You’ve heard it before but now we know it’s true. The higher the hair, the closer to Heaven, and we’re pretty sure Dolly is a saint.
Dolly Parton’s Dollywood in Sevierville, Tennessee will start covering 100% of tuition, fees and books for any of their employees who want to further their schooling—any, y’all. Seasonal, part-time and full-time employees in Dolly’s empire, including Dollywood, Dollywood’s Splash Country, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort, Dollywood Cabins and Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show, can enjoy this perk through the GROW U pilot program launching on Feb. 24.
There’s no catch. Dolly’s employees can enroll in diploma, degree and certificate programs offered through 30 learning partners on their very first day of work. Subjects such as business administration and leadership, culinary, finance, technology and marketing are fully covered and partial funding—up to $5,250/year—is provided for 150 additional programs in fields like hospitality, engineering, human resources and art design.
The Dollywood Company’s president, Eugene Naughton, told local Tennessee news outlet WATE, “We know when our hosts are happy and feel cared for that they are going to pass that along to our guests. The creation of the program allows another avenue for us to care for our hosts.”
The company’s tenets include learn more, care more, dream more and be more. “When our hosts strive to grow themselves, it makes our business and our community a truly better place.”
And this isn’t the first instance of The Dollywood Company living their corporate tenets. Dolly’s Imagination Library partners with local communities to provide every preschool-aged child a free book each month, and she gives away over $1 million a year in donations through her Dollywood Foundation.
She read bedtime stories to our children during the darkest days of the Covid lockdown. Oh. And she also gave $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to fund the development of the Moderna vaccine, so she kind of solved a worldwide pandemic, too.
As one of her early songs goes, “Just because I’m blonde don’t think I’m dumb cause this dumb blonde ain’t nobody’s fool.” We couldn’t agree more. She’s a shrewd businesswoman who uses her influence and resources for extraordinary good.
—Shelley Massey
Featured image Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library via YouTube
Education is evolving. It’s no longer just about learning how to read, solving equations, and taking tests. Today, students are immersed in the realm of diversity, inclusivity and community. They’re encouraged to be proud and accepting of themselves, while also learning to work with others across lines of difference. They’re taught how to become a well-rounded person through social-emotional learning and mindfulness, while also being immersed in art, music and STEM that enrich a whole child.
This holistic approach to education is what Citizens of the World Charter Schools (CWC) Los Angeles, a tuition-free, non-denominational school, is currently cultivating for its students in grades TK (transitional kindergarten) to 8. Through its progressive education model, CWC is developing its students’ abilities, confidence and sense of responsibility for themselves and their community—while also holistically preparing students to succeed in their next educational journey.
In 2010, CWC initially launched by opening the doors to its first campus in Hollywood. Due to the school’s impressive results and overwhelming community demand, it expanded to the neighborhoods of Silver Lake (2012), Mar Vista (2013), and most recently, the West Valley (2020) and East Valley (2021) communities of the San Fernando Valley.
Photo Credit: Citizens of the World Charter Schools
Today, CWC can proudly say that it is the largest public charter network in L.A. committed to serving a socioeconomically and racially diverse student body. In addition to its middle schools serving its Mar Vista, Hollywood and Silver Lake campuses, CWC plans to expand even further in the next few years, by opening another middle school for its elementary school students in the San Fernando Valley.
Over the last decade, CWC has cultivated a robust curriculum. It blends critical thinking, cognitive skills and creativity with its key fundamentals of academic excellence, diversity and community. While students are still required to partake in standardized tests and core subjects (math, reading and writing) the program places a large emphasis on art, music, physical education, social-emotional development and project-based learning.
As a result, CWC schools have consistently ranked at the top of LAUSD schools in terms of test performance, with students going on to attend the top L.A. high schools.
Its staff, faculty and teachers believe that its holistic approach can help prepare future leaders in a rapidly changing global society. “We are preparing our students to emerge as a new generation of leaders—as trailblazers who are ready to tackle the future challenges in our world and surpass the conceived limitations of what students, communities, parents, and schools can achieve in the world,” says Jennifer Mansfield, founding Principal of CWC West Valley.
