Independent Study Update

Independent Study Update

This school year the Independent Learning Academy will house all of the district Independent Study programs in the district. This includes a new program for elementary students TK-5 and an additional traditional model to go along with our course-based model currently offered at the Independent Learning Academy. Here are brief descriptions of the programs:

Elementary Independent Study: All students in all grades will receive daily live (online) instruction in English Language Arts and mathematics. The remaining subjects will be primarily offered asynchronously and the students will be working independently. In addition, help sessions will be available every afternoon. Students will be assigned one teacher who will be responsible for all of their instruction, grading, and progress monitoring. Students may return to in-person instruction within 5 days of the request. Every effort will be made to place the student at their school of residence, but a student may have to attend a different Burbank Unified elementary school. Independent Learning Academy (ILA) staff will be reaching out to enroll families that are currently in the program and to those that indicated they wanted Independent Study for the fall. New this year is that students will not be allowed to begin instruction until a master agreement for Independent Study has been signed by the parent.

Secondary Independent Study: The secondary Independent Study program will consist of two different models, the course-based model, and the traditional model. Both models allow for students to take up to two live in-person classes at their regular, comprehensive school.

Course-based- The course-based model is 1-2 classes at a time. The courses must be completed in 22 days in order to go on to the next course. High School students will have live (online) instruction 1-2 times per week (depending on how many courses they are taking); middle school students will have live (online) instruction 1-2 times per week, but will also be provided with a daily live check-in. The rest of the time, the students will be expected to work daily on their assignments independently. Best for students who do better focusing on one course at a time and for students who want to accelerate. This is also best for students who plan to stay in independent study for the whole year.

Traditional model- In this model, the students take 6 courses at a time, but they have the entire semester to complete the courses, just like in-person learning. Students in this model will have at least one live (online) session per week with each of their classes. In addition, they will be responsible for asynchronous work to be done independently. This model is best for students who may want to return to in-person learning at some point during the school year.

Special Education: Families of students who participate in the Special Education program and are interested in Independent Study should contact their case manager to set up an IEP meeting.

For additional information regarding the Independent Learning Academy, please contact the following personnel:

Ms. Laura Anderson – Administrator, Independent Learning Academy lauraanderson@burbankusd.org;

Dr. Peter Knapik – Director, Elementary Education peterknapik@burbankusd.org

Dr. John Paramo – Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services johnparamo@burbankusd.org

Independent Study Update

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