SV cyber academy’s Drop-in Center offers flexibility
CRANBERRY TWP — During the coming weeks, students across America will go through the process of returning from summer break and picking up school supplies. That happened on Executive Drive in Cranberry this week, except this was no ordinary school students were walking into.
The 2023-24 school year is the first full year for the Seneca Valley Academy of Choice’s Drop-in Center, a 6,200-square-foot facility that opened in March. Tuesday through Thursday, Seneca Valley’s students showed up at the Drop-in Center for Drop-in Night, which was designed help them get acclimated to their new surroundings before the start of the upcoming school year. This included picking up their school-issued laptops and listening to a 30-minute orientation telling them what to expect.
Most of the students and parents who showed up for Thursday night’s orientation were entering the building for the first time, and they were impressed with what they saw.
"I like that it has small rooms, but it has everything like (physical education) and art and science rooms and everything like that,” said Tina Panza, whose grandson, Damian, is entering the school this year.
“It’s pretty nice; it definitely looks like a Seneca Valley place for sure,” said 15-year-old Justyn Hart. “It’s very easy to know where everything is and where you’re going.”
The Drop-in Center is the physical headquarters of the Seneca Valley Academy of Choice cyber-academy, and the word “choice” is the key word. At this school, no student’s schedule is alike. The academy offers courses that are both asynchronous (learn on your own schedule) and synchronous (teacher and students in the same place at the same time), and some students can take traditional physical classes at another Seneca Valley school in addition to cyber classes.
“We have a lot of hybrid students who take a traditional schedule for most of the day, but they take maybe one or two cyber classes,” said administrative assistant Valerie Damiani.
On any given day, SVAOC students can “drop in” for hands-on learning or tutoring, a community day event, to finish work for an asynchronous class in a quiet space, or simply to play with the robotics equipment in the STEM lab.
“I don't know that we have an ordinary day here because we are an online school,” said assistant principal Amanda Mallin. “And that’s what’s so fun about it.”
In its relatively small space, the Drop-in Center features a STEM lab with a 3D printer, a science lab, a gamer nook, a hydroponics lab and a large space for physical education classes. In fact, according to Mallin, physical education is one of the most popular programs at the school.
“We have a ton of students who take online PE to open up space in their schedule because they are already involved in athletics or another physical program,” said Mallin. “So PE is one of our most popular programs, and it’s why we have three PE teachers.”
While the center is brand-new, Seneca Valley’s online learning program is more than a decade-and-a-half old. According to the school’s website, the program began with just 36 students in 2007. It was started as an alternative pathway for students in grades nine through 12 who did not thrive in a traditional learning environment.
Today, the Academy of Choice has grown to include more than 2,000 students in grades K-12, and the Drop-in Center is strategically located where the largest cluster of them live, making it easier for parents to drive their children to the center.
“We recognize that a lot of our families are right here in the heart of Cranberry,” said Mallin. “So we wanted to make it a location where they can drop in when it's convenient for them to get help and support, and come in for some fun and engaging activities real close to home.”
