WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — Like many other families across the region, military families have been grappling with whether or not to send their children to school this fall.
88th Air Base Wing commander Col. Patrick Miller held a remote Facebook town hall Wednesday afternoon addressing home school and remote education options for military families. The town hall was a counterpart to a similar Facebook event the previous week in which a group of panelists offered resources for families whose children will be attending in-person this fall.
Miller was joined by the Wright-Patt school liaison officer, representatives from the Ohio Board of Education, Family Advocacy and Military Family Life consultants, and homeschooling experts from around the Miami Valley to offer advice on remote learning or homeschooling.
“First and foremost, [remote learning options] are going to structure the program that is offered to your child,” said Shannon Cox, superintendent of Montgomery County Educational Service Center.
“Schools are trying to leverage the contracts with virtual providers that they already have,” Cox added.
For many people, including Miller’s family, this includes Lincoln Learning, one of two major virtual providers schools around the area are using.
Other families are choosing elect to sever ties with local school districts altogether. Ohio Virtual Academy is one such option for those families. Dayton Christian also provides homeschooling resources that also deliver a social component for older kids.
For homeschooling families, Miller mentioned the other resources that parents can take advantage of, taking digital learning outside the classroom. Overdrive.com is a virtual library that military kids can access. Miller also encouraged parents to take advantage of resources like virtual museum tours, including the one provided by the Air Force Museum.
Based on Q and A documents from the Air Force, military families are concerned with balancing their demanding work schedules with homeschooling their children. The base is currently looking at expanding child care resources for both civilian and military employees of the base to meet this need.
