Over $1M Saved Through Centennial Virtual Learning Academy

WARMINSTER, PA —The Centennial Virtual Learning Academy is thriving in its second year—and saving the district money too, the schools superintendent said.

There are 46 students enrolled in the program, with nine new students this year, Centennial School District Dana Bedden stated in his report to the school board during Tuesday night's meeting. WATCH VIDEO about the academy below.

He said the new students are at the high school level and their additions save the district $170,000 in terms of a cost avoidance, Bedden said.

"Overall, this amounts to $1.05 million in savings had we not had the program," the superintendent stated regarding the savings and cost avoidance.

Bedden said in a follow-up email to Patch about the nine new students enrolled:

• 1 student returned from cyber charter- PA Virtual (Est. Reg Ed. net savings to the district of approx. $15,000)
• 1 student returned from an outside alternate instructional placement (Est. Special Ed net savings to the district of approx. $17,000)
• 6 students switched from in-person placement (cost avoidance of students who would not attend in-person learning but were seeking a cyber option is approx $138,000)
• 1 student moved into the district due to our virtual learning offerings and left Agora Charter (the net result is additional State revenue).

He said the refers to the possibility of those students leaving the school district for an outside cyber charter if the district didn't have the CVLA program. Bedden said some families specifically share they would have enrolled in another cyber charter program, while others do not directly share their intentions.

The academy is in its second year, Kristin Herman, the district's coordinator of online and digital learning said in an email to Patch.

She said the program offers students a 100% virtual learning pathway with blended schedules added this year.

High school seniors can mix in-person classes and virtual classes in the same day, increasing their flexibility to work on college applications, study for exams, participate in interscholastic sports, and hold community jobs, Herman stated.

Bedden said the district has an additional 16 students in the Grade 12 pilot blended program, 10 of which are new to CVLA this year.

"These students are our best advertisement; we have had additional requests from friends of these students but are intentionally keeping our pilot to four class sections this year to monitor student outcomes," the superintendent said.

He told the school board about inquiries for the CVLA program:

• A family(ies) with elementary students currently residing in Hatboro-Horsham has inquired about the extent of our blended learning program at the elementary level; they would be interested in moving in-district as this program expands.

• A family(ies) from Pennridge has reached out for additional information and cited our summer snail mail brochures as catching their attention about our program.