SDA - A Lot More than Three Initials!
There may be some readers who are unaware that Springfield Local Schools offered a virtual learning option well before the coronavirus arrived in 2020. Actually, it was almost seven years ago that I was tasked to develop a nontraditional online option for the district. When the first students were enrolled during the 2015-16 school year, the program was known as the “Opportunity School.”
We were deliberate in our efforts to pursue a smaller population of students and focused first only on those in high school. Shortly after, we did extend enrollment to students in grades six and above. The earliest marketing materials were still geared towards students needing to re-enter the diploma pathway; those wishing to move through a curriculum at their own pace, and emphasized that the “Op School” was ideal for students with medical issues who require a more personalized curricular approach, homeschooling families seeking an accredited curriculum with access to a certified teacher for support, and students with non-traditional schedules. We were fortunate to tap Springfield High School alum Ryan Grooms as its director, and were pleased as the idea caught on and the enrollment began to grow. In those first years, the student population ranged between 50-75, with many seeking a combination of credit recovery and access to a more non-traditional brand of instruction.
Over the past six years, what we now know as the Springfield Digital Academy (or SDA) has remained an online alternative exclusive to students within the Springfield Local School district. At the time it was launched, there were not many school districts in our vicinity who offered such programs. Not surprisingly, having the op school format allowed a smoother transition than many districts experienced when traditional classroom instruction was paused in March 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. At that time, there were about 100 students enrolled. Mr. Grooms and I know well the path that our digital learning has followed since 2015, yet we realize there are many who may wonder how it is either similar or different to that which is offered in our traditional classroom settings. Certainly, the pandemic caused us to pivot in many areas, and for a variety of reasons we quickly chose to expand the enrollment option to all K-12 students and the op school became the SDA. Last year, enrollment soared at more than 650 students, and necessitated the district to both hire more than 20 teachers specifically for the SDA and redefine how online instruction is delivered.
Consider the most basic factors–the learning styles, needs and attention spans of young elementary-aged children are significantly different that those of a high school-aged student. For the younger learners, structures were quickly designed to incorporate live interaction with peers and adults. While the older learners might prefer the 24/7 access to materials, the younger learners needed more set schedules and options for live instruction. Introducing the younger learners allowed the SDA to examine additional ways to build and strengthen services and continue its forwardthinking focus. Even as I write this, it sounds a lot easier to create than it was–yet, somehow, Mr. Grooms and our curriculum directors took it on, made it happen. When asked how I measure our success–I share there are many factors–the return of families to Springfield who had chosen one or more of the community/charter school options, the fact that we are able to still innovate during a time of crisis and, of course, that in May we will watch as almost 60 students graduate while the remaining 215 students still enrolled in the SDA are meeting their academic goals.
We talk a lot about our responsibilities to educate every child. The SDA provides Springfield with another tool to do just that. It is important to know that because the curriculum, which is aligned in both cases with Ohio Department of Education standards, families can only transition students in or out of the SDA at the end of a trimester. Mr. Mr. Grooms mirrors my thoughts that, “Springfield has a responsibility to our community to educate each child and do so with a service-oriented attitude. We have to be able to offer programs like this and respond quickly to the needs of our community.”
What’s next? Mr. Grooms and grades 6-12 curriculum director Jerry Bell are working on offering a variety of career pathways and certificated program options right on campus. There are so many more options for our students and we have a goal that very soon, more than 75 percent of our students will leave Springfield with more than that important high school diploma. They can leave us with industry recognized credentials, job experiences and practical applications for our curriculum. In these high-tech times, when we compete with YouTube and other digital platforms that want you to believe they are offering “education,” Springfield Schools must and will fulfill our role to educate the whole child. “The importance of a connection to the community” said Mr. Grooms, “whether that means playing on a team, being part of a play or volunteering with a group to serve others–these have to remain an important part of a child’s education. We provide that, and a lot more.”
Mr. Grooms has been an educator in SLS for more than 22 years, the past six as the director of digital learning. He is married with three children and, while at times, may miss the chaos that comes from working in a middle school environment, I promise you (and him) that the things we have in store for him in the next few years will rival (if not surpass) that chaos and more. I suspect, if you have read this all the way to the end, that you, too, agree that SDA is a lot more than three initials.
