Part-time teaching online pays off

High school students at the Northwest Career and Technical Academy, for instance, could find their math teacher Mark Jimenez if they happen to take online courses from Beacon Academy of Nevada, the Nevada Virtual Academy, Virtual High School, Kaplan University, the University of Phoenix or Concordia University in Portland.

Jimenez, 33, is beating the high cost of living by teaching for five to six online schools a year while also maintaining his day job as a full-time instructor for the Clark County School District.

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Online Courses Offer Options, Support for Homeschooling Families

As more and more families seek alternatives to traditional school, we’re seeing an increase in students blending homeschool and online education. Every family and situation is different, but regardless of the circumstance, a tough decision has to be made when homeschooled students enter their high school years. In the past, the choices have typically been a) continue homeschooling through high school or b) start at/return to a traditional brick & mortar school.

Now, thanks to public online schools, like Insight Schools, families have a choice that offers different options for student-centered learning that didn’t exist just a few years ago – eliminating the either/or choice of the past. Insight Schools and other online education providers are allowing students to enroll full-time as well as part-time. A full-time option allows students to take a full course-load in the environment they’re accustomed to and still have their parent by their side, while part-time enrollment gives them the option of taking a class or two while still receiving instruction from their parents for their remaining courses.

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School district turning to solar

When the solar panels are generating excess energy, the power flows back into the city’s main power grid at a savings for Vegas PBS, Axtell said.

Vegas PBS is a self-funded service that is sponsored by the district. Its new facility is home to the district’s Virtual High School, which offers online high school courses.

Axtell looks at school rooftops as an energy asset, much like a river or a ray of sunshine. Because many district schools share the same design, there would be economies of scale in planting solar farms on school rooftops across the Las Vegas Valley.

“You have a single property owner that has large expanses of flat roofs, that all have the same exact designs because you have cookie-cutter schools. It really allows for the efficiency in the planning and the installation of solar farms,” Axtell said.

“You do it for one high school, there’s probably 10 others that have the same footprint. So you don’t have the same expense of engineering.”

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