Did you know that when it comes to your child’s education, you do have a choice?
Each year, National School Choice Week (NSCW) is held in January to raise awareness of all types of education options for children.
During this past NSCW, The Putt family spoke out about why school choice is important to them, and why they feel they made the right choice for their family, and their son Levon.
“School choice to us means the privilege of being able to be a part of a fantastic school that we wouldn’t normally have the chance,” states Jessica. “It means having a chance at a much better education than Levon would have normally been offered. We wanted more opportunity for him. We wanted options and choices. But above all, we wanted the best education he could get.”
Just like all public schools, charter and cyber charter schools also provide their students with all services and resources needed, including counselors, special education services, state certified teachers and school nurses. Students may also participate in extracurricular activities through their home district, according to the PA Department of Education.
“When most people think cyber charter school they think no socialization, and limitations. Our concern, because he’s so young, was making sure he had interaction with peers and teachers,” Jessica explains. “PALCS was one of the only schools to offer it, and a lot of it,” she assured. “When we discovered PALCS and began to learn all of things they offered for his education AND his social well-being, that combined with how well others spoke of PALCS, it was pretty much an instant choice. Our alternative was sending him to a local brick and mortar school that faced an uncertain future. A school that didn’t have a library for students and didn’t always have enough materials. Finding PALCS and seeing what they offered made it an easy choice.”
Cyber charter schools, like PA Leadership Charter School, provides families with all the materials in order to help students succeed. PALCS provides students with a laptop, printer, headset with microphone as well as highly qualified teaching and support staff.
“We hope that PALCS continues to help us foster Levon’s love of learning, and helps him see that there are choices in life and more than one way to be successful. We think that Levon will do amazing things at PALCS. We know we made the right choice for him, and are glad we had the choice. Education is fighting an uphill battle right now and not every school has the tools they need to help make each student successful. So having a choice to do something not “normal” is amazing.”
PALCS may, or may not, be the perfect fit for your family, but it’s imperative to do your research and find the best fit for YOU; you are no longer limited to just your local school district or a private school education.
