{"id":117417,"date":"2014-09-29T21:39:38","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T03:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortezs-goal-academy-surges-ahead\/"},"modified":"2014-09-29T21:39:38","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T03:39:38","slug":"cortezs-goal-academy-surges-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortezs-goal-academy-surges-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez\u2019s Goal Academy surges ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Goal
Goal Academy students at the Cortez drop-in center hit the books. The accredited online high school fills a niche for students juggling family or job responsibilities.<\/span>Courtesy photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Goal Academy, an online school in Cortez, has more than tripled enrollment in its second year.<\/p>\n

The local chapter of the Pueblo-based charter school went from 20 enrolled students last year to 73 this year, reports manager Wendy Daniel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have students from Cortez, Dove Creek, Pagosa Springs, Telluride, Mancos and Durango,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve grown because we meet a community need. We offer more flexibility than brick-and-mortar schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public high school offers curriculum for grades nine through 12 at no charge. It is state-accredited and is funded by taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Additional student coaches were hired to handle the increase in students, and more activities are planned at the school\u2019s Cortez drop-in center at 19 N. Maple St.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a support center where students can gather, get a snack, and talk with counselors,\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n

Last year, five Cortez students graduated; statewide, 600 students graduated.<\/p>\n

Students are given a laptop and take classes online from certified teachers.<\/p>\n

On-site classes such as film study and chess are offered, and students design some electives.<\/p>\n

They have the same academic workload as a regular high school and can earn college credits. The school encourages students to participate in concurrent enrollment programs with community colleges and trade programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they graduate, they have a skill or certificate and are in a better position to get a job if college is put on hold,\u201d Daniel said. \u201cWe pay for the community college and trade school classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Partnering with industry to offer internships for students is also a school goal. For example, one student has an internship with a flight school, and another is training with a beauty college.<\/p>\n

Coaches and counselors meet with students one-on-one to monitor their progress. Midterms and finals are held at the drop-in center and are proctored.<\/p>\n

Daniel says the academy doesn\u2019t necessarily target a certain type of student.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be that they have a job and need the flexibility and convenience we offer,\u201d she said. \u201cOr they\u2019re juggling family responsibilities. They could be on a fast-track, and regular high school is holding them back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students work at their pace. Last year, a student completed the high-school curriculum and graduated at age 16.<\/p>\n

The program accepts students from ages 14-21, and will consider those a bit older if they are close to fulfilling graduation requirements. For information, call (970) 576-8076.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alternative school meets local needs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[13,4202],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-117417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-online"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117417"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=117417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}