Cyber Charter School Values and How They Help Your Child

When parents are looking for a school for their child — be it a cyber charter school or a brick-and-mortar model — they want to know that the teachers and staff are giving 100% each day! Valued employees are important to school success, and their work directly impacts students. In this blog post, Ms. Alcott, one of our academic support teachers, explores some key values in cyber schools and how these concepts benefit the entire school community!

Everyone wants to work at a place where they feel valued! 

Whether that’s a Fortune 500 company, a small store, or owning your own business, employees want to make a difference. And in education, parents want to know that their child’s school has valued employees! 

In this blog, I’m going to give you a unique glimpse into the organizational values of some cyber schools, which types impact employees, and how these important principles affect you and your family!

What Do Cyber Schools Value?

Individualism. Excellence. Service. Family. All cyber schools have values that parents can expect, with a core set of values that focus on the student. It is that focus on the student that roots and drives all that we do here at PA Virtual.

While each cyber school has different foci, here are some values you might find, especially at PA Virtual.

WE CARE

First and foremost, our student and family-centered values show that WE CARE. 

	Well-Rounded Curricula This means investing in curricula and learning tools that provide students with multiple opportunities to engage, investigate, practice, and master subject matters.
	Educational Partnerships It’s important to develop partnerships with other organizations and schools, such as dual enrollment partnerships with community colleges and universities across Pennsylvania. These connections help students accelerate their career and educational goals.
	Customized Education A well-rounded curricula can offer multiple opportunities for customized education for all students. Learning coaches (LCs) are an integral part in communicating with their child’s teacher to ensure appropriate and adequate progress is being made. Adjustments to accelerate or intervene to support each student’s learning needs can be made by the LC and teacher working together towards the common goal: student growth!
	Academic Excellence Students are held to high, but achievable, standards.Teachers and learning coaches work in partnership to encourage students to strive to meet the rigorous academic expectations, as they prepare for the future.
	Robust Technology PA Virtual supplies families, students, and staff with the quality tools, programs, and hardware they need to get the job done — as well as an internet service provider reimbursement rate.
	Engaging Opportunities From back-to-school celebrations to end-of-year picnics, cyber schools can engage students, families, and staff in social and educational outings, service projects, and clubs. These activities are commonly scheduled on Fridays, when synchronous classes are not in session.

I MATTER

As noted earlier, parents want to know that their children are being served by enthusiastic, competent teachers and staff! Here at PA Virtual, our employee values emphasize that I MATTER.

	Integrity In the word "integrity," we see the word "grit." This grit is what keeps us working with honesty and faith that what we do is making a difference in the lives of our students.
	Making a Difference Similar to the integrity value, knowing that we are making a difference is important to all employees. At our core as a school is one main point the unbridled success of every student! Yes, academics are the forefront of what we do; however all staff deeply care about the whole child and strive to create a community that celebrates each child.
	Accountability and Compliance It’s crucial that cyber charters, which are public schools paid for by PA taxpayer dollars, undergo relentless compliance and accountability standards. PA Virtual consistently meets or exceeds these compliance goals!
	Transparent Communications Employees and families need to know what to expect, and what is happening at the school. Each week, our human resources staff sends out a communication to employees with links to pertinent and timely information. In addition to communications from their teachers, families receive a weekly internal newsletter, and building program specialists send programming updates via Blackboard to staff and families to help them stay informed.
	Trust and Culture  Employees want to work where there is trust and a positive work culture that nurtures consensus. PA Virtual has been recognized as a top employer. In fact, the human resources team was recognized earlier this year with an HR Department of the Year Excellence in Talent Acquisition award!
	Effective Operations Effective operations are crucial to the health and well-being of an organization. Using funds and materials wisely is vital to accountability, so at PA Virtual, it’s important that all departments exercise are fiscally responsible, operationally efficient, and maximize existing resources.
	Reputation Effective operations are crucial to the health and well-being of an organization. Using funds and materials wisely is vital to accountability, so at PA Virtual, it’s important that all departments exercise are fiscally responsible, operationally efficient, and maximize existing resources.

Applying to My Life

As an employee, it is difficult to narrow down which values are the most impactful to me. That being said, I love the mutual trust between staff and families, and the workplace culture is warm, supportive, and friendly. Trust and culture play out in my daily work when I see students faithfully attend class and give effort to their learning. I am grateful that my students’ families trust me to help grow their children as learners. I see an abundance of trust on a daily basis from my building-level administrators, who treat me and the teaching staff as the professionals that we are, with autonomy.

When looking for a career, you want a place that cultivates your strengths, helps you grow, and honors your contributions. Similarly, when you’re looking for a school for your child, you want an environment where teachers and administrators are engaged in their work and not merely collecting a paycheck. For me, PA Virtual is that place. 

About the Author: Heather Alcott is an academic support teacher at PA Virtual.

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Photo credits to coffeebeanworks on Pixabay.