Boston Globe 7/12/14: 11 area districts join new virtual school. A new public school drawing students from across the region, and the state, opens next month with freshly hired teachers and administrators, a fully developed curriculum, and a spirited academic mission.
What sets apart the school for students in kindergarten through 12th grade is that none will pass through its doors. Instead, the pupils enrolled at the TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School will take their courses online, communicating electronically with teachers working at the building in Walpole.
The academy, referred to as TECCA, is the first new virtual school to be created under a law adopted early last year to pave the way for more of them across the state. It becomes the second virtual school overall in Massachusetts, joining one that has been operating in Greenfield since 2010.
TECCA, which is slated to open Aug. 27, was proposed by the Education Cooperative, a Dedham-based collaborative that provides services to 16 area school districts, including an online course program. The participating districts include Dover and the Dover-Sherborn regional system, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medfield, Millis, Natick, Needham, Sherborn, and Wayland.
