INTERLOCHEN, Mich. (AP) - Julia Blissett knows she’s the best teacher for her children. But home-schooling lessons every day of the week takes patience - so she’s happy to catch a break, even if it’s just on Wednesday.
Blissett’s 9-year-old son Jude is one of more than 80 home-schooled students to enroll in Traverse City Area Public Schools’ latest educational endeavor: the Northern Michigan Partnership, the Traverse City Record-Eagle (https://bit.ly/2lk2Kdj ) reported. The partnership opened at the site of the former Interlochen Community School earlier this month.
“As moms, we can’t do it all,” Blissett said. “This really helps. It takes a village. . Maybe one week I’ll be able to pull off some fun (science) experiments. But two weeks later I’m burned out. But here they’ll go on and on - and (Jude) thrives on that.”
Officials assert the partnership is unique to northern Michigan albeit a simple idea. Dozens of students - most of whom have never attended a public school - stop by on Wednesday for a full day of elective, non-core classes while online offerings supplement the remainder of the week’s curriculum.
Students separate into two age brackets and are able to take courses in a foreign language, cooking, dance, physical education, music, art and more. TCAPS then collects previously unseen state revenue for additional students, and the home-schooled families receive opportunities that aren’t available at home.
“The social aspect was a huge deal for us too,” Blissett said.
But home-schooled families already would have enrolled their children in a public school if they wanted everything a public school has to offer, said partnership liaison Rose Zivkovich. Families here seek to retain control over their child’s education.
Parents want the broad offerings of a public school with the charm and focus of the more individualized attention their children receive at home. And Zivkovich - with two of her own kids attending this year - believes she found the solution.
“I like to be able to know who my kids’ teachers are, which classes they’re taking, who they’re around and what they’re gaining in their learning,” Zivkovich said. “I like to have the control to be able to treat each of my children the way they are, but I wanted a community learning environment for them too.”
State regulations prevent essential courses like math, science and social studies from being taught through the partnership. But electives and advanced placement courses - deemed “non-essential” by the state - qualify for home-schooled student enrollment.
And parents never are too far away. Mothers, fathers or legal guardians are legally required to stay on the premises throughout the day. Siblings are encouraged to participate in classes too. The partnership is focused on putting parents behind the steering wheel of their children’s education.
“I think that’s one of the reasons the program has been successful,” said TCAPS executive Chris Davis. “We went to the parents and asked what they need to be successful, and we’re seeing some great teaching and learning going on.”
More than 80 students enrolled in the program after it was first announced in December - far exceeding Davis’ initial expectation of about 35 kids. A last-minute hire boosted the total on-site staff to nine part-time instructors, but it’s the volunteer efforts that drive the school.
Dozens of parents offered to scrub the building clean before it opened. Some stick around during the day to join a makeshift janitorial staff. Businesses flooded the partnership with donations in support of the idea. And some parents even volunteered to cook up weekly lunches if needed.
“It feels like more often than not people are coming to us with questions asking if they can do this, or if they can do that,” Zivkovich said. “The answer is always ’yes.’ This is a blank slate for opportunity.”
And one student generates enough cash to float the entire bill. TCAPS collects about $6,400 for each student enrolled - and the district’s total investment to date has yet to reach $5,000, Davis said. Officials anticipate expenses to grow, but predict revenues to climb as high as $300,000 next year as enrollment expands.
“We haven’t really even expanded our advertisements to the outer counties,” Davis said, noting that the partnership still could fit hundreds of students from the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District and contiguous ISDs after enrollment reopens next year.
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Information from: Traverse City Record-Eagle, https://www.record-eagle.com
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