Giant Campus of Washington Online High School Approved by OSPI

Giant Campus of Washington, the state's first online high school dedicated to teaching technology and business skills, received multi-year approval to operate in Washington by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) yesterday, following a rigorous evaluation process designed to ensure high quality virtual education programs in Washington State.

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) December 16, 2010

Giant Campus of Washington, the state's first online high school dedicated to teaching technology and business skills to public high school students, was granted multi-year approval to operate in Washington State by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) yesterday, following a lengthy application process that included accreditation by The Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) and a rigorous review by a team of online education experts.

"We're very pleased to announce this approval so early in our school year," said School Director James Peters. "The approval process developed by the state is very thorough. It looked at every aspect of our program in detail, so it's great to get that kind of validation for what we're doing so early on."

The online high school offers technology, engineering, digital design and business courses to Washington state high school students in partnership with the White Salmon Valley School District, which also received state approval yesterday. Under the state's Alternative Learning Experiences (ALE) provision, students can take online classes for credit while staying enrolled in their local high school. Home school and private school students are also eligible to join the program under state funding regulations. The program is also open to full-time students each September.

"We started this program because we saw the huge need for career and technical education among our high schoolers. These students need relevant, timely curriculum to prepare for the job world, and learning online is a very fitting way for them to gain that kind of experience," said Peters.

Giant Campus of Washington's unique combination of technology and business curriculum, high-qualified teachers and extra-curricular programming is the latest venture by Giant Campus, Inc., a Seattle-based company that designs project-based curriculum for online tech and business programs. Last year, the company also founded Giant Campus Academy, a private online high school that caters to an international audience of tech-savvy students. The company has plans to launch programs in other states over the next 18 months.

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