Virtual Surge

Enrollment at Desert Sage Academy, Santa Fe’s online school, continues to grow alongside mounting concerns over the Delta variant

by

It’s been a busy first week of school for the administration at Desert Sage Academy, says Principal Alice Braden.

Change has been the word of the day.

At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Academy at Larragoite rebranded as Desert Sage Academy, with the intention of serving students in grade 6 through 12. During the last school year—with students learning from home for the majority of the calendar—some families decided remote school was a better option for them.

A year later, Santa Fe Public Schools decided to restructure the school again, transforming Desert Sage into an online school for all grade levels. The school off West Zia Road recently took on that mission.

While all other SFPS schools opened their doors to full, in-person learning on Aug. 6, Desert Sage students started the school year either online or in a hybrid model—the district’s only remote school option.

There is another significant factor contributing to this surge of interest in the online school: the Delta variant. The spiking of cases, fueled mostly by the Delta variant, coincides, troublingly, with the return to in-person learning.

Braden says the variant is causing families to “stress and worry,” which has resulted in daily calls from parents interested in switching to remote learning.

“The unique thing about Desert Sage is that flexibility to continue to either add—or having the students return back to in-person” learning, Superintendent Larry Chavez tells SFR.

Santa Fe Public Schools, including district charters, have reported 10 positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff since the fall semester started on Aug. 2. Last year the district reported 39 cases among students and staff during the period of in-person learning—schools opened their doors last spring to willing students on April 6. Though on average, less than half of students returned to campus during the period of in-person schooling in the spring.

“We’ve been getting a lot of transfer requests, as soon as school started,” Braden says, adding that interest from families “coincides directly with, you know, students are now, ‘Oh we’ve got to go to school,’ and then they’re coming to school and thinking, ‘No, we would rather do an online option.’”

In her conversations with parents, Braden says families are rethinking in-person schooling given the uncertainty surrounding the Delta variant, particularly at the elementary level. She also acknowledges that a number of Desert Sage families have opted for this style of school because they’ve enjoyed working more closely with their children.

The district initially posted a deadline to register with Desert Sage in July, but Michael Hagele, assistant superintendent for secondary school support, says enrollment is ongoing. The purpose of the registration deadline was to get an idea of what the numbers would look like at the beginning of the year, says Hagele.

Braden says: “We have definitely more than doubled” in size since last year.

The district didn’t provide exact numbers. Chavez explains: “The thing with enrollment, it’s fluctuating right now because we still have to take a look at those students who have not reported.”

Adding an elementary program contributed to the increase, but Braden says the amount of recent interest suggests that the headcount will continue to grow. And if the trend continues, Desert Sage will need more educators to teach the expanded grade levels.

“We’re also keeping an eye on the number of families who have been in touch with us to express interest in possibly transferring so that we can keep a step ahead of where the interest and demand is possibly heading,” says Hagele.

If enrollment reaches a cap at a certain grade level, the district plans to hire additional teachers to meet the demand. For now, all classes are at an “equitable size to other classrooms across the district,” Hagele tells SFR.

But Desert Sage still has two open positions. Braden says they’re still looking for a 5th/6th grade teacher and an educational assistant.

In light of the warnings from health officials, it’s difficult to predict just how many families will sign up for remote learning. This leaves Braden and her team at Desert Sage aiming for a moving target. “It’s just changing constantly,” she says.