Duneland Families,

The Duneland School Corporation (DSC) intends to be back to 5-day per week, in-person learning to begin the 2021-22 school year on August 11th.  With that in mind, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many challenges for students, parents, teachers, and staff.  One of the more challenging aspects of the pandemic has been delivering remote/virtual education opportunities for students.  The DSC recognizes that virtual/remote instruction has worked better for some students than others.  The DSC also recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic may change the way students/parents think about learning environment options moving forward.

The DSC is investigating the interest level of students/parents in a tuition-free off-campus remote/virtual education program for students in grades K-12 for the 2021-22 school year. There are a number of implications to providing a virtual opportunity for students, not because of a crisis or pandemic, but because of demand from DSC families.  It is clear the Indiana state legislature will continue to promote school choice and the concept of "dollars following the student" as the base component of the school funding formula.  As a result, the DSC is compelled to examine different learning environment options based on market-driven factors with attention being given to the quality of instruction, curricular resources, social-emotional support, etc.  

If there is interest, the DSC will attempt to develop a financially scalable model to support the wishes of students and parents.  The first step in this process is to survey DSC families to gauge their interest in a virtual option for students that may be best served in a nontraditional learning environment.

Tentative Format:

Students in the K-6 Grade program would receive online/live instruction from certified Duneland teachers, five days per week, via internet tools such as Zoom or Google Meet and the Canvas learning management system.  Similar to in-person learning, there will be cross curricular connections between the core subjects of Reading, Math, Science and Social studies provided by Duneland teachers.  Pathways will also be provided for students to experience virtual related arts classes of art, music, and physical education.  Students will participate in scheduled live interactions with teachers and peers on a daily basis.  

Grades 7-12 students in the program would receive online/live instruction from certified teachers through an online curriculum (mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, and electives). Since the program is housed in an online format, students will have the ability to access lessons and coursework at any time of the day or night and from any location that has internet access.  Each course will have various units, modules, lessons (live and recorded), assignments and assessments.  Students must demonstrate mastery of material before they can move on to the next unit or module.  Under the guidance of their teacher(s), students will have the ability to set their own pace as they work through course material.  Numerous elective offerings, including Advanced Placement courses and some world languages, are available.  The online curriculum would be aligned to Indiana Academic Standards and high school students can earn a Core 40 Diploma or an Academic Honors Diploma through this program.

If a program were offered, there would be a semester long commitment for all students.  Strict adherence to a virtual school handbook would be required. Failure to remain current in coursework would result in removal from the virtual program.

Please take a few moments to complete this non-binding survey.

Thank you,


DSC Administration