Photo Credit: Citizens of the World Charter Schools
CWC’s learning model is also unique, from constructivist and culturally relevant to data-driven and project-based. At the beginning of the school year, teachers draft detailed assessments of each child, which are then revisited numerous times throughout the year. This helps keep students on track to excel but also pinpoints areas that may need additional attention.
CWC schools also tout low student-to-teacher ratios, with a teacher assistant in every classroom for grades TK-5. All 6-8 grade classrooms are kept to a maximum of 28 total students. CWC’s smaller classrooms help ensure that all children are given the proper attention and resources to aid in their success, continued growth and development. With balanced classroom sizes, teachers are able to get to know each child as an individual.
The shift in mindset for new parents is palpable at the beginning—planning for their future can often become your central focus. The sudden feeling of urgency to tackle financial planning to support your children amid sleepless nights can be overwhelming. Add it to the never-ending list of tasks that comes with kids! It can be paralyzing—especially after the year we had in 2020, which taught many of us that our financial futures can be uncertain. Life insurance, retirement, college savings, rainy day funds, emergency medical…the list of investments that seem immediate and necessary are dizzying.
It can be difficult to know how to prioritize all of these things, and I often get asked by new parents how to juggle all of the financial decisions facing their families. I’m asked all the time: “Is it possible to save for retirement and college for my kids?” With careful financial planning, it’s possible to achieve multiple goals, including retirement and funding college.
When it comes to prioritizing these goals, I tell parents that it’s important to put on your own oxygen mask first—in other words, make sure you’re maxing out your retirement accounts first before putting money aside for college education. Being financially independent and giving yourself the best chance for a secure future is one of the best gifts you can give your kids, and it models great money management. And remember, you can take out loans for college if you really need them, but you can’t take out a loan for your own retirement. When it comes to college planning, the interest rates for federal student loans—the types of loans your children might take out if they need to—are usually less than what you can make by putting your money in retirement investments.
Once you’ve maxed out your own retirement accounts, the next question is often: What’s the best way to start saving for my child’s college education expenses?
Here are 4 tips for saving for college while also keeping your other financial priorities, like retirement, on track:
1. Clearly Define Your Retirement & College Savings Goals
One of the first steps to coming up with a good plan to fund both your own future and your kid’s future is clearly defining your goals. After all, how do you know how much you can put toward your child’s future if you don’t know how much you need for your own? It’s important to understand what kind of retirement you want, and how much you’ll need to support the lifestyle you want. Pick a date, track your budget, know your cash flow, and remember to always look at your finances in a “big picture” way. Then you can back out into how much you’d like to contribute to future education expenses and establish some realistic savings goals.
2. The Early Bird Catches the Worm
If your own financial situation is on track (you’re maxing out your retirement accounts, you’ve eliminated any high-interest debt, and you have a healthy emergency fund), the earlier you can start socking away some funds for your child’s education, the better. Saving early will allow more time for potential growth on your investments. This can be as little or as much as you want—don’t let the amount hold you back. It might not be easy to start putting money away initially because you may be balancing higher up-front costs as new parents, such as new medical needs, financing a family-friendly vehicle, and paying for daycare costs. However, the earlier you start, the more time your savings will have to grow before paying that first tuition bill.
3. Know Your Options
While college savings plans abound, keeping savings and investment strategies simple with a low point of entry often works best as a place to start. This is why 529 plans are so popular — Most plans offer valuable tax benefits and can be an attractive option for more “hands-off” investors (assuming an aged-based option is available). But there are tradeoffs to be aware of—sometimes these plans can come with high fees and often you’ll have minimal control over the investment strategy. But they can be a great option for many families, especially since they can now be used to cover primary and secondary school expenses in many cases. Other options include custodial accounts such as UTMA/UGMA accounts, and IRAs (Roth and Traditional). What’s best for your family will depend on your personal situation and goals, so make sure you do your research before choosing.
4. Consider a Financial Advisor
There’s a lot to think about when it comes to saving for your family’s future. There’s also a lot of conflicting information out there on the internet and it can make taking on these complex financial planning decisions seem quite difficult. Many people choose to work with a financial advisor to help them navigate these decisions and reduce some of the stress involved in doing everything themselves. If this is a route you choose to go, look for an advisor who is a fiduciary—which means that they are legally bound to always act in your best interest. Also, try to avoid any advisor or firm operating on commission—you don’t want to be sold on investment products or plans that aren’t right for you.
