Cordell Schools To Offer Blended Learning Option

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With the stated goal of providing a more flexible and adaptive learning environment for students, Cordell Public Schools will be offering a new blended learning option for junior high and high school students beginning this fall. The blended learning program combines the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom experience with the flexibility of an online program.

The program will be based in the school’s new Personalized Academic Center, located next to the high school cafeteria. The center is currently being remodeled to accommodate the program and will feature an open, inviting area for students to study and complete their online work.

“We want it to be an inviting area,” said Cordell Public Schools superintendent Brad Overton. “It’s going to be something like a student union center on a college campus.”

The school has hired Buddy Holman, who is a certified social studies teacher, to be the fulltime teacher in the center. Three additional core teachers will have scheduled hours in the center to provide students with access to one-on-one academic assistance in the core areas.

Students in the blended learning program will have the option of taking classes at the school, online, or a combination of both. Students in the program will also be eligible to particpate in other school programs, such as vocational agriculture and extra-curricular sports and activities.

“Our goal in creating the Cordell Personalized Academic Center (CPAC) is to offer an option for students that need a more flexible schedule or simply have different educational needs and/or learning styles than the traditional classrooms offer,” Overton said. “I believe that the benefits of CPAC will be high quality, rigorous academic classes in a virtual setting that will also allow students the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities such as athletics, band, vo ag, and art.”

Junior High School students in the program will be required to be engaged in educational activity, either by being on-site in the center, attending classes, or by working on their online courses, for a minimum of six hours per day. High school students must be engaged for a minimum of four hours per day. The software used for the online courses tracks the students’ activity on a daily basis and records the number of hours the students put into their academics.

Overton said the new program is a response to a changing environment in education both locally and statewide. He said during the first 10 years of his tenure with Cordell schools enrollment remained fairly consistent, but that started to change about two years ago. During the past two years Overton estimated that about 70 students have left Cordell Public Schools, either moving to different districts or enrolling in online charter programs.

The new program, he said, is a way for Cordell Public Schools to address that change and provide a more flexible and responsive learning environment to address the needs of those students.

“We are excited to offer this opportunity, I feel that we will better meet the needs of some of our students,” Overton said.

The school is hosting an informational meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 5, at the new CPAC, which is located next to the cafeteria at Cordell High School.

bob henline can be reached at

editor@cordellbeacon.com.