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BlueSky Charter School was the very first 100% online charter school in Minnesota. Our students do all of their work by computer via the internet. They do not come to a school building or class rooms like most other students. They do their school work and studies from home, on their computers. Once BlueSky opened, Minnesota legislators passed a law saying that students that wanted to go to school online had to spend at least 2 days per week in a regular face to face class room with a teacher. But BlueSky was not affected by this new law, we were "grandfathered in", which means that since we were already operating before the new law was enacted, we were allowed to continue 100% online. (The law was later repealed, and now all online schools can be 100% online). As is the case with many new ideas, BlueSky got off to a rough start. Staff did not have experience teaching online. Students and parents did not have experience going to school online. Students were quitting almost as fast as new students were enrolling!! There were many technical problems. But through the old reliable method of trial and error, a good staff was assembled, a good curriculum developed, the technical issues solved, and students starting earning credits and moving towards graduation. In June of 2005, BlueSky had its first graduating class!! 17 students graduated, and two graduation ceremonies were held: one in Bloomington for students from the metro area, and one in International Falls for students from the northern part of Minnesota. In January, 2006, BlueSky held a mid-year graduation ceremony in St. Paul for 7 students that had finished their graduation requirements at the end of the first semester. Students attend BlueSky from all over Minnesota. The majority of students come from the metropolitan area of Minneapolis-St. Paul, but we also have lots of students from Northern Minnesota, Southern Minnesota, and Eastern and Western Minnesota. All the student needs to attend BlueSky is an up to date personal computer with Windows as an operating system, and high speed internet service. All classes are done online, and students can study and do their work on their own, individual work schedules. Online learning offers a great deal of freedom and flexibility to students and families. But with the freedom and flexibility comes the requirement to develop and maintain good study habits and regular work schedules, other wise it is extremely difficult to be a successful online learner. The teachers at BlueSky are all professionally trained, and licensed by the State of Minnesota. Our curriculum meets all state requirements. Teachers are continually striving for ways to engage students in learning, and to encourage students to complete all requirements to earn their high school diploma. Students are also encouraged to explore Post Secondary Enrollment Options, and to begin investigating Colleges, Universities, and Technical Colleges to continue their education after graduating from BlueSky. BlueSky is growing rapidly. At BlueSky, students learn using modern technologies. And students work with teachers that truly want them to succeed. |
BlueSky Online
