MILTON-FREEWATER — The Milton-Freewater Unified School District is launching a fully online public school for kindergarten through 12th grade this fall.

With this move, the district becomes the second in the area to launch an online school after the Walla Walla School District announced Walla Walla Online earlier this summer.

Freewater Elementary School Principal Jay Rodighiero will lead the new online school — called Milton-Freewater Virtual Learning Academy — as its learning coordinator.

Rodighiero said there has been talk of starting an online school for some time, but the COVID-19 pandemic made the need more prominent. He said the new program will remain in operation even after the pandemic ends and schools are allowed to return to normal operations.

“(COVID-19) caused quicker planning to making this happen,” Rodighiero said. “The InterMountain Education Service District in Pendleton has been instrumental in getting this started in the region.”

The InterMountain Education Service District is one of 19 such service districts in Oregon that support schools in their territory with services and resources. The InterMountain Education aids 18 school districts across Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Baker counties.

InterMountain Education is providing online programs, so teachers in Milton-Freewater’s online academy are Oregon-certified teachers hired by the education service district.

With Gov. Kate Brown ordering most schools to start the year using distance learning, Milton-Freewater schools had already announced students will begin the year online. However, students of the district’s traditional schools will return to in-person instruction once the health situation allows.

For now, these students will attend school using Google Classroom and be taught by their usual teachers.

Like Walla Walla Online, Milton-Freewater Virtual Learning Academy differs from its district’s main distance-learning program in that online-only students will remain learning online throughout the school year, even when other students return to in-person instruction.

The district is asking families to commit to at least one full semester.

Families choosing the online academy will have the choice of two learning models. One uses Google Classroom and has students interacting daily with teachers hired by InterMountain Education Service District. The other has students progress through courses at their own pace using a learning system called Acellus.

Acellus produces online learning programs for schools and homeschooling systems.

Students using Acellus-based lessons will still have a “teacher of record” assigned to them. This Oregon-certified teacher will check their progress and provide assistance as required.

Rodighiero said the Acellus-based program gives families a homeschool-like option while still allowing their children to remain public school students of the Milton-Freewater Unified School District.

“We’re excited to get this up and running,” Rodighiero said. “We’re excited to provide another opportunity for students and families.”