Westmoreland Online Academy eyeing expansion

Leaders from three area school districts want to take advantage of the success of the Westmoreland Online Academy by expanding the program to middle and high school students.

The online academy — a collaboration between Hempfield Area, Franklin Regional and Norwin school districts — was created in response to the covid-19 pandemic as a way to combine resources while offering alternative forms of learning to students. More than 100 students in kindergarten through fifth grade are enrolled.

Discussions regarding the possible expansion were shared by Matthew Conner, Hempfield’s assistant superintendent of secondary education, during a recent school board meeting.

“The thought process for the collaborative is to expand the current elementary offering into the secondary grades in order to share the instructional responsibility between the three districts,” Conner said. “By sharing resources amongst the three districts, we can ensure the program remains viable in the future, and it helps to ensure it is done in a financially responsible manner.”

Formation of the Westmoreland Online Academy first was approved by each district over the summer.

As the program stands, a total of six teachers — two from each district — are assigned a grade level and provide daily, real-time learning to a class of students from all three districts. In addition to the grade level teachers, speciality teachers from two districts provide a weekly lesson for art, music, physical education and more.

Robin Pynos, assistant superintendent at Franklin Regional, said the idea of the program was to begin at the elementary level and then later expand it to secondary students.

She noted “it’s been working great” for the district’s elementary students.

“I think it’s an opportunity to share our resources and by combining the resources all three of those districts have, I think we can better accommodate the needs of our students and hopefully strengthen what we’re offering,” she said.

“Any one of us on our own trying to venture out on something like that becomes somewhat of a challenge.”

Norwin did not respond to requests for comment.

Franklin Regional and Hempfield Area are going to survey parents over the next few weeks to determine the amount of interest in expanding the program.

If the expansion moves forward, it could be open to interested students by the fall.