This coming fall, Dallas Independent School District will be launching a full-time virtual school, iLearn Virtual School, for students in the third through ninth grades.
According to CBS 11 News, a 17-year veteran Dallas ISD educator, Monica Morris, says that she learned a lot from the district’s virtual academy after working there as a teacher.
Monica Morris, who is now the principal of the district’s new iLearn Virtual School, says that some kids did not realize that virtual learning was their best learning method until the pandemic forced the district into it. “Now that we know this is their best way, we want to give it to them,” she said.
The virtual school will only be offered to students between grades three and nine. However, the district plans to expand to kindergarten through twelfth grade in the future. Morris believes that students differ and that there are students who learn best virtually just as there are those who learn best in person.
Morris said that while Texas Education Agency (TEA) reports show that remote learning seemed to contribute to learning loss during the pandemic, that is not true for all students in her experience.
Morris said that the state’s learning expectations of the iLearn Virtual School will be the same as in-person schooling. The remote schooling will be guided by the State of Texas.
Per CBS 11 News, all grades from third to ninth will be taught by state-certified teachers. The curriculum will be a self-paced one.
The Dallas Independent School District is currently recruiting local teachers for the iLearn Virtual School.
Student applications have begun and will end on January 31.
