Connections Academy so no development cost. UNL pricing structure is a little lower than North Dakota Center for Distance Education which my daughters have used for a combined five classes. My oldest is currently doing High School Economics online at $150 through APEX Learning. She thought the presentation was a little juvenile on the first section of lessons. Her email to her instructor regarding a quiz question was promptly addressed with a very good response (I was impressed) explaining the reasoning behind a quiz question she missed.
I had the opportunity to ask our Governor a question last year, but I did not know about the virtual academy plans at the time. I would like to ask him why the APEX Academy classes could not be used instead of the high cost Connections Academy program. A full load of APEX classes would be $1,800/yr versus $6,000. Actually our local school districts should work more closely with an organization that already exists (Iowa Learning Online) to offer a complete cafeteria style approach. Our school district will allow us to take the APEX classes on our dime with advanced approval (every request has been approved to this point).
The weird thing about our school district is that my daughter is planning on doing a combination of college, APEX High School, and courses at her High School next year. She is being hounded about not having a full load at the High School (five classes). She will have four classes plus P.E. at the High School (Spanish III, Intro to Engineering Design, Yearbook Journalism, and Broadcast Journalism). In addition to those four classes she will be doing two APEX Social Studies classes, two college English classes, three college math classes (Precalculus, Calculus I, and Calculus II), and two college science classes (Chemistry I and Calculus based Physics I).
She is not going further with the High School English, Math, and Science because of they do not meet her needs for college. No matter how many AP tests she passes she will be placed in a freshman rhetoric course unless she gets college credit instead. Her community college has even recommended that she CLEP out of the first composition after her placement test scores taken as at the start of her 2nd semester in 10th grade. She is looking at using up two more years of English at the High School and getting no credit for it at college. I prefer to pay the $900 and save her those two years.
Her High School AP Chemistry class would require a 5 to get credit, and it would be for only one semester versus the two semesters of material she would cover. She only needs Chemistry I for her major (Electrical Engineering) so she wonders why she would waste a year and possibly not even get credit (a 5 on an AP exam especially Chemistry is not a cake walk).
Her High School does not have an Honors Physics class, but offers a community college non-Calculus based Physics. I do not see a reason for her to risk her college GPA on non-Calculus based Physics when I think it is better to teach Physics with Calculus anyway.
Her Honors Precalculus next year will cover 70% of the same material she covered this year in Honors Algebra/Trig. By taking college Precalculus this summer, she will be able to start her Calculus sequence next year.
She has a real shot at completing her Freshman year in Engineering while in High School. This option should be presented to more students and should be funded at least in part by the local school districts (if nothing more getting the parent better pricing for the classes). We have a Post Secondary Education Option in this state, but many districts like our own lock down opportunities with AP classes that are not treated fairly by the state universities. For our state community college is the way to go.
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