now, you will. As China’s influence in the world grows, the diffusion of its words and ideas into global culture is beginning. And among those spearheading this introduction is an intrepid band of Mandarin speakers who deliver VHS’s Chinese courses online. Both native Chi-nese and Westerners, these are teachers who see language as a gateway into the minds of people living in the world’s oldest continuous civiliza-tion and who relish their roles as guides to a new world of written characters and tonal speech.

Xiang-Yu Jin (English name: Doris King), Jia-cun Dai (English name: David Dai), and Heather Smith (Chi-

nese name: Hai-Zhen Shi) describe their work using adjectives that span the emo-tional spectrum—from “overwhelming” to “relaxing”, from “enriching” to “fun”.

Deep in the trenches of practical global education, they can point out the inevitable challenges faced by teachers reaching across continents. “Teachers need to pay more at-tention to how they communicate with stu-dents,” Doris King recommends to those working globally. And teaching in one’s own second language (English, in this case) requires some mental adjustment, David Dai points out.

But the rewards are worth the effort. “I can introduce the Chinese language and culture to more people and get them to un-derstand China more”, asserts David, refer-ring to the students in his classroom that stretches across the ocean. And the extra initial work is worthwhile when teachers see students who couldn’t say “nihao” at the beginning of the semester happily chatting with each other in Mandarin only a few months later.

Doris and David, working from the Shekou International School in Guang Dong, China, emphasize the commitment of the students in their VHS Chinese classes. “Enthusiastic”, “motivated”, “intelligent”, “creative”, “positive”, “hard-working” and

OnCOURSERecognizing innovative and outstanding VHS NetCourses

“globally thinking” are the words they use to describe their course participants.

But they could just as well mention their students’ diversity as their commitment. Students taking Mandarin through VHS come from as far afield as the Alaska Pan-handle, Martha’s Vineyard, the Arizona des-ert, and coastal Venezuela. And the student population encompasses the whole range of experience and motivation from polyglots who have already mastered a second Euro-pean language to linguistic neophytes, from “heritage kids” who grew up in Chinese households but never learned the language to sly teenagers hoping to master a secret means of communicating beyond the un-derstanding of their parents. All of them are risk-takers, though, comfortable jumping into a new universe of foreign sounds and picturesque writing. And this is important when learning what is generally regarded as the world’s second most difficult language for English speakers.

Equally important, though, is the de-velopment of a global mindset, free from the strictures of one language or culture.

As David Dai poetically puts it, “Global education makes learning beyond countries possible.” And VHS’s borderless approach to learning meshes with this international worldview. Bonnie Elbaum, the multi-lin-gual VHS faculty advisor for the Manda-rin course, adds, “I have been able to teach from two different countries, two different coasts in the U.S., and three different time zones.”

Because global education makes physical geography irrelevant, VHS is able to bring together all of these interesting people, stu-dents and teachers from wide-ranging back-grounds and cultures, within a network that makes perfect sense in a wired world—a world in which we can drive a Korean car, eat an apple from New Zealand, talk on a Finnish phone, use a computer pro-grammed in India, and listen to European music on a Chinese MP3 player all in one day. In this kind of world, learning Man-darin (and maybe half a dozen other lan-guages) over the VHS global network is the most natural thing in the world.

Doris King and David Dai teach the Basic Mandarin Language and Culture courses through VHS.

� VHS Network Spring 2007

When talking with Virtual High School Global Consortium site coordinators at schools around

the world, one might expect to hear many different perspectives and educational phi-losophies. Would a site coordinator from Malaysia have the same viewpoint as one from Massachusetts? Do we celebrate our similarities, or do our differences divide? In-terestingly, through our discussions with site coordinators, several universal themes have emerged: the desire to help students succeed, to help them take an interest in those around them, and to help them realize they matter and can make a difference in our world.

As technology continues to minimize boundaries between countries and peoples, all classes can become global classrooms, and all students can become aware of their role as global citizens. Gordon, a long-time VHS site coordinator, notes that one of the major benefits of the Virtual High School program is student interaction with a di-verse group of peers. Gordon notes that, “Learning is more than simply becoming familiar with an academic discipline. If stu-dents can study a subject of interest, while at the same time collaborating with their peers from other cultures and nationalities, they become active participants in their own education. Perhaps through these in-teractions they will expand their knowledge of critical world issues, and maybe one day, their leadership will help us resolve some of the problems facing us today.”

