Christy Smith has so many gold medals, she’s actually lost count.
You won’t find her highlight reels in any footage from London, Sydney, Tokyo nor Athens.
Christy Smith, an elementary teacher with the Chehalem Online Academy (COA), receives her gold medals in the smiles and through the sense of accomplishment of her students. This includes students in her class currently, but also the scores of other families she’s encountered as part of COA.
“Dear Mrs. Smith. Thank you for being my teacher. I love you,” one student wrote on a piece of blue construction paper she keeps in the classroom.
That’s a gold medal.
“Every time I see a student grow and progress in their education, it’s my personal gold medal,” she beamed. Smith teaches elementary age students along with colleague Eric Fuchs, who generally works with intermediate elementary students in grades 3-5. He had spent more than 20 years at Edwards Elementary. Together, Smith and Fuchs form a dynamic duo with more than 50 years of teaching combined. Currently, there are 18 district staff members who support the COA Program.
Brian Wood, COA’s elementary principal, wants to ensure families see this program as a true partnership with the schools, and as not as one that is competing against each other. It serves students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“It’s not a COA type of online program versus a brick-and-mortar, it is those two programs together,” said Wood, the elementary principal who is also principal at Ewing Young Elementary. Together, COA and our brick and mortar schools make up the Newberg Public Schools. COA is providing an extension and another way to reach out to families in the community,” he added.
What is the Chehalem Online Academy?
Chehalem Online Academy is a tuition-free, home school virtual program for Grades K-12 provided by the Newberg School District. COA is currently housed in a classroom at Mabel Rush Elementary while new space is being built at the Springbrook Education Center. It plans to open in Fall 2023.
“We are all so excited!” said Smith.
The program serves approximately 250 students in the Newberg-Dundee communities.
Students in the COA program receive support from local, licensed, and experienced District teachers, said Wood, COA’s principal.
For Fuchs, a longtime educator in Newberg, he has developed many strong relationships both with students, but also the parents of these students.
“There are other schools out there where you are given the curriculum and you are on your own,” Fuchs said. “But we really do establish that relationship, that partnership, with our families.
For many Newberg-Dundee and Oregon families, COA’s combination of online instruction and learning from home can be the perfect program to blend online instruction with regular contact with teachers, said Lynette Hammon, who serves as the de facto admissions director, program administrator, and more. As a mom, she would have loved a hybrid program such as COA offers for her own children.
Hammon is as energetic about the program as anyone.
“We’re very approachable,” Hammon said.
She said that she sees the amazing progress some Newberg students have made using this hybrid model, and is completely sold on its effectiveness for those families.
“Before we go through the admissions process, I like to ask the parents, what do you want to get out of this program? What are your goals for your children?” Hammon said. She added that COA can assist those parents with lesson plans and much more during this sometimes uncertain journey into homeschooling.
Putting COA Parents in Charge
One popular aspect of the COA model is that it squarely puts parents in the driver's seat of their children’s education.
Rachel Thomas has two children in the COA program. Her daughters are in the fourth and first grades, respectively. Her family believes in the COA model.
Thomas, a former professor at nearby George Fox University, said her family decided to give COA a try after COVID interrupted traditional educational services all over the world, let alone in Newberg.
Nervous and a little tentative at first, she’s found COA to be the perfect fit for her family.
“It’s been the best decision,” she said.
“I wasn’t planning on homeschooling, but life changes,” Thomas said during a gathering of COA students at lunch.
One concern some parents may have had about homeschooling is the inherent lack of socialization the model often provides. Fuchs said he understands that concern, but hopes families look at the activities COA is doing to provide this important link with other students. They’ve gone on a Portland Bridge Tour, to the high school for music performances, Evergreen Aviation Museum, among other fun, educational field trips the whole family is invited too. Soon, the COA students will attend Newberg High School’s performance of Mary Poppins! this April. COA students participate in district and community sports teams and other extracurricular programs as well.
Full time COA students in grades K-8 who are in good standing receive a stipend each semester to go towards electives. This can be especially helpful to many families and students who may have a different interest than what is provided at the schools. For instance, some of these activities COA students enjoy are horseback riding, martial arts, dance and much more, Hammon added.
Where it Started
The COA program began in 2012 as a result of community conversations in Newberg between district staff and families. Many families needed support from the district for their homeschooled children, Smith said.
“Then again, as we were leaving the pandemic, that conversation happened again,” Smith said. “It was clear from our families in this community that this was something that was valuable to them, and that they wanted to see continue.”
Hammon explained one major fundamental difference in how COA operates is in the area of curriculum and technology, for example. District staff support students in many ways.