In short, it’s definitely possible to save for your child’s future without sacrificing your own, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated. If you start early, prioritize your own financial security first, and choose the right method of saving for your situation, you’re well on your way to the future you envision.
Michelle is a Certified Financial Planner® with a range of Investment Management experience. She manages the Private Client Group at Personal Capital as the lead for high net worth investment clients. When she’s home, Michelle spends her time running- both for exercise and to chase after her very active toddler, Connor.
Parents and caregivers need camp more than ever. Whether camp serves as child care or a just needed break, day and residential programs have become important for families. However, it is harder than ever for some families to pay for summer camp with unemployment and more limited funds or access to disposable income. Summer camp expert, Allison Miller, Founder, and CEO of Happy Camper Live, a 365-day year platform centered around the world of summer camp offers some advice for financing programs.
1. Camper Scholarships: “Camperships” are offered to families in need. Ask the Camp Director if full or partial scholarships are available. Most camps reserve a number of spots for campers in need.
2. Offer your services: Working for a summer program is a great way to pay for camp. Camps have a variety of roles besides the typical camp counselor role. Office, food service, activity leaders, camp moms are common needs and roles for adults that may provide a way for you to earn money to pay for the camp experience for your children.
3. Ask your employer: Some employers will assist parents with summer camp tuition.
4. Consider Non-profits: Non-profits such as the Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA’s, Scouts, and local Parks and Rec Centers provide great free or low-cost day and residential programs. Local groups and organizations such as churches, synagogues, civic and military programs run camps as well.
5. Research organizations that provide camp experiences for income-eligible families. For instance, SCOPE (Summer Camp Opportunities for Children) complete an application, including an essay, and apply to one of their partner camps. Morry’s camp is a free-of-charge program for children from underserved communities in New York City. Another great organization to check out is Kids2Camp.org which also provides camp scholarship programs. Google the word “camperships” plus your area to find participating camps.
6. Create your own neighborhood camp: Parents and caretakers can hire local camp counselors or share hosting a program. Happy Camper Live provides great on-demand camp activities that they can use to run the program or reference from art to dance to music and sports.
7. Check to see if you qualify for a tax credit. The child and dependent care credit gives a tax break for many parents who are responsible for the cost of childcare if your child is under 13 years old or no age limit if they are disabled. Day camp or summer camp fees may apply if the camp was selected to provide care while the parents are at work. Overnight camps do not qualify. You will be required to get a receipt from the camp or organization and then file Form 2441 to claim your credit. Be sure to speak with your accountant or tax expert if you have any questions.
8. Try virtual camp: There are plenty of great options for campers to experience right at home. For as little as $4.99 your child can experience camp on-demand at happycamperlive.com. Other virtual camps that offer live programming do so at a significantly lower price than in person.
Allison Corey Miller is the Founder and CEO of Happy Camper Live, a lifestyle brand centered around the world of summer camp. Her vision is to bring the magic of summer camp to every kid in the world 365 days of the year.
Wheaties announced today that LeBron James will be the next athlete to adorn the cover of the iconic orange box. James takes over the cover from Serena Williams, both of whom were named Associated Press Athletes of the Decade earlier this year. James will continue Wheaties’ 85 year-run of featuring sports champions on the collectible boxes.
The box looks a little different this time. Alongside James is a collage of kids and families from the LeBron James Family Foundation’s transformational I PROMISE program in Akron, Ohio. The wraparound image includes students and staff from the I PROMISE School, the groundbreaking Akron Public School opened by James and the Foundation in 2018 that serves the district’s most at-risk students and their entire families. The school and the Foundation’s comprehensive programming have redefined the community of Akron and is a testament that James has never forgotten where he came from. No matter how much on court success he has had, his legacy is much bigger than basketball.
