New Online High School from Wisconsin Connections Academy Available for 2011-2012 School Year

Appelton, WI (Vocus/PRWEB) February 17, 2011

Wisconsin families looking to switch schools have a new option for virtual high school -- Wisconsin Connections Academy (WCA), the states high-quality, highly accountable virtual public school, is now offering online learning for grades K-12 starting in the 2011-2012 school year. This years public school open enrollment period started February 7th and will run through February 25th, 2011.

We have received numerous requests from satisfied parents who want their children to continue with the Connections Academy program beyond eighth grade, said Michelle Mueller, principal of WCA. I encourage families to learn about WCAs new online high school and our well-established K-8 program at one of the upcoming parent information sessions planned throughout the state. This next year is going to be very exciting for all of us.

In addition to providing a seamless K-12 school experience, WCAs comprehensive new high school program will be a challenging, standards-based curriculum offering high-schoolers a wide variety of rigorous courses that provide a solid foundation for whatever path they choose upon graduation attending college or starting a career. Each high school student will be loaned a laptop for the year. Core courses cover subjects in math, science, language arts and social studies; electives range from foreign languages to digital technology, journalism and art history. Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses will also available, along with comprehensive, academic, college and career-planning guidance services.

WCA, Wisconsins first virtual school, meets the needs of students who, for a variety of reasons, learn better outside of the traditional classroom, but who can still benefit from the resources a public school provides like a high-quality curriculum, textbooks and lesson plans. Students learn at home under the direction of state-certified teachers from the Appleton Area School District. Learning Coaches, typically a parent or guardian, assist the students by monitoring their progress in the home.

Mueller added that virtual schooling continues to grow in popularity in the state of Wisconsin. In fact, according to a new study by iNACOL, Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning, Wisconsin had 3,927 students enrolled in full-time online charter schools in the 2009-2010 school year, and that number is expected to grow in future years.

Wisconsin Connections Academy continues to be a popular choice for families not only because of the flexibility it provides, but also because of its commitment to meeting rigorous state, regional and national standards for academic excellence, said Mueller.

WCAs successful and proven track record is widely known and a driver of parent and student interest in the online school. WCA consistently meets Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, a measurement defined by the U.S. No Child Left Behind Act that allows the U.S. Department of Education to determine how every public school and district is performing academically according to results on standardized tests. Once again, in the 2009-2010 school year, WCA received successful AYP marks across all objectives. Also in a 2009 Connections Academy survey of parents with students enrolled in WCA, 95 percent of families in WCA gave the program an A or B when it came to grading the school. More than 96 percent of families said theyd recommend WCA to families with children attending other schools.

These favorable results help demonstrate our commitment to student success and serve as useful measures for parents comparing the public school options available in our state, especially during this open enrollment season, Mueller added.

WCA is a public school chartered through the Appleton Area School District, and there is no tuition or fee to enroll. Through Wisconsins open enrollment law, students who live outside of the district can apply for admission to WCA during Wisconsins open enrollment period. To learn more about WCA visit our website, Facebook page, or call 1.800.382-6010.

VIDEO: A Day-in-the-Life of a Connections Academy Family

About Connections Academy

Connections Academy is a leading, fully accredited provider of high-quality, highly accountable virtual schooling for students in grades K through 12. Through tuition-free public schools, full-time and part-time private school programs, and turnkey online programs for bricks and mortar schools, Connections Academy delivers superior, personalized education for students, with the freedom and flexibility to experience our online learning community from anywhere. The combination of certified teachers, a proven curriculum, technology tools, and community experiences creates a supportive and successful online learning opportunity for families and children who want an individualized approach to education. In the 201011 school year, Connections Academy will serve students in Arizona, California (Southern and Central), Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming through its public school programs. It serves students worldwide through the online private school, National Connections Academy. Connections Academy offers grades K through 12, though some public school programs do not offer all grades. For more information, call 800-382-6010 or visit http://www.ConnectionsAcademy.com

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Pepperdine University Graziadio School Study Shows Confidence of Privately-held Business Owners Up 53% Over Past Year

Los Angeles, Calif. (PRWEB) June 06, 2011

According to the results from the recent Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project (PPCMP), business owner confidence has increased 53% from Spring 2010 to Spring 2011. Similarly, business owners outlook on growth opportunities has increased 20% over the past year.

While business owners are enthusiastic about growing, many of them lack the financial resources to do so. Nearly 95% of the 1,221 privately-held businesses that responded to the survey report having the enthusiasm to execute growth strategies, yet just 53% said that they have the necessary financial resources to successfully execute their expansion plans.

