Elevate K-12, an instruction technology company, announced that it is partnering with school districts nationwide to create home-based live virtual learning options that will launch later this summer.
In a press release, Elevate K-12 said that along with its school district partners, the company will offer virtual academies for grades 6 to 12 across all states in all core and elective subject areas. The company said the new academies will provide schools with a new way to teach students who have shifted to homeschooling during the pandemic.
“Even though the FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 17, many families with kids below the age of 12 are opting not to return to school,” Elevate K-12 CEO Shaily Baranwal said. “In light of this, we are working to support school districts in a different way by helping them elevate their homeschooling options with Elevate K-12’s live virtual classes.”
As part of the new academies, Elevate K-12 will provide live streaming instruction. The classes will be taught by independent certified teachers, not the teachers already employed by participating school districts. Elevate K-12 says this allows teachers to set their own schedule, while also allowing schools to bring certified teachers for subjects they couldn’t otherwise offer due to lack of teachers in the zip code.
Earlier this year, the company also announced a partnership with 21st Century Charter School in Gary, Ind. The partnership was intended to help schools combat a teacher shortage for the 2020/2021 school year. Elevate K-12 says the use of live streamed instruction allows Indiana schools to offer academic courses that have never been offered before, including Computer Science, Cybersecurity, German, and American Sign Language, among others.
The company has also partnered with the University of Phoenix to help education students get the student teaching experience they need to graduate. This winter, at the height of the pandemic, Elevate K-12 announced that University of Phoenix education students would participate in a 12-week program where teaching students were paired with a mentor teacher and will work for four hours each day. During the second half of the program, the student teacher took over the teaching and was observed and coached by the mentor teacher, who was in the classroom for the duration of the student teacher’s teaching.
