GREENFIELD — As districts across the state return to in-person learning, more and more families are lining up for entry into Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School, one of the state’s two public virtual schools.
“We’re getting a lot of district referrals, a lot of family and friend (referrals), and some physician (referrals),” said Director of Enrollment and Recruitment Michelle Morrissey.
With few exceptions, the state is no longer allowing a remote learning option for school this year, resulting in parents who either prefer having their children at home, or who have concerns about COVID-19’s delta variant, considering alternatives.
For the last school year, the Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School received roughly 2,200 applications. For this school year, with several months left to apply, the school has already received close to 1,500 applications, almost 1,000 of which were received in August.
“Right now, we have a waitlist of close to 800 students,” Morrissey said, noting the list typically only has a few hundred students. “There has definitely been an increase since July with the delta variant.”
Morrissey said the school — which serves students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade — is at capacity this year with 1,050 students. The state had previously capped enrollment at 750 students until the commissioner of education increased it by 300 students last year.
“We expanded last year,” she said. “We were able to increase our kindergarten to two sections, so we were definitely able to increase our capacity.”
The current waitlist is particularly long for the younger grades, she said, explaining that each grade has a cap for “live” classes.
“The families of younger students are concerned for their children’s health, for family members in their households’ health, or not being able to be vaccinated,” she explained.
Some families are concerned students won’t keep masks on in the classroom; others don’t agree with students having to wear masks at school.
“There’s a gamut of concern,” she said.
Morrissey said the Greenfield Commonwealth Virtual School sees students from across the state — from as far east as Martha’s Vineyard to as far west as Pittsfield. The second public virtual school in the state is TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School, based in East Walpole.
Certain towns vote to cap enrollment to 1% of their district’s total enrollment, Morrissey explained. Locally, for the 2021 to 2022 school year, that includes Erving for preschool through sixth grade; Ralph C. Mahar Regional School; and Orange for preschool through sixth grade.
Morrissey said enrollment numbers ebb and flow, not only with the start of a new school year, but at various points during the year as families decide what works best for them. Because of the waitlist, the school has always been able to maintain enrollment.
“When we did increase our capacity last year, we had families start with us, and our virtual platform didn’t work for them,” she said. “We noticed this year we had new families that did school their children at home and loved it, and that’s what they decided they wanted to do.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne