In the News

The new service, known as the ACES Summer Academy, will run this summer from July 6-30, 2015 at five area high schools with Aug. 20 the deadline for completing all course work and tests. The program, which blends use of the Internet with a traditional classroom, will give high school students an opportunity to make-up credits, take program enrichment classes and college preparatory programs for a fee of $150 per credit or $75 for a half credit course, according to Area Cooperative Educational Services Executive Director Dr. Thomas Danehy. He made the announcement at a lunch attended by teachers and administrators from schools in the ACES school district.

Classes will take place at East Haven High School, the ACES Thomas Edison Middle School in Meriden, Jonathan Law High School in North Branford and at North Branford High School.

Before tuition is paid, ACES will confirm that the student’s high school will accept the credit, Danehy said. All course material will be posted online. Courses are customized to meet the requirement of the student and their school by www.edgenuity.com, a company based in Arizona. "We can meet the needs of any district or student,” said Gregory Moore, an account executive with Edgenuity.

Classes will be taught by certified teachers in the areas of math, science, special education and English language. A computer and Internet access is required. ACES will lend laptops to a student who does not have one, said Danehy.

A typical program starts with a student course assessment test. For example, a student who registers to take the second half of Algebra I would take competency test on the first half of the course, Danehy said. If accepted, the student takes the second half only, rather than repeat the entire course. Tuition would be $75. Twelve hours of time in a traditional classroom setting is required between the hours of 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. Teachers will also be available for eight hours of out-of-class online learning time. All assessments are taken during class, said Erika Forte, ACES Assistant Executive Director of Curriculum and Programs.

Danehy hopes the program will lead to ACES offering other services, such as instruction for student suspended from school or unable to attend classes for some other reason. He also believes the program will help improve high school graduation rates. Without the program, he said, a senior high school student absent for 40 days, might not graduate on time. Now, they can recover the credit and graduate in their class year.

"We want to make this work,” noted Forte. "What we learn from this year may make the program different next year.”