“We all know LeBron James for his record-breaking basketball career, but his achievements off the court truly set him apart,” said Taylor Gessell, brand experience manager for Wheaties. “From starting the LeBron James Family Foundation, to boldly speaking out on racial injustice, to launching the I PROMISE School – LeBron is a champion of change who is using his sports platform to better the world. We couldn’t be prouder to feature such a positive force of inspiration for the next generation of champions on Wheaties’ historic box.”
James grew up in Akron, Ohio, where he leaned on his family, friends and community to lift him up when times were tough. He was a standout high school player for St. Vincent-St. Mary before being drafted as the #1 overall pick. James has gone on to win three Championships, four league MVPs. He currently stands as the 3rd all-time points leader and he can now add Wheaties Champion to the list.
“Growing up where we come from, to see my I PROMISE kids and families from Akron, Ohio, represented on the iconic Wheaties box means everything,” said James. “The movement we’ve started in Akron is about doing our part to uplift our community by first listening and then responding with the resources they need. We will continue to do everything we can to create a better future for our kids and our community, and it starts with the students, teachers, and everyday champions you see on this box.”
In 2004, James, who proudly refers to himself as “just a kid from Akron,” started the LeBron James Family Foundation to give back to the same community that changed his life. LJFF started by organizing community events and in 2011, refocused its efforts on education. In 2018, LJFF opened the I PROMISE School, dedicated to giving Akron’s most challenged kids the resources and support they need to excel in school and beyond. With its Family Resource Center, the Foundation eliminates barriers families face with access to job support, legal aid, healthcare, GED classes, financial literacy programs, and an onsite food pantry. For those experiencing homelessness, the Foundation opened the I PROMISE Village to provide transitional housing. LJFF has also guaranteed tuition to The University of Akron or Kent State University for every eligible I PROMISE graduate. James and his Foundation have started a movement that is transforming the future for thousands of Akron families.
“Having our students, families and educators on the Wheaties box alongside LeBron is pretty powerful, and it illustrates that deep and meaningful work cannot be done alone,” said Michele Campbell, Executive Director of the LeBron James Family Foundation. “It takes an entire community to truly rally around those that need it most, and it takes a lot of passion and hard work. But it can be done, and we’re humbled to continue pushing the envelope on what’s possible for these families and all communities across the country.”
The limited-edition LeBron James and I PROMISE Wheaties box will be sold on www.Shop.Wheaties.com now and will roll out on store shelves in the U.S. in the next several weeks.
There’s nothing quite like raising kids in Los Angeles. We can (in theory, at least) go to the beach in December, though we actually never would. Our kids have strong opinions about taking the freeway versus service streets, and they ask for sushi in their lunch box. And we worry about keeping up with the Kardashians, not the Joneses. Read on to see 25 signs that you are an LA parent.
9. You have literally never thought of taking a picture of your child by the Hollywood sign, or on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or really anywhere in Hollywood for that matter.
Joshua Sudock/Disneyland Resort
10. You've seriously considered getting an annual pass to Disneyland.
11. Your kid thinks the four food groups are sushi, burrito, power bar and green juice.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we all cope with uncertainty in different ways. For cousins Sabrina Haechler & Jessica Bukowski, quarantine led them to channel their energy into helping others. Their new project called resilienSEED features handmade bracelets with words spelled out in Morse Code using seed beads. Profits from all the bracelets are donated to causes that align with Sabrina and Jessica’s values. Read on to find out more about resilienSEED and these charming bracelets that are handmade with love.
What are resilienSEED bracelets and who makes them? Handbeaded in Mill Valley, California, resilienSEED bracelets are simple, stylish and functional. They’re made out of waxed polyester, which makes them totally waterproof. You can adjust them to fit all wrist sizes and they can also slip easily on and off.
The cousins tell us, “We’re super fortunate to have a lot of help from our relatives, many of whom live nearby. On any given day, there’s a good chance that you’ll find our parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins helping us out with beading. So many great things have come from resilienSEED, including the bonding of our family during the pandemic.”
