ThunderRidge High School
Douglas County School District
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
(Pearson Digital Learning NovaNet)
 

“Using NovaNET has helped to create more time to interact with and assist each student, and has also created more time to be proactive to the expansion of the program.”

— John Stokely, NovaNET Instructor, ThunderRidge High School 

• Since 1999, the Douglas County Schools STAR program, along with NovaNET, has granted almost 650 credits and assisted over 150 students in obtaining their GED.
• Students who are shy or not achieving in a traditional classroom setting are finding NovaNET to be a non-threatening way to succeed.
• Students with a deficit of credits are able to speed up the recovery process with NovaNET.

ThunderRidge High School

ThunderRidge High School is one of 50 schools in the Douglas County school system, including 34 elementary, six middle, six high schools, five charter schools, and four alternative schools. Total district enrollment is 39,000.
 

Challenge/Goals
Prior to implementing NovaNET courseware, Douglas County School District was limited in the number of sites, number of courses offered, and the ability to remain current given the prior materials and methods employed with the district’s credit recovery and alternative delivery programs. 

School goals for ThunderRidge include offering additional sections of courses, raising scores on standardized tests, and increasing the graduation rate. District-wide goals include serving a broad range of students, raising standardized test scores, and improving the graduation rate.
 

Solution
In 1999, ThunderRidge High School was part of a district-wide NovaNET implementation. The district purchased NovaNET through a Douglas County Educational Foundation grant, and a School-to-Career grant. The district developed a program introduced as STAR (Success Through Automated Resources), supplemented with NovaNET courseware. Initially, there were 20 NovaNET learners district-wide, and currently there are over 300 per semester district-wide.

To meet the school and district goals, in March of 1999 labs with NovaNET access were opened in four high schools, serving 10 students per attendance period, and open at least two days per week as staffing permitted. In August 2001 the district hired additional staff to allow the four labs to be open each school day. By December 2002, another lab will be opened at a fifth high school, and the plan is for the sixth and newest, Mountain Vista High School, to open a lab by August 2003. In addition to ThunderRidge, high schools that currently have, or will soon have, NovaNET labs include Chaparral High School, Douglas County High School, Highlands Ranch High School, and Ponderosa High School. The four alternative schools, with NovaNET connectivity are D. C. Oakes High School (Castle Rock), D. C. Oakes High School (Parker), Eagle Academy, and Plum Creek Academy. 

Students selected for the program are 1) seniors in jeopardy of not graduating, 2) students who do not work well in a traditional classroom, 3) students who may have previously failed a particular class, 4) those who move into the district mid-term, or 5) students who are not able to attend regular classes due to health or disciplinary reasons. 

ThunderRidge High School Lab

According to John Stokely, NovaNET instructor at ThunderRidge, “Most administrators were eager to have this new program functioning at their schools. Others were cautious but aware of the potential benefits. Most counselors, particularly those at ThunderRidge, were ecstatic to have new options for their students.”
Daily lab schedules vary from school to school, and are primarily open as early as 7:00 a.m. and as late as 9:00 p.m. In addition, 12 students can have access to NovaNET 24 hours a day via remote dialup. 

Students enjoy NovaNET for its widespread availability and access to numerous courses, and the visual layout where they control the rate of their progress. “One student, who had not previously been particularly successful in school, called me to his computer and with delight on his face proceeded to show me how the NovaNET history curriculum had declared him a ‘STAR’. That made both of our days,” said Stokely.
 

Results
Starting with 20 students using NovaNET district-wide, the STAR program has grown to serve over 300 students per semester and nearly 700 during the 2001-2002 school year. Since the beginning, the program has granted almost 650 credits and assisted over 150 students in obtaining their GED.

A variety of Douglas County students benefit from the NovaNET labs including:

• Students who are shy or otherwise hesitant to participate in classes requiring group discussions and/or presentations find NovaNET to be a non-threatening way to learn and succeed.
• Athletes ineligible to participate in sports due to a deficit of credits are able to remove this obstacle by working at an accelerated pace on NovaNET.
• Students who struggle in a large traditional classroom setting (“C” and “D” students) often soar when distractions and excuses for failure were removed by placing them in a small lab offering NovaNET.

For more information on how Pearson Digital Learning can help you achieve results, visit http://www.pearsonedtech.com or call 888/627-5327; Canada and other international locations: 800/400-6192.

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