North Central Parke Schools ready to embark on PH Connect

With a goal of always trying to do better and more for North Central Parke Community Schools, the district is ready to embark on a virtual option for students.

According to Dr. Michael Schimpf, the district superintendent, PH Connect is the latest tool the district is rolling out to offer a new academic setting for families. 

"We are working hard on our virtual school. There has been a lot of conversation about that. Every school in the state is trying to come up with a virtual option right now, and for us, we really want to make it our own. To farm it out, doesn't thrill us. We want our virtual students to know they are North Central Parke kids. We are working to put that together. It is going to take some time. Flexibility is so important to people and they want to be able to do this or that with their kids. We want to be able to have some flex in our schedule, and we are trying to find ways to provide that," Schimpf told The Parke County Post. 

According to Schimpf, the new format will allow students who have been working in "nontraditional" classrooms like a homeschool setting or other online platform an opportunity to benefit from continued flexibility as it relates to course offerings and still be able to participate in traditional school activities like extracurriculars, dances and vocational. 

The increased flexibility is a major selling point of PH Connect, according to Schimpf. 

"We think this is going to be the best of both worlds for students and families that have moved away from traditional schooling. The increased flexibilities will benefit a number of families. We are soliciting interest from families now. Individuals can check our website for updates and contact information. The new director of the program is Amanda Delp," Schimpf said.