Seith Bedard Honored for Online Administration Excellence

Peabody, MA - Seith Bedard, director of the Peabody Learning Academy, was recently honored with a K-12 Excellence in Online Administration Award from Pearson.

During its 16th annual Cite Online Learning Conference, Pearson announced this year’s online learning excellence award recipients honoring K-20 educators and administrators who are making significant contributions in online education. This year’s honorees are from Peabody Learning Academy, Hart-Ransom Academic Charter School, Indian Creek School, Mountain Education Charter High School, California Community College Online Education Initiative, Blue Mountain College, Excelsior College, and the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. The awards are divided into two categories: K-12 and higher education — Excellence in Online Administration and Excellence in Online Teaching. As part of Pearson’s commitment to inspire and support excellence in online education that drives student success, the company will donate $1,500 to the scholarship fund of each winner’s choice.

In addition to fulfilling the necessary tasks of an administrator and educator, Seith Bedard takes the extra step to ensure that Peabody Learning Academy students stay motivated to succeed, Pearson officials stated.

The Peabody Learning Academy was started from the ground up six years ago. Peabody Veterans Memorial High School approached Bedard to start an alternative high school program for at-risk and dropout students. He worked tirelessly to create a functioning and structured program designed to help all learners. The program has completed its fifth year and has been extremely successful. The dropout rate at Peabody High School, a school of 2,000 students, was five percent annually before the start of this program.

Today only 1.4 percent of students drop out of high school. The Academy has graduated 85 students in the last five years. What is even more incredible is that more than 50 graduates are attending or have attended college and pursued other postsecondary educational opportunities.