Site Coordinators Give Students the Worldby Carol Ribeiro, VHS Chief Operating Officer

Virtual High School site coordinators, by mentoring their students and guiding them toward appropriate Virtual High School (VHS) selections, have made a tremendous difference in the lives of their students. Be-cause of their support, students have em-braced future careers, become more active participants in their traditional classes, and made real connections with their global peers. One student taking a Virtual High School writing course noted, “It is incred-ible how much one person can learn from one simple internet course. We spoke to many people from many different coun-tries. We learned different cultures and how to value other ways of living. It gives us all a great sense of the world.” Erin, a junior from New Hampshire taking a Virtual High School literature course, describes her mo-ment of inspiration as a result of the learn-ing that took place in her course. “I learned so much about a different culture, and it was amazing to see how little I knew about it before. My VHS experience helped me to see the world in a different light. This made me want the world to be peaceful.” Erik, a senior from Massachusetts, found the op-portunity to work with his international peers to be invaluable. “I had the chance to discuss and carry on debates with people of many different backgrounds and life experi-ences, which was very beneficial for a class dealing with world philosophies.”

Site coordinators tell us that many of their students, by taking a Virtual High

School course, are trying something com-pletely new and outside their comfort zone. This willingness to take a risk with some-thing different builds confidence which then spills over into other areas of their lives. Zena, a senior from North Carolina taking a social studies course says that by taking her VHS course, not only did she meet and collaborate with students from around the world, but she was “able to express myself without having to face the criticism of other people. This made me more willing to ex-press my opinions openly”. Kayla, a junior from Ohio, echoes Zena’s sentiments. She says she “was more open, and helped in class a lot more.” Ben, a sophomore from North Carolina, notes “I became more technologically proficient, became a more independent learner, and learned a subject I was very interested in but didn’t know if I would be able to learn until college.”

By guiding students to new and excit-ing course options that are truly global in nature, site coordinators provide access to a world of opportunities, and a better un-derstanding and appreciation for the world and its people.

Tenth graders Billie Wang, Web Design and Internet Research student and Ladina Calonder, VHS American Popular Music student finish up Week 15 of their VHS courses.

Site Coordinator Robyn Lynch views eleventh grader Margaretha Tytgat’s VHS Pre-AP Physics project.

Arthur Klatt, shown here at the MUN conference in Singapore, teaches the VHS course World Conflict: A United Nations Introduction.

Did you KNOW?

The faculty and students from Shekou International School that

appear in this issue of VHS Network hold passports from nine different countries? These countries are Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Korea, Mexico,

Switzerland, and the United States.

Facts and Photos: Shekou International School

goVHS.org 978.897.1900 �

Stella Ross, from Bolton High School in Con-necticut, shares with us her unique experiences teaching environmental science with a diverse group of students through Virtual High School’s global consortium.

This semester I taught an environmental science course that was global not only in scope, but in enrollment: Lumidi

was from the Cape Verde islands; Mae, from Japan; Veronica, from Brazil, and Spyros, a Greek student, enrolled in my course at his boarding school in Switzerland. Added to this interesting blend were U.S. students from PA, NH, CT, WA, and MA. Finally, add Lam, a Vietnamese student, and Bjorn, a Swedish student, both now living in MA, and you have a true global collaboration!

I can’t think of a better mix of students for a class in Environmental Science. Be-cause our environment is all-encompassing and without boundaries, environmental problems are never just “local” in scope. Long-term solutions can only come from understanding perspectives other than one’s own. A student who lives in a country where energy needs are met through nuclear power may feel differently about it than one who lives in the next town over from Three Mile Island. Perhaps both will gain new perspec-tive when comparing viewpoints and shar-ing ideas.

One of our earliest class assignments was to identify a local environmental issue. From the beginning, it was evident that

students would learn a lot from one an-other! Student Mae, from Japan, noted, “In Japan, there has been such a great ac-cumulation of garbage that the man-made island can no longer accommodate the gar-bage that we produce. The Japanese have even gone to dumping garbage around surrounding developing countries, for ex-ample, the Philippines.” Bretta, a student from Connecticut, shared, “I live near the Long Island Sound so I am aware of a lot of the issues that affect this body of water and the surrounding estuary. I am aware of the various point-source pollution and the non-point source pollution that can affect our area.” Andrew, a native New Englander, noted, “I come from the great state of New Hampshire. I believe that the main envi-ronmental problem in NH is the gas prices and the consumption of gas.”