Where do the profits go? To date, resilienSEED has raised around $1,500. Sabrina and Jessica explain that, “originally, we were focused on raising money for COVID-19 relief. We chose to donate to the Child Mind Institute’s COVID-19 response after Emma Davidson, a family member and Psychotherapist, spoke to us about the importance of mental health, especially during these uncertain times. After a month of launching resilienSEED, we realized that we could have a greater impact in our community. Now, we stay up-to-date on current events, and we’ve expanded to raising money and awareness for social justice (Campaign Zero), LBGTQ+ suicide prevention (The Trevor Project), and tuition for children affected by cancer (The Forever 49 Foundation).”
Designs and custom orders Choose from 10 different designs with empowering words like “Strength”, “Love”, “Unite” and “Justice” spelled out in Morse Code.
The dynamic duo reveal, “We knew that we wanted each type of bracelet to represent something different, which is why we use seed beads. Each bracelet is beaded with two different colors of seed beads, which collectively spell out a word in Morse Code.”
resilienSEED also accepts custom orders for $10. We ordered a bracelet with our kids’ names spelled out in Morse Code.
As a new parent, the list of to-dos seems endless and, let’s face it, daunting. From babyproofing the house to building your own infant pharmacy, tackling bigger-picture necessities like your finances may seem like the last thing you’re ready to take on. But it’s never too early to start planning for financial goals and expenses, especially when you’re expanding your family. As overwhelming as it may seem now, you’ll thank yourself in the future if you tackle a few financial necessities as soon as possible.
1. Invest in Life Insurance
Your family is just beginning, so why focus on passing away? Life insurance is one of those tricky topics. No one wants to think about dying unexpectedly, but the unfortunate truth is that it’s still better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Life insurance isn’t about betting against yourself—it’s about helping ensure your family has financial security should something happen to you.
What many people don’t realize is that the lower your risk of death, the lower the cost of life insurance. Purchasing a life insurance policy when you’re in your 30s can be half as much as purchasing one when you’re in your 50s. In fact, a policy can be as little as $9 per month in your 30s versus $20 per month in your 50s.
Additionally, the younger you are and the fewer assets you have, the more you benefit from life insurance. For example, if you’re in your early 30s, you may not reach your peak earning years until your 40s. You might also be paying off student loan debt and a mortgage. Life insurance helps replace that income so your family can maintain their lifestyle.
There are two types of life insurance, and it’s important to understand the differences:
Permanent policies come in the form of whole life and universal life insurance and are designed to remain in place for the entirety of your life.
Term life policies are purchased to cover select periods of time, usually in increments of 10 years. While premiums are typically lower, term life policies don’t offer you the ability to build cash value.
Speak with a financial representative to determine which type of policy best suits your family’s needs.
2. Adjust Your Budget
Part of the initiation process in becoming a parent is hearing from at least half a dozen friends how much it costs to raise a child. NerdWallet estimates costs over $250,000 for raising a child until they’re 18 years old. This calls for a new family budget.
When adjusting your budget, evaluate all new expenses. Determine your recurring costs for healthcare coverage, childcare, college savings (let’s tackle that next) and everyday costs for supplies like diapers, clothing and food. These will impact your monthly budget for the next few years and may adjust in the future. Do you need to cut back in other areas of your budget, or do you have other sources of income to make up for these new expenses?
If you’re preparing to welcome a new baby to the family, you’ll want to budget for up-front, one-time costs. Some of the bigger-ticket items can include a safer or more child-friendly vehicle. Some families also need to transform a former office or guest room into a nursery and purchase new furniture.
If you struggle to build or maintain a budget, consider using a budgeting app. One of the most popular is Mint, which syncs to your bank accounts and tracks all your incoming and outgoing money. Organize expenses by category so you can see where you spend the most and least and adjust your budget as needed.
3. Start Saving for College
You’re likely thinking, “Isn’t my kid at least 17 years away from college?” Yes, but as you may remember from your own experience, college is expensive. A ValuePenguin study found that public, in-state colleges cost an average of $20,770 per year (for tuition, fees and room and board) and private colleges an average of $46,950. Multiply that by four and you’re looking at more than $80,000.
Too often, parents make the mistake of waiting to save for college until their child is in high school. Rather than try to save as much as possible in a few years, it’s much less taxing on your wallet if you spread it out—save a little each month and factor the cost into your monthly budget from year one.
