There is an ongoing myth that online high schools do not have teachers. Many seem to think that online students are left to read PDFs on their own and take tests.
This is far from the truth.
We can understand the confusion, as there are some online programs that operate this way. But Primavera is not a program, it’s a public charter high school. The largest high school in Arizona and a leader in online education, we might add.
Since opening 2001, Primavera has hired highly qualified, dedicated instructors who provide personalized support to our students. You can learn more about personalized support in this blog post.
Nearly 63% of our teachers hold a Master’s degree or higher. And 100% of them are dedicated professionals who undergo constant training through Primavera’s Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction Team.
Let’s take a look into Primavera’s instructional training.
Primavera’s Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Instruction (CIA) Team
That’s right. Primavera has elite members of the CIA: Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction, that is! Faculty members on this team focus on the curriculum, tests and how teachers are instructing. They are constantly evaluating and making improvements so that our students receive the best instruction possible.
About Andrew Szczepaniak, Executive Director of CIA
Andrew Szczepaniak has been a leader in education for more than 25 years. As the Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for Primavera Online High School he guides teachers to help the 20,000+ students who attend Primavera each year succeed academically and become career and college ready.
How?
Through setting goals and conducting training sessions.
Teacher Training
“Primavera teachers throughout the year focus on professional learning by applying what they learn directly in their courses,” said Szczepaniak.
Learning for online instructors is continuous. As the digital world changes, our teachers evolve and learn with it.
“The continuous learning process develops as they review the impact their learning had with their students,” said Szczepaniak. “Through this reflective process, our teachers also see how it impacts their practice.”
Teachers also follow Individual & Department SMART Goals. These two processes allow instructors to reflect on how they teach and reach our students. Doing so provides focused instruction to our students.
“Primavera teachers are student centered focusing on learning first,” said Szczepaniak.
Examples of training topics:
- Connecting Assessments
- Closing the Gap with Intervention Feedback
- Effective Communication in Virtual Education
- The Science of Persuasion
- Descriptive Feedback
Communicating With Teachers
Primavera makes it a goal to ensure that teachers are consistently communicating with their students. Primavera is one of the few online schools in the country to receive NCAA approval (You can learn more about it here). The reason? We have constant teacher support superior to most online schools.
Here are a few ways teachers connect with students:
- Parent Student Portal (PSP) instant chat messaging
- Phone call
- Real-time online sessions
- In-person appointments
Oftentimes, our students report that they receive more personalized support at Primavera than they did at their traditional schools. The reason? Teachers don’t work with 30+ students in a loud classroom every hour. Instead, they provide seminars and divide their attention equally to students through online support.
“My teachers and guidance counselor are with me every step of the way,” said Primavera graduate, Mariah Sellers. “I can call whenever I need help with catching up or staying focused and they’ll give me advice on what to do. From there, I’ll walk back to that laptop and try all of the advice they gave me and before I know it, I’m already caught up.”
A majority of our instructors have experience teaching in a traditional classroom. Oftentimes, our teachers prefer the online environment because it allows them to develop better relationships with students while utilizing modern, quality curriculum.
“I like the spunk and attitude of high school students, which makes teaching fun and funny,” said Primavera Social Studies Instructor Heather Berlin. “I also really love the content that I teach and seeing the impact of those lessons like learning about taxes and understanding how credit works. It brings great joy that I’m helping students to become responsible adults in ‘real-world’ topics,” says Ms. Berlin.
“We enjoy working with Primavera students because we have the opportunity to address their individual needs.” – Principal Donald Mitchell
To get started with Primavera and receive more personalized instruction, click the button below.
- Students, do you have a favorite teacher at Primavera? Give him/her a shoutout in the comments below!