Approximately 54% of those businesses attempting to raise capital in the last six months were unsuccessful and of those that were successful, approximately 59% of them secured bank loans followed by 20% who secured financing from friends and family. Just 13% of privately-held businesses that responded to the survey reported securing funding from Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists and Private Equity combined.

Businesses need capital to grow and build value, but unfortunately the supply is not meeting the demand, said Dr. John Paglia, lead researcher of the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project and associate professor of finance at Pepperdine Universitys Graziadio School of Business and Management. Increasing availability to all sources of capital, especially bank loans, will give businesses the resources they need to hire more employees and expand their operations both of which will improve our economy.

Findings from Summer 2011 PPCMP report revealed that access to capital is very competitive: banks denied approximately 60% of loan applications over the last six months; Angel Investors funded just one business plan of 25 reviewed; Venture Capitalists funded just one business plan of 80 reviewed; and Private Equity funds invested in just one business plan out of approximately 150 reviewed.

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Eco-entrepreneur Majora Carter Delivers Global Keynote Address at Westtown School

West Chester, PA (PRWEB) September 29, 2011

Westtown School, a Quaker college preparatory school in West Chester, PA, welcomed eco-entrepreneur Majora Carter on September 25, 2011, when she delivered Westtowns first annual Global Keynote Address. Her lecture, entitled Home(town) Security, opened the schools 2011-12 season of Shoemaker Events, made possible by an endowed fund created to bring leading thinkers and performers to Westtowns campus.

Majora Carter's Shoemaker visit is consistent with Westtowns vision for global education. Although the schools program offers a range of international options for students, it is also global in scope, preparing graduates for life in a diverse and interconnected world where change is the one constant. Carters lecture highlighted global competencies that are at the heart of a Westtown education, among them civic responsibility students acting as responsible local and global citizens in the interests of a larger community and sustainability. Carter also lifted up for the Westtown audience of approximately 450 the skills and competencies that serve her in her own work: creativity, initiative, perseverance, an ability to perceive and act on the big picture, and most important, an abiding concern for humankind.

Carter wove threads of her personal story into the Westtown lecture, explaining that during her lifetime the South Bronx went from an economically diverse neighborhood to a virtual wasteland as a consequence of poorly-considered urban planning initiatives, white flight and generational poverty. She spoke about the environmental burdens that are disproportionately placed on communities such as the South Bronx, communities that possess the fewest resources to resist them. These include poor air quality from municipal and industrial waste handling, power generation, and sewerage treatment facilities. She noted a Columbia University study linking proximity to fossil fuel burning sources and learning disabilities in children, in addition to ER visits for acute asthma attacks at a rate four times that of the national average. But Majora Carter also conveyed a message of hope again using examples from her own experience about community members who reclaimed green space in their neighborhoods, pointing to the grass-roots effort that led to the creation of Hunts Point Riverside Park, the first South Bronx waterfront park in 60 years when it opened in 2006.

Host of the Peabody Award-winning public radio series "The Promised Land," Majora Carter is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow and serves on the boards of the US Green Building Council and The Wilderness Society. Majora Carter founded and led Sustainable South Bronx from 2001-2008, when few were talking about sustainability anywhere, especially in places like the South Bronx, which she described as the poster child for urban blight. She coined the term "Green the Ghetto" in 2003 as she pioneered one of the nation's first urban green-collar job training and placement systems, also spearheading legislation that fueled demand for these jobs. Her 2006 TEDtalk was one of 6 presentations to launch that groundbreaking website.

Since 2008, Carter's consulting company has exported climate adaptation, urban micro-agribusiness, and leadership development strategies for business, government, foundations, universities and under-performing communities. She is currently seeking funding to repurpose the infamous Bridges Juvenile Detention Center, also known as Spofford, a Bronx facility that was closed in March 2011. Carter envisions a business-attracting community hub with shops, restaurants and a farmers market that will bring healthy food options to a community that currently has few.

According to Majora Carter, Westtown students asked good questions, including what they themselves could do to support sustainable environmental initiatives. Her answer was deceptively simple: look no further than your own back yard and work with what you know. The takeaway for students was that challenges are everywhere, and working to solve the local ones can have an impact far beyond ones own community.

Majora Carter is the most recent in a long line of Shoemaker visitors who have come to Westtowns campus and worked closely with students at the school. Beginning in the early 1960s with the poet Robert Frost, they have included such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, Elie Wiesel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz, singer Pete Seeger and the Philadanco dance troupe, along with many others.

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