Williamson County Schools will offer online courses to high school students next school year.
Several levels of English, math, science and history are included in the 17 proposed courses.
Williamson County Director of Schools Mike Looney said the district aims to offer another educational choice to students.
“We’re just trying to be cutting edge and ahead of the curve,” Looney said.
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Looney said the district envisions a blended learning model — a mix of online coursework and in-person interaction with teachers — for students who choose to take online courses.
“Some students might want to take an online course in 7th period and go to work and then do the coursework later,” Looney said. “Then they may schedule meetings with a teacher.”
“We are still in the very early stage of the development of this,” Looney said. “But it’s something that we’ve been working on for quite some time. We just finally put the puzzle pieces together.”
With online courses on the rise in colleges, students may benefit with the experience in high school, he said.
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The courses will be free.
Some of the courses have been developed by the district while others are available through a partnership with an online course provider, Looney said.
The following online courses will be taught by WCS educators:
- English I, II, III and IV
- Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, AP Computer Science A
- Physical science, biology, chemistry, physics
- US History, economics, government, world history/geography, personal finance
Looney will present the proposal for online classes to the school board this month.
Reach Melanie Balakit at [email protected].
Course requirements
- For the 2018-19 school year, a student may enroll in online courses for up to half of their courseload. A student may exceed the limit with permission from the school.
- Beginning with the 2019-20 school year, a student may: fulltime and supplemental.
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