Huntingdon Area School District online learning director Anita Young says there is continuing growth with the Bearcat Institute of Learning and Development (BILD).
BILD is the school district’s own free, online cyber program started in 2018 that delivers instruction to students K-12. Young gave an update on the program to school board members at their monthly meeting Monday evening.
“Our learning options include three choices,” Young told school directors. “Full-time online BILD is the first one, the second is hybrid BILD which is growing tremendously.”
Young explained the hybrid BILD option means students come into the school regularly at some point.
“In fact, 100% of our (BILD) elementary students are now hybrid students,” she said, adding hybrid BILD numbers are increasing for secondary students, as well. “The reason is this option gives students the opportunity to attend in-person classes or maybe something they’re interested in, like arts or to take some of the advanced placement classes.”
Young described the third option as an expanded course offering.
“This would be for students who, for example, want to take world languages,” she said. “Our goal continues to be the first choice for online learning.”
Young reviewed some current student numbers in the program.
“There were 147 K-12 students enrolled in BILD to start the 2023-24 school year,” Young reported. “The number of full-time grades 7-12 students in the BILD program increased from 57 last year to 74 this year.”
She also noted 73 BILD K-12 students are considered full time, meaning they’re taking three or more classes through the online program.
Young also noted over 40% of BILD students receive some sort of a student service, such as an individualized education program (IEP), which is a reason the school district recently hired a full-time special education BILD teacher.
“About 50% of BILD students receive the services of a learning coach, someone who checks in with the student for about 10 minutes each week,” Young said, noting that learning coach is there if the student needs just about any kind of support, or assistance with juggling school, life and work, even someone who can help review checklists to help the students get everything done.
Young acknowledged the biggest competitor for BILD is cyber charter schools. There are 45 HASD students enrolled in cyber charter schools.
“Unfortunately several of the current cyber charter students who have moved into our district already enrolled in a cyber charter school and are very difficult to reach,” she said.
Young said in-person charter schools also have an impact on the school district. According to Young’s figures, 123 HASD K-12 students are enrolled in in-person charter schools. That means there are a total of 168 Huntingdon Area School District students taking classes somewhere else.
Young pointed out that recently the school board changed its policy and now charter school students can be involved in extracurricular activities. There are a total of four charter school students participating in a fall sports.
That point brought some comments from school district officials and board members who said although the school district sends an invoice to the charter school for participation in extra-curricular activities, what is billed covers just some basic costs.
“We have several advantages that we continue to stress,” Young told board members. “The first is quality coursework and assignments in one platform that align to state standards and in-person instruction to support students making transitions.”
She continued listing the others.
“BILD has small student to teacher ratios, allowing for more communication, support and feedback that is timely and supports success,” said Young. “And BILD has higher graduation rates led by learning coaches, support staff, guidance counselors and monitoring of statewide high school graduation requirements.”
The BILD instructional staff is made up of Young, five full-time online teachers for 7-12 grade students and two full-time teachers for students in grades K-6.
“Our goal is to return more students from cyber schools,” Young told the school board, offering several ideas she has planned to accomplish that. “I’ll be communicating with families enrolled in cyber charter schools outside of HASD, and use various methods of marketing to share information about BILD. At the same time, I know it’s also important to focus on retaining BILD students in the district, so we’ll continue to offer quality online learning with prompt and regular communication and provide opportunities for feedback from everyone.”
She’s also planning several ways to make contact with cyber charter families such as ending information by mail, phone, email and an open house in April.
“It’s important that everyone has a clear understanding of what BILD offers students and families” Young said.
Young hopes to promote BILD on several key points she said are what makes the program an excellent choice for parents and students.
“We have a dedicated staff, which leads to improved student experiences with communication and support and provides family engagement,” she said.
Young invites parents who are interested in learning more about BILD to contact her at (814) 643-4140, ext. 2118 or [email protected].
More information on BILD can also be found on the school district’s website, www.huntsd.org/bild.
Joe can be reached at jthompson@huntingdondailynews.com.