Some interesting class debates ensued, as students shared differing viewpoints. Bjorn shared his thoughts on nuclear power with the class: “Massachusetts has never been a huge supporter of nuclear power because of the concern for safety! After reading about nuclear power, I still feel the same way. Why take the chance when you do not have to? Like I said before it is like play-ing with fire, it’s dangerous and we do not know what can happen. Once they per-fect these issues maybe I’ll support nuclear power.” Mae from Japan quickly joined the debate, countering with “Even though nuclear power plants were essentially cre-ated to provide energy for the masses, do

these plants further the knowledge for sci-entists to create advanced nuclear weapons across the globe? Before reading and learn-ing about the good that can come about from nuclear power plants I was completely against the thought of supporting any tech-nology associated with nuclear power: my mind has now been changed. I still feel a sense of resistance to nuclear power plants but the fact alone that nuclear power plants, during operation, are “cleaner” compared to power plants generated by fossil fuels has forced me to question other forms of energy. As our world continues to progress, our knowledge of nuclear power will expand, preventing accidents from occurring.”

By taking Environmental Science through Virtual High School, students have the unique opportunity to learn with a global community of their peers. By collab-orating and sharing their own perspectives, students begin to view the world around them in new ways, and gain a better un-derstanding of how they can truly make a difference.

Student Diversity Sparks Debateby Stella Ross, VHS Teacher, Bolton High School

TakingITGlobal.org is offering Virtual High School teachers a 30% discount on TIGed yearly membership, for a limited time only. TIGed provides teachers and students with tools for

Did you KNOW?

The faculty and students from Shekou International School that

appear in this issue of VHS Network hold passports from nine different countries? These countries are Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Korea, Mexico,

Switzerland, and the United States.

global collaboration. TakingITGlobal is also offering free training, as well as a three month visitor’s pass, for VHS teachers. To find out more about TakingITGlobal and TIGed, visit http://www.takingitglobal.org/tiged/.

INVITATION fOR VHS TEACHERS: Join the TakingITGlobal Teacher Network!

To take advantage of this limited time offer please contact Virtual High School at 978.897.1900 to receive your discount code and more information.

VHS is a non-profit collaborative of part-ner schools throughout the U.S. and around the world that expands learning opportunities for teachers and students through online education. Our award-winning collaborative model is unique among online providers and features in-novative, student-centered courses that enhance curricula and meet nationally accepted standards. By partnering with VHS, educators have the proven tools they need to offer more learning and growth opportunities to their students and staff, in a cost-attractive manner.

Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage Paid

Maynard, MAPermit #17

Virtual High School Global Consortium3 Clock Tower Place, Suite 200

Maynard, MA 01754

TOTAl STuDENT ENROllMENT 9,111

STuDENTS bY GENDER F 56% M 44%

NuMbER Of TEACHERS PARTICIPATING 279

NuMbER Of COuRSES OffERED 241

NuMbER Of MEMbER SCHOOlS 447

SIzE Of MEMbER SCHOOlS 6 - 4,286 students

978.897.1900 goVHS.org

at a glance

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on the mailing label?

Please email sharlow@goVHS.org with your correct information,

so you won’t miss an issue!

College board New England Regional forum February 11-13, 2007 Boston, MAPRESENTING: Access Leads to Success: How Pre-AP Courses Teach AP Skills PRESENTING: Virtual Vertical Teaming Liz Pape, VHS CEO & President www.collegeboard.com

National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) February 23-25, 2007 Las Vegas, Nevada PRESENTING: Assessing and Evaluating Online Learning Liz Pape, VHS President & CEO EXHIbITING: Booth #713 www.nasspconvention.org

American Association of School Administrators (AASA) March 1-4, 2007 New Orleans, LA PRESENTING: Online Education’s Role in the Schools of Tomorrow Donna E. Scribner, VHS Chief Learning Officer EXHIbITING: Booth #918 www.aasa.org

VHS will be participating in the following conferences and exhibitions this year. For the most up to date conference information, please visit our website at www.goVHS.org.

VHS Conferences and Events

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) March 17-19, 2007 Anaheim, CA EXHIbITING: Booth #1711 www.ascd.org

CoSN’s 12th Annual K-12 School Networking Conference - bridging Individualized learning & High Stakes Accountablity March 28-30, 2007 San Franscico, CA PRESENTING: eLearning for Special Learning Programs Donna Scribner, Chief Learning Officier www.k12schoolnetworking.org

National Educational Computing Conference 2006 (NECC)July 5-7, 2007San Diego, CA PRESENTING: eLearning for Special Learning Programs Donna Scribner, Chief Learning Officier PRESENTING: Online Professional Development Workshop: Online Teaching Skills for Classroom Teachers Liz Pape, VHS CEO & President PRESENTING: Blended Learning and Individualized Instruction Online Liz Pape, VHS CEO & President, John Clayton, Worcester MA Public Schools and Dr. Brooks Steele, Monroe AL County Public Schools EXHIbITING: Booth #2850http://web.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2006/

Virtual High SchoolGlobal Consortium

www.goVHS.org