Now is the time to speak with a financial representative and research your college savings options. Beyond traditional savings accounts, many families choose to invest in a 529 plan, which is a tax-advantaged savings plan designed specifically for saving for future education costs. The great thing about 529 plans is that you can use the savings for K-12 tuition if unexpected costs come up or you decide to send your child to a private high school. A financial advisor can help you identify an appropriate plan and savings goals based on current finances.
As many new parents quickly learn, a little preparation can save you a lot of stress in the future. Start tackling these three essential financial steps by researching your life insurance and college savings options and dusting off your budget. You’ll feel like a champ parent, and you can focus on the beautiful years of raising a family.
Kendra is a writer for Eligibility.com who loves healthy living, the outdoors, and obsessing over plants. When she isn’t writing, Kendra can be found exploring the mountains with her puppy or curled up at home with a good book.
My parents both came from typical middle-class families, and until I was a teenager, they were making a comfortable living. When I was 13, their software company went public and they literally became wealthy over night, which significantly altered our standard of living. They constantly hammered home their one money mantra–live below your means–but that meant very little to me without any context. Lucky as my hand was, my parents made a few key mistakes when it came to teaching me about money, and it wholly affected the way I understood and spent money. I’ve vowed to do it differently for my kids.
1. Not Talking About Money. My parents never talked about money–not how much they made, not how to invest, not how to budget. Coming from relatively humble beginnings, I actually think it was a defense mechanism to try to keep us grounded. They didn’t want us to know how much money we had. But I grew up with literally no sense of the value of a dollar. I paid for law school by borrowing the maximum amount allowed all three years and nearly passed out when I found out I had accumulated just under $200,000 in student loans and was expected to pay $1,500 per month for the next 25 years. I could have easily cut out a huge chunk of the cost by finding a cheaper school, living with a roommate, eating out less, paying for some of it in real time with a part-time job, or any combination thereof.
While I’m not necessarily a proponent of telling my kids how much money we make, we do try to talk about money in general terms even with our toddler. When possible, we let her engage in the money exchange process and talk about the concept of paying for goods and services. She understands the foundation, because we’ll often hear her parrot back to us that you need to work hard to buy things you want. Since we mostly pay using our credit cards, this is where we hammer home my parents’ mantra–living below our means. In our family, we use credit cards to build credit, but we only spend what we can pay off in full each month. Each family has to decide for itself how detailed to get, but money should be a regular topic of conversation so kids can grasp the concept in its most general sense.
2. Not Teaching Me to Manage My Money. Until I finished undergrad, I was completely financially dependent on my parents. Although I worked part-time since I was 16, whatever money I made was just fun money. What’s more, my parents gave me a “budget” while in college, but they paid for everything from tuition, room and board, car payment, insurance, cell phone—I even had a credit card they paid off for gas, incidentals, and food—so I now lovingly refer to their so-called budget as an “allotment of money,” since I wasn’t required to make any sort of plan about how to spend it. When I think about how many thousands of dollars I earned between summer jobs and my money allotment, I can only laugh at the missed opportunities to save and invest in my future.
While my children are currently too young to do any substantive money management, we have explained to our three year old the basics of saving, spending, and giving. She has a savings account and a college fund, and when she receives money for birthdays or holidays, we discuss the different ways to allocate it. She doesn’t quite get it yet, but we want her to handle money management as early as possible, so it’s not as novel to her as an adult as it was for me.
3. Never Explaining Investment Basics. Part of this was circumstance. Like many families, my parents really weren’t investing. They just didn’t have the expendable income to do so before their company went public. They saved for emergencies, but I’d be surprised if they had an investment account before they came into significant money in their 40s. I’m sure I learned the basics about compound interest in a junior high math class, and we “invested” money and followed 5 stocks in my high school economics class, but that was the full extent of my understanding of investments.
With our toddler, my husband created the “bank of mom and dad” where she can “invest” and receive a guaranteed return on her money. She received $2.00 in spare change recently, and we told her the kinds of things she might be able to buy for $2.00 and offered an alternative to invest it with the Bank of Mom and Dad and let her money grow over time so she could buy something better. Again, at three years old, I’m not sure she fully grasped the concept, but she opted to invest. As she and her brother get older, we will let them make more significant investment decisions.