“We don’t just hand you a laptop and say good luck!” Hammon said. “We’re not just an online school. We’re unique. We are hybrid. You are not just out there on your own, you are working with teachers as a team to educate your students.”
As COA’s admissions director, Hammon said in recent years many new families are adopting a homeschool model or a hybrid one for their families. For example, one of their families is an executive at Nike who travels with his family, she said.
“We do have families in other parts of Oregon currently,” Hammon added.
“We can meet almost any need out there,” she said. “There might be a few that we aren’t able to help for various reasons, but 95 percent of the families that come to us, we can build a program for them.”
COVID’s Hard Stop
“We had tried (homeschooling) during the COVID shutdown, and it worked really well for our family,” Rachel Thomas, the COA mom, continued. “We love that our kids can move at their own pace. We can slow down if we need to and really work on skills that are needed, or we can speed it up as they are learning things more quickly, which is great for our kids. And we’ve had to do it both at times. We also like the support we get from the teachers and the District.”
On this particular morning Smith worked with students in the first grade on basic geometry shapes, while Fuchs prepared for his 1pm class with the older students.
Because those relationships between COA staff and families often run deep, it presents a different kind of problem; not only is it sad to say goodbye to students, they miss the families they serve as well.
“We’ve developed such an amazing relationship and rapport with these families,” Fuchs said.
“Eric Fuchs and Christy Smith are great,” said Thomas, the former GFU professor. “We love working with them. The kids think they’re awesome. We have great conversations. When conferences start to evolve into wonderful conversations about the world, about philosophy, you know that you’ve got a good teacher.”
District Leadership Weighs In
Since taking over as Newberg superintendent, Dr. Stephen Phillips, explained that he has been talking with parents in the COA program to get feedback on their experiences, and to learn from their perspective where opportunities to grow this program exist.
“There’s a big opportunity here,” he said.
“I think any time a district only depends on brick and mortar they are missing the boat,” Dr. Phillips said. “There need to be various options for our families. I like COA because it’s another option as to how we can serve these kids and serve these families. I like the idea that if a child or parent opts to do COA part of the day and come to the school part of the day … we can make that work.”
Fuchs spoke in depth of a number of opportunities that COA students have to experience events and learning opportunities with other students. Things like field trips, special events, and even trips to see theatrical and musical performances at the high school nearby, are highlighted on Fuchs’ calendar.
Those events help provide opportunities for COA students to socialize and learn together, he said. At lunch, students in the COA program come to Wednesday’s ”Lunch Bunch” to enjoy their noontime meal with classmates and other COA students.
That was a key selling point for Thomas, a current COA parent – socialization.
“There are so many opportunities to socialize and go on field trips with COA,” she said. “That was a major concern of mine when I was looking at enrolling my children in the program. But I’ve found that is not an issue at all.”
Just Out Here Building Generators, of course …
Thomas realizes the homeschool model for families is not a task for the faint of heart.
“It takes work on the parents’ part,” she cautioned.
But, as a mom, she said she has felt inspired as she’s watched her children grasp concepts and work through difficult problems - like how to build a generator.
Yes, a generator.
“We do all sorts of fun things,” she laughed. “Just yesterday we built a generator using my daughter's bicycle and some wiring, and electrical equipment. We learned all about how generators worked, and how electricity was made. We do a lot of really hands-on, fun things.”
“Traditionally public education doesn’t have a super vibrant or collegial relationship with homeschool families,” Dr. Phillips said. “I’m trying to change that. I’m reaching out to families in our community. We have some tremendous programs we can do to make their job teaching easier in so many ways. These are programs that are available to them.”
With professionals like Smith, Fuchs, Wood and Hammon keeping COA strong for families, the future is bright, Dr. Phillips said. All of the educators involved with COA said they would love to see the model expand more beyond Newberg. But for now, they are happy to churn out gold medals all day long.
“We’ve had some great conversations and I am looking forward to continuing those discussions,” Dr. Phillips added.
“I really like knowing what my kids are learning and knowing how to supplement that,” Thomas said. “I was an educator at George Fox for many years, so I know how to teach. It’s been fun to really dig deep with them.”
“I like having my kids home all together right now. Our family needed to be together and we’ve found it to be a beautiful time. I love the support from the teachers. I know we’re hitting Oregon standards.
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To learn more about the COA program, visit the program’s website at:
https://www.newberg.k12.or.us/district/chehalem-online-learning-alliance
Families interested in learning more about COA can contact Mrs. Hammon by phone at (503) 554-4595, or by email at hammonl@newberg.k12.or.us.
