K12 Inc. Adds More than 110 School District Partners to Recently Introduced Online Homebound Education and Alternative Learning (HEAL) Program

HERNDON, Va., Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- K12 Inc., the nation's leading provider of technology-powered individualized education solutions for students in pre-kindergarten through high school, today announced that since August 2012 it has signed new agreements to provide its Homebound Education and Alternative Learning (HEAL) program to more than 110 school districts. The HEAL program is one of four full-time online learning programs that K12 provides to school districts. 

Designed to meet the needs of students who are away from the classroom for an extended period due to injury, illness, behavioral, or other issues, K12's HEAL program combines online curriculum, interactive technology, and services, such as instruction by certified teachers and mentoring, to enable students to continue to receive a high quality education, engage with other students, and to maintain their rate of progress toward graduation.

Lacey Township School District in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey, launched the HEAL program this past fall.  Carly M. Londrigan, Counselor for Lacey Township School District, says, "The K12 HEAL program has been a great asset and addition to our school district. We are now able to service students who require homebound instruction at various levels and times to meet their individual needs."

In Southbridge, Massachusetts, the HEAL program is benefiting students like "Samantha," an 11th grader who suffers from debilitating migraines, hyper somnolence, and severe social anxiety.  "Samantha" fell behind while attending therapeutic residential school away from her home.  Since "Samantha" had a positive experience with K12 years earlier, her mother introduced Southbridge Public Schools to K12. The district decided to implement the HEAL program, enabling "Samantha" to return home and complete her school work there. She is now on track, often working ahead of her assignment schedule.

"Samantha's" mother says, "I'm so grateful to K12 for being there, allowing my daughter to be home ... I believe that the flexibility in scheduling is imperative for children like her."  To read the full story, visit k12.com/educators/targeted-solutions/homebound-alternative.  

In addition to New Jersey and Massachusetts, K12 now provides its HEAL program, either directly or through agreements with educational consortiums or cooperatives, to school districts in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, and South Dakota.

The HEAL program not only provides students flexibility, but also has been reported to lower school district costs to provide homebound education. For example, one Florida school district reported that the K12 HEAL program was expected to reduce the cost to serve its homebound students by 20 percent over a full school year. Further, each student who participated in the district's HEAL program successfully kept on pace with their schoolwork.

"The HEAL program is an economical solution for school districts who won't sacrifice providing high-quality curriculum and instruction to their students when they are away from the classroom," said John Olsen, Executive Vice President of Operations for K12 Inc.  "Online learning provides the flexibility and individualization that homebound and alternative education students require to stay engaged and on track." 

The K12 HEAL program integrates the following components:

• Administrative and Mentor Services – An annual program review is conducted to tailor the curriculum, services, and process to serve the district's needs. Each program is assigned a K12 mentor to monitor progress for students and act as a teacher liaison, and to help with scheduling around student appointments. Each student is evaluated and an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) is developed and tailored to their learning needs.
• Instruction – K12 provides certified teachers trained especially to deliver online instruction. In addition, each student is provided a mentor to monitor progress and act as the teacher liaison to develop individualized pacing and learning plans.
• Curriculum – The K12 curriculum and Aventa Learning® by K12 curriculum provide a wide selection of courses across multiple academic levels, including Honors and AP® courses, for students in grades K-12. Online assessments enable instructors to closely monitor progress and establish goals.
• Technology – Classes are conducted using web-based conferencing, which provides a live, interactive, online classroom that allows students to take classes, interact with their teachers and other students, and participate in a virtual homeroom class. All classes are recorded for later viewing.

For more information about the K12 HEAL program, visit k12.com/educators/targeted-solutions/homebound-alternative to download the "Guide to Implementing Online Homebound Education for Schools and Districts" and see other information.  To review a recorded webinar hosted by K12's HEAL Senior Program Manager, Kim Spencer, called "Improving Outcomes for Homebound/Alternative Education Students with Online Learning," visit k12.com/educators/event-type/recorded-webinars.

K12 provides schools and districts the industry's most complete continuum of proprietary pre-kindergarten through high school online learning solutions for full-time virtual, blended, and traditional classroom learning environments.  By integrating curriculum, technology and services, K12 empowers our school and district partners to provide individualized learning and maximize student and district outcomes.  Over the past decade, the company has served more than 2,000 districts and delivered over 4 million online course enrollments from its award-winning portfolio. For more information on K12's online solutions for schools and districts, visit k12.com/educators.

About K12 Inc.
K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN) is leading the transformation to individualized learning as the nation's foremost provider of technology-powered online solutions for students in pre-kindergarten through high school. K12 manages public schools serving more than 120,000 full-time students in 32 states and the District of Columbia and private schools serving students in all 50 states and 85 countries.  K12 also provides online curricula, academic services, and learning solutions to public schools and districts, through traditional classroom, blended school, and full-time online environments. In addition, K12 provides its solutions directly to families.  K12's curriculum is rooted in decades of research combined with 21st-century technology by cognitive scientists, interactive designers and teachers.  K12's portfolio of more than 550 unique courses and titles -- the most extensive in the technology-based education industry -- covers every core subject and up to four academic levels for high school including Honors and AP®.  K12 also offers credit recovery courses, career-building electives, remediation support, six world languages and a deep STEM offering.   More information can be found at k12.com.

© 2012 K12 Inc. K12 and Aventa Learning are registered trademarks, and the K12 logo is a trademark of K12 Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE K12 Inc.