4 Reasons to Consider Online Middle School For Your Child
September 14, 2022
Quality online education is now a viable option for many families, including those with younger children. Sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students are succeeding at online schooling, and many are enjoying their online classes more than they did at their former schools.
When considering an online middle school for your family, keep in mind the following advantages while making your decision.
High quality, accredited curriculum
The best online middle schools are held to the same high standards as excellent brick and mortar middle schools, and a select few have been in business long before the global pandemic forced education online overnight. These long-established online schools have become models of excellence for the newer online schools.
Dwight Global Online School, for example, was founded in 2014 and is the online program of the Dwight Schools Global Network, with campuses in London, Seoul, Shanghai, Dubai, and New York. Dwight NY, the flagship campus, has a 150-year-long tradition as an independent school and was the first independent school in the Americas to offer all four International Baccalaureate programs.
Highly respected, Dwight Global Online School has received worldwide recognition for excellence as a private, accredited school. It is ranked No. 2 on Newsweek magazine’s listing of the top 50 best online schools in the Americas.
Outside accreditation ensures a school follows guidelines and standards, has top-notch faculty, and provides a benchmark for colleges and universities. Accreditation is especially important if an online middle school student continues through online high school. Colleges and universities will accept student transcripts from accredited online schools, making accreditation an essential aspect when selecting the right online school for your child.
Flexibility, with more time to explore and pursue passions
Online middle school programs provide flexibility to families with student athletes or performers. These students need a mix of time on the road for competitions and performances, as well as time each day for school, study, and to train and practice. An online school like Dwight Global can meet these needs, and still provide consistency and rigorous academics.
An online education also allows families who travel together often for business or pleasure the chance to do so without a break in learning.
Take it from Marco Badino, parent of two Dwight Global Online School students.
“I strongly recommend online learning to anyone who has a passion and ambition for something outside school and at the same time doesn’t want to give up an outstanding academic curriculum,” said Badino.
“Discipline, passion, and dedication are needed, but something almost impossible just some years ago is now feasible for global students,” Badino said. “My children also appreciate the global network of schoolmates they are building around them, and we hope in the future they can leverage this network to be world citizens ready to face global challenges. The advantages to online learning are many, and the best is flexibility.”
As Badino explained, an online school schedule frees up students to work on academics when they are most productive, and it allows them to maximize their own learning style and fully incorporate outside passions into their lives.
Development of essential life skills and support for all learners
Dwight Global students have a combination of scheduled, twice-a-week, live classes and asynchronous, recorded lectures and seminars. This instructional model provides flexibility as well as something equally important: the opportunity for students to determine their own learning style and use that knowledge to maximize each school day.
Online learning teaches time management skills, self awareness, and advocacy for a student’s own academic success, skills that often get lost completely in many traditional schools.
Both gifted learners and those who struggle in traditional schools benefit from online learning.
Strong academic students benefit from online learning because they are able to fit more learning into each day. They also have access to a wider array of advanced classes than most traditional schools can provide.
Struggling learners adapt well to learning in the comfort of their own home, with fewer distractions, extra support from faculty and administrators, and targeted help from learning resources specialists who guide them every step of the way.
Online learning is an opportunity for middle school students to develop advanced technology skills and online collaborative problem solving skills, two skill sets that are essential for their future in school and in professional careers in a globally connected world.
Strong community and culturally sensitive global mindedness.
An exceptional online middle school will make community a cornerstone of its mission.
Middle school students thrive when relationships are strong, and Dwight Global’s structure and use of technology strongly supports these relationships every day. Middle schoolers have plenty of time to engage and interact with faculty and with other students, both in class and outside of it, and to engage in opportunities for social and emotional learning.
At Dwight Global, students have one-on-one sessions with teachers, as well as regular advisory meetings, homeroom time and other unstructured time to socialize. Middle schoolers are involved in extracurriculars and clubs that provide additional time to socialize, learn, and collaborate with others.
Uniquely, Dwight Global students are also invited to join in-person orientations, graduations, guest lectures, performances, STEAM weekend, and more on Dwight's New York campus. Students may also arrange to visit and study on other Dwight campuses worldwide. This combination of online and in-person experiences is rare in an online middle school and offers families another dimension in creating personalized online learning for their children.
The combination of these elements provides a rich, dynamic middle school learning environment. Find out more about Dwight Online Global School and its highly respected middle school program here.