As schools and families adjust to the education in the COVID-19 world, difficult choices are made among virtual learning, hybrid instruction, full-time in-person learning and — for some families — full-time homeschooling.
One program addressing all those students and situations is Acellus, an online education program from the International Academy of Science, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Acellus markets itself as a learning accelerator and alternative for situations where in-person instruction may not be possible, according to the website.
"Backed by scientific research, Acellus delivers online instruction, compliant with the latest standards, through high-definition video lessons made more engaging with multimedia and animation," according to its website.
Steve Coelho is the principal at Val Verde High School, Val Verde Student Success Academy and the Val Verde Academy at Val Verde Unified School in Perris, California. He told the Sacramento Standard they have been using Acellus for approximately four years.
“I started the pilot four-and-a-half years ago, and we’ve stuck with it ever since,” he said.
Educating under California’s stringent ongoing lockdowns has been challenging, from getting students connected to even getting those who are connected to do the work, he said. But Coelho’s decision last year to go campus-wide with Acellus proved very useful once the pandemic struck.
“In the past, we were only using it for our credit recovery and our independent study program,” he told the Sacramento Standard. But Coelho wanted to enable teachers to use Acellus as a supplement to their own lesson plans.
With teachers and students already using Acellus, the transition to remote learning was simplified, Coelho said. And the difference for the teachers who do use it is noticeable.
“The truth? Kids are completing the tasks and doing the work more on Acellus, for the teachers that are using Acellus, than they are for the teachers that are not,” Coelho said.
As a continuation high school, Coelho’s students are already dealing with academic challenges, he said.
“So to have a platform like this, and one that the kids actually engage and do well with, is a plus for us,” Coelho told the Sacramento Standard.
Yet, Acellus isn’t just for institutional establishments such as Val Verde.
For those struggling with hybrid schedules, or who don’t want their children to return to in-person schooling, true, independent homeschooling may be a viable option. The overwhelming majority of research concludes homeschooling yields some of the best academic and socialization results.
For those families, Acellus offers two options: The online, fully-accredited Acellus Academy, or the non-accredited – but much less expensive – Power Homeschooling.
A comparison of the two versions by How Do I Homeschool states that the key differences between the programs are accreditation and price.
Acellus Academy is an online school and has accreditation, whereas Power Homeschool, though also online, does not provide accreditation. However, the academy option costs $249 a month, compared to $25 per month for Power Homeschool.
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