Papillion La Vista Community Schools is giving students the opportunity to take online classes while in high school.
At this point, five classes are offered to sophomores, juniors and seniors at the district's two high schools.
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum John Schwartz said, "one of the things we've learned from research and our former graduates is that the first time students take an online course in college, they tend to struggle more than an in-class course because it's a different way to learn."
He says many of the district's students go on to take higher education classes and they hope to prepare them.
Miles Ritchie teaches one of the online classes and helped create them with other teachers in the district. He said, "I think one of the biggest challenges with online classes whether you're in high school or you're in college taking them for the first time, is really managing your time."
But teachers and school administrators say the benefit to taking classes in high school is that teens still have a support system and teachers who are readily available in person. Ritchie said, "we can comment on their assignment submissions, we can send them messages through the app, we can email them and the nice thing about them being in the building where I work is they can come by the office and ask questions face to face."
Senior Ivan Hurst told us he likes the flexibility of his online course and believes it is preparing him for the more independent learning he'll receive next year in college.
