Stillwater Christian to offer full online school

For most people, the near future probably doesn’t include hovercraft or moving sidewalks on city streets, but the odds of moving education out of the classroom and onto the Internet are high.

The Web may not replace classrooms altogether, but many educators predict that online classes will become standard components of students’ schooling.

That’s why Stillwater Christian School officials have decided to offer online courses as early as this summer.

“We see this as where education will move, if not in the whole, certainly in part. We are anticipating that and getting in the game,” Superintendent Dan Makowski said.

Online classes certainly aren’t new. Bigfork High School is in its second year of offering a host of online courses, and this year it offered some classes to Whitefish High.

But Stillwater Christian differs from other local schools in that it will give students the option of earning a high school diploma over the Internet.

“It’s a full, comprehensive online school. A student could graduate with a full diploma and all of the options, including graduation requirements and electives,” director of admissions Craig Hunnicutt said.

Stillwater Christian’s online offerings include high school basics such as algebra, English and biology. There are Advanced Placement classes in subjects ranging from art history to computer science.

And while some courses, such as Apologetics 1 and 2, and Jesus: Prophet, King, Priest, Savior, are explicitly religious, all the classes available online boast a Christian world view, Hunnicutt said.

“It’s a great way to supplement the Christian coursework we have in our school,” he said. “If a day student wants to take Chinese [online], they can take a Christian Chinese course.”

The classes are available through Sevenstar Academy, an online Christian school. Stillwater Christian is now a Sevenstar franchise and may offer its classes to students throughout Montana.

“There are no distance issues [online], so students in Havre, Shelby, Two Dot, et cetera can all participate,” Hunnicutt said.

Students don’t have to take a full online course load; they can choose to supplement their day school — or home-school — experience online.

“It’s a great way to supplement the Christian coursework we have in school,” Hunnicutt said.

There are classes for middle-schoolers as well as high school students. Some high school classes offer dual credit, so students can earn credits from one of four Christian colleges if they complete the course.

Adults interested in earning college credit could take those classes as well, Makowski said.

The online classes are a potentially less expensive option than attending a private school, Hunnicutt said. A yearlong class online will cost about $525. A student could take a full, six-class course load for $3,000.

A full-time student at Stillwater Christian with no online classes will pay about $5,600 to attend in 2010-11, Hunnicutt said.

“As families look at their budget and are still looking at options and considering Christian schooling, for some families, the online option might be the best fit in their budget,” he said.

Families might also opt for a combination of online and traditional classes, especially if their students are interested in participating in Stillwater Christian’s extracurricular activities. Students who take at least three classes at Stillwater and three online will be eligible to participate in activities next year, Makowski said.

“But things are changing so quickly, this is not a prediction for the year after that. [The day-school requirements] may change again,” he said.

Makowski said he anticipates a demand for “blended learning” — a combination of online and traditional classes. Each model offers benefits and drawbacks, he said.

Students tend to receive more immediate assistance and attention in a regular classroom with a teacher on site, and some students might need that immediacy and guidance.

But that model is inefficient, Makowski said, which is where online learning has an advantage. Instead of delivering a lecture several times a day, a teacher can give it once and students may download it when they need it. Students can work at their own pace and take greater control of their education.

The day may come when the demand for online education exceeds demand for traditional classrooms, Makowski said.

“I think we will see an acceleration of online learning pretty quickly in our secondary schools,” he said. “It could be at some point that we have very few full-time day students.”

Stillwater Christian will start enrolling its first online students for summer school within the next few weeks, Hunnicutt said.

For further information about the program, call 752-4400 or visit www.stillwaterchristianschool.org/scos.html.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.