As the clock ticks toward 8:30 a.m., 10 faces pop up on teacher Kim Hill’s screen — a constellation of online learners. Most are in Rochester but some are scattered across Minnesota.
Hill greets her students just as she would in person: “Good morning, my darlings. I am so happy to see you all,” she said. “You guys make my day.”
These students are members of the Online Chargers, a new 330-student K-12 school in the Rochester school district. Instead of reporting to a brick and mortar classroom every day, they fire up their computers for real-time learning. Everything from math, to reading, music and physical education is baked into their day.
