This year, Monroe Country Community School Corporation launched MCCSC Online, a virtual school program available for grades kindergarten through 12th.
According to an MCCSC blog post, the MCCSC Online program highlights flexibility for students across Indiana who do not want or are unable to attend school in-person. MCCSC Online utilizes Edmentum software, which is familiar to South students who have taken a summer school course. Additionally, students have the option to join live zoom sessions with Edmentum teachers. The program is certified to offer AP classes as well as Career and Technical Education courses, according to the post.
The program currently has “over 50 students” enrolled, according to MCCSC Director of Strategic Communications Sarah DeWeese. This number could easily increase as the program is available to any student in Indiana. Also, more families are choosing to homeschool in Indiana: while the census data is not exact, Indiana has the 13th highest percentage of homeschooled students according to a 2023 Fox59 article.
While the academic instruction part of the program is strictly online, students who live in MCCSC’s district will still have the opportunity to play sports or participate in other school groups, like theater, in person. This means that students will not have to choose between their extracurriculars and a school environment that suits them – allowing students to craft their education based on their priorities.
However, the idea of online school has become intrinsically tied with isolation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The long-run success of MCCSC Online will therefore depend on efforts to make the school system as engaging as possible for students.
Yet for some students, like sophomore Chloey Tarter, online school offers a way to get her work done faster and at her own pace after struggling to pay attention during in-person school. Tarter also knows that the switch to online school does not have to be permanent. She said, “if I ever want to go back to school, I could just go.”
