PEABODY — There are only seven virtual schools in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Peabody P.R.E.P. (Personalized Remote Education Program) is showing that this method of teaching is proving to be effective at keeping kids in school.
“I’m very proud of the new Peabody P.R.E.P. program,” said Executive Director of Remote Learning Dr. Chris Lord. “We’ve had excellent attendance, excellent achievement and excellent engagement.”
Lord said that as of the end of October, 61 of 122 students in grades K-12 have perfect attendance records with 97 percent attendance in K-5, 96 percent in grades 6-8 and 86 percent in grades 9-12.
Lord credits part of the success of the city’s virtual learning initiative to its later start time (8:30 a.m.). He indicated that this better serves the needs of teenage students
“That’s been a real help for the high schoolers,” he said.
The school also differs in the number of classes offered each day. Instead of having a schedule made up of seven courses every day, P.R.E.P. students take three classes at a time.
In addition, students take English and math for the first semester while taking science and social studies in the second semester. Core academic courses are taught in the morning.
“They will really focus on those academic areas in the morning with their teachers live,” he added.
Students spend their afternoons working with the Edgenuity digital learning platform. Students work at their own pace, taking subjects varying from health and wellness, world languages, coding and keyboarding.
The city’s remote-learning academy was a rare ― but inspiring ― success story to come out of the pandemic. After P.R.E.P.’s strong first year in 2020-2021, a survey conducted by the schools showed that families were interested in having the district continue to provide a remote-learning option for their children.
Lord mentioned that boosting the social-emotional health of Peabody P.R.E.P. students is a priority. The school is aiming for at least 25 percent of students to have an increase in social-emotional health. The school is also looking to establish career pathways for the various ingenuity courses, and is also looking for students to take courses that will give them college credits. Lord said he hopes to have the community/business piece in place by January 2022.
“We want kids to focus on their particular interests,” said Lord. “An important component has been the business connections in the community and being able to take advantage of online college credits, just like the high school.
“We are looking to have all of our measures of achievement increase. The goal is persistent perseverance and grit to give kids the ability to push through challenges.”
School Committee member Brandi Carpenter mentioned that she received a call from a parent of a P.R.E.P. student who credited the program for “saving (her) daughter.
“What he said about you made me realize that having this program in our school system was the right choice,” she said. “Offering an alternative for our students is very important.”
Lord responded by mentioning that a recent student moved from Beverly just to be a part of the P.R.E.P. program, which is indicative of the school’s success.
“It’s a team effort of some fantastic people surrounding me,” he said.
Mikhaely Teles, a P.R.E.P student who assisted in the presentation to the School Committee, talked about the many benefits of being a student at the school.
“Kids get to be closer to their families, parents are checking grades and we get extra sleep that we need to get through the day,” she said.