Money is a sensitive subject, and there’s no one right way to handle it. But I firmly believe the more children understand money, the better equipped they will be to manage it wisely.
Keren is a business owner x2 (flat-fee lawyer and digital marketing operations) in active pursuit of the elusive work-life balance. With a couple of demanding jobs, a husband who travels for work and two little kids, she maintains her sanity by reading and engaging in inappropriate banter with friends, family and strangers.
The education world will undoubtedly learn a lot from the coronavirus experience, so expect online education to evolve as well. We’re witnessing a newfound appreciation for all of the things we take for granted about schools—they provide childcare, socialization, meals, extracurricular activities. Schools do so much more than just educate and we’re seeing parents, teachers, and administrators really come face to face with all of those other benefits.
While I don’t think there will be a mad race to replace brick-and-mortar schools when this is done and think most people will be really happy to see them return, I do think we will likely see more integration of technology into the traditional school experience. If your school doesn’t have the funding or demand to offer more AP classes? You can take them online. Does a student have a specific need when it comes to reading? We now know that it works to put together small, specialized groups online so that across multiple schools or districts we can form groups that fit those exact needs.
The lessons from this period could make learning more personalized and expose students to more options within the flow of a traditional school day. One other big lesson we’ve learned is how much of a strain it is on parents to facilitate online learning from home for entire days or weeks. Schools are all at various stages in the life cycle of being remote-ready. That was a challenge for us in launching Virtual School Day, trying to determine where we could help best whether through “office hours” to assist students with lessons and homework they were already getting through school, enrichment-type classes to help fill the day with extracurriculars while core content was delivered through the school system, or core curriculum classes to fill the void left by schools that weren’t yet equipped to deliver remote learning.
One thing that’s been really impressive is how innovative teachers are, themselves. So many teachers had websites ready to go to keep parents updated, allow for the distribution and collection of assignments, and stay in regular contact.
The college experience is a whole other can of worms and one that has been due for a major shakeup for some time now. Tuition is rising, the typical bachelor’s degree doesn’t have the same value as it did in the past, class sizes are massive and yet students often cannot get into the classes needed to graduate on time. And don’t discount the fact that we have an entire graduating class, carrying a fortune in student loan debt, coming out into the toughest hiring market since arguably the Great Depression. That combination of a semester’s worth of online classes filling the void and a really diminished ROI on most degrees will accelerate what has been due: top universities really leveraging their brand by offering certificate programs in an online format, innovative colleges driving down costs by making more coursework scalable online, and those that aren’t able to adapt seeing their value proposition look worse and worse over time.
So, can remote learning work? Absolutely. Since schools began to close, we’re already noticing kids love the quick-comment nature of typewritten chat, so that they don’t have to be “on stage” as the sole speaker in the room when asking or answering a question. They’re working through adaptive assignments based on diagnostic quizzes. And, they’re making new friends across the country. Remote learning at its best is highly personalized, highly interactive, and, consequently, highly effective.
But I’d also be lying if I didn’t admit that we have a huge tailwind: right now, classes are optional so it’s the most motivated, naturally curious students who are joining the most classes and submitting the most assignments. For highly motivated students, remote learning works extremely well. And online learning really does, also, have the ability to help motivate other learners because it can be so easily personalized, more learners get to feel that schools challenges but doesn’t overwhelm them and involves them without the same level of pressure of being on stage in front of potentially judgmental classmates. But that also doesn’t mean it’s a panacea. We all remember that teacher whose side-eye glance could snap a student back in line, or whose friendly hallway greeting could help a student realize that he’s valued and that someone believes in his potential. Online learning has lots of advantages that we’re discovering and accelerating right now, but in-person learning has some very hard-to-replace aspects, too. Ultimately, a system where the two work hand in hand will benefit the most students.
Brian Galvin is the Chief Academic Officer for Varsity Tutors. A lifelong educator with a Master's in Education, Brian's been teaching and developing online classes since 2009. He most recently helped design Virtual School Day, a free remote learning program that includes live, online classes to help students during coronavirus school cancellations.
