Alternative schooling now in a class of its own

Sitting in the parking lot of her daughter's elementary school after conferences, Lynda Rowley felt helpless.

Inside the car, Rowley's third-grade daughter was wracked with grief, hysterically sobbing about her report card grades until she began to dry heave.

Her daughter, who has dyslexia, hadn't failed or even gotten C's. The report card was all A's and B's. But her daughter was convinced she wasn't good enough. That January, Rowley pulled her daughter out of public school in favor of home schooling.

With growing controversy over testing, Common Core standards and a rise in school bullying, more families in Southwest Florida are beginning to seek alternative, individualized options for their children.

Home schooling, private school, virtual courses and even "hybrid" combinations of all three have grown in popularity in the past decade — and nowhere is the trend more apparent than Collier County.

While Lee County has maintained status quo, the home schooling community has grown dramatically in Collier County.

The number of home-schooled students increased 33 percent in Lee County and 49 percent in Collier County since the 2000-01 school year, according to 2012-13 school year data.

While Lee County's home-school increase is proportionate to the overall 50 percent growth of the school district within the time span, the uptick in Collier home-schoolers is unusual.

Rowley, who lives in Naples, said she has noticed a dramatic increase in interest since founding Southwest Florida home schooling Families, a support group of about 80 families in Collier and Lee counties.

"I'm getting more and more phone calls every year," Rowley said.

Rowley said that home schooling is particularly popular for learning-disabled children. When she pulled her dyslexic daughter out of public schools 11 years ago, she felt the demanding, test-driven teaching approach was detrimental to her daughter's self-confidence and progress.

"We watched the life go out of her, her love of learning, her love of life," she said. "And when we took her out of school in January, we had our daughter back. And that was years ago when testing wasn't even that bad. I can't even imagine what parents are going through now."

Throughout the years, a vibrant home-schooling community has emerged in Southwest Florida, Rowley said. The support group holds potlucks to celebrate their children "moving up" to the next education level. Germain Arena in Estero offers a home-school-only skate session every Thursday, and The Edison Ford Winter Estates offer a series of programs specifically for home-schooled students.

The beauty of home-school, Rowley said, is its flexibility. Some families in the support group use a combination of home teaching and online courses from the public districts. Others put their children in "umbrella schools," nontraditional academies that create all the curriculum and keep track of progress for home-school parents.

Virtual school expands

Though home schooling and private schools have not grown much in Lee County in the past 14 years, virtual school has blossomed in popularity.

All high school students in Lee County schools are required to take at least one virtual course in order to graduate, but more and more students have chosen to enroll full-time, said Lee Virtual School principal Al Shilling.

When Lee Virtual School opened its so-called "doors" in Aug. 2009, it only had 89 full-time students. But last school year, it housed 314 full-time students — an incredible 252 percent increase in four years.

The reasons students choose virtual school varies. Some have time-consuming religious commitments and some have serious illnesses or are always on the road for extra-curricular interests. Others, Shilling said, find virtual school to be a haven from social anxiety. About 25 to 35 percent of his students have a diagnosed or perceived social anxiety of some form, he said.

Natalie Scarbrough, a rising senior at Lee Virtual School, was unhappy at Mariner High School. On top of the stress of keeping up her grades in rigorous Advanced Placement courses, she was being bullied by her peers. Leaving Mariner for Lee Virtual School was the right choice for her, she said.

"It's almost like regular school, but you don't have to deal with people every single day if you want to," she said. "But it's so flexible, and your teachers actually care about you. The teachers at public school just don't care as much, probably because they have so many students."

Hybrid options

Many parents who want to home-school worry about a possible lack of socialization or are too nervous to take on the entire responsibility for creating the curriculum, Rowley said.

Grace Classical Academy, a new private school in Bonita Springs slated to open in the fall, has a solution — a "hybrid" program that allows children to spend two days at home and three days in the classroom with other children.

The number of private-school students historically hovers at about 10 percent statewide. About 7 percent of Lee County students and 8 percent of Collier students attended private schools in 2012-2013, whether secular or religious.

Wendy Duval, one of Grace's board members, said the school is opening to fill the need of Christian Classical Academy, a school in Naples that recently closed due to financial hardships. The closed school offered a very popular hybrid program, so Duval thought Grace Classical should continue providing that option to area parents.

"It takes the pressure off the parents, since the curriculum is developed by the teacher," Duval said. "So a parent who thought they couldn't home-school otherwise can now do it."

Emily Loveall, whose son was enrolled in the hybrid program at Christian Classical, said the schedule was perfect for her family. Her husband works during the weekends as a pastor, while she spends her time teaching their son. Then, the family had free time to enjoy "daddy's day off."

"I loved being included in his learning and having that time with him to watch him learn and grow," Loveall said. "It was an added bonus that the teacher sent all the work home, too."

The Florida Department of Education does not keep data on "hybrid" programs, but it is certainly popular in Naples. Duval said the hybrid programs for the upcoming school year are almost completely full.

Individualized learning

Shilling said virtual classes are just one example of the trend in individualized learning, which he believes to be the future of education as a whole.

Shilling painted this picture: Imagine one student working on honors calculus while another student takes a second try at geometry. Someday, the two students could learn in the same classroom from the same teacher who could help students individually, rather than give students "the same dose of help," he said.

"It's all about options. Individualized learning is the Wild West of education, the new frontier," he said. "I'm glad to see schools like that opening up, and I'm glad to see more choices, options and competition. We can't have this one-size-fits-all education for everybody in Lee County and the world."

Whether it be home-school, virtual school or any other type of alternative learning, Duval at Grace Classical said she encourages parents to be open-minded about the possibilities.

"I would suggest that they search their heart for what they're really looking for," she said. "Some people feel the desire for home-school, or some people want more than what is being offered in the public schools, and they should really give it a try."

The number of home-schooled students increased 33 percent in Lee County and 49 percent in Collier County since the 2000-2001 school year.

Some contacts

• Lee Virtual School: 337-8178
• Southwest Florida home-schooling Families: hslynda1@yahoo.com
• Grace Classical Academy (opening in the fall): 247-2479