Learning Is the Constant, Time Is the Variable: How a Small Rural High School Supports Students When Traditional Schedules Don't Work

Key Takeaways for Districts

• Attendance issues and extended absences do not need to derail graduation.
  See how students facing medical challenges, mental health needs, and life disruptions can stay on track with learning beyond the traditional school schedule.
• Credit completion is achievable for students who have fallen behind on the calendar.
  Learn about a mastery-based approach that allows students to demonstrate proficiency in required skills without repeating full courses or losing progress.
• Schools can expand course access and graduation pathways without adding staff or changing schedules.
  One integrated learning ecosystem can support credit completion, extended absences, and acceleration within the existing master schedule.

When a student battling a serious illness wants to stay on track for graduation, rigid calendars and semester deadlines aren’t the answer. At this Vermont school, the solution is a level of flexibility that comes with a lot of support and high expectations.

Small, rural high schools throughout the country are balancing a wide range of student needs with limited staffing and finite resources. Some students are managing medical and mental health challenges. Some are at risk of failing a course. Some high achievers want to move faster and take on more challenging work. This Vermont district has found a way to help everyone succeed.

Under Vermont’s Act 77 Flexible Pathways legislation, the school has put a great deal of thought into how credit should be earned and how educators can move every student toward graduation. The school’s leaders don’t see online learning as an alternative program or a last resort. Instead, it functions as a component of a larger, relationship-driven system. 

The assistant principal has helped shape that model for more than a decade, using Edmentum Courseware digital curriculum to support virtual learning, credit completion, and accelerated study. 

Staying Connected Through Extended Medical Absences

For a student with medical problems, it's often impossible to attend classes, and there can be days when completing coursework of any kind simply isn’t realistic. In a traditional semester-based model, prolonged absences might mean falling behind. Missed work can accumulate, and credit slips out of reach. 

The school’s approach allowed something different, as the assistant principal explains:

“I have a student right now who's doing chemotherapy. They don’t want to be out of school, but they’re too sick to be in school. The online class doesn’t run away on them. They don’t come back and find themselves lost. They just pick up where they left off.”

A teacher continued to check in regularly, monitor engagement, and provide encouragement. Even while physically absent from the building, that student remained part of the school community. Flexibility has helped to preserve momentum, allowing that student and many others to keep succeeding, despite what life throws at them.

Closing Credit Gaps Without Repeating Full Courses

Students who miss proficiency in a class often receive support over the summer. Rather than repeating an entire semester or year, teachers help them focus on what skills students actually missed and what they still need to learn.

• Summer school is not defined by seat time or weeks on a calendar; it lasts as long as learning takes.
• If a student struggled because they missed a specific unit or set of standards, that learning becomes the focus.
• During summer school, students complete only the coursework required to demonstrate proficiency. 
   

“I always used learning as a constant and time as the variable,” says the assistant principal. By separating learning from rigid timelines, the school removes the punitive weight often associated with credit recovery. Students aren’t forced to start over—they’re simply required to finish, making credit recovery feel achievable and fair for everyone, including those who are at risk of struggling and becoming disengaged.

Meeting the Needs of Advanced Students Within the Schedule

While some students need more time, others are ready for more challenge. High-achieving students, particularly in math, often want to progress quickly so they can access advanced coursework through a partnership with a nearby university. In a traditional schedule, acceleration comes with tradeoffs: dropping electives, leaving music programs, or giving up athletic aspirations.

The school’s flexible pathways remove those dilemmas. Students can complete a full in-school schedule while earning additional credits online, allowing them to move ahead academically without sacrificing other interests. 

The assistant principal sees this balance as one of the model’s greatest strengths. “It provides a really flexible tool for us to support kids at every level, from intervention to our highest-flying students, making sure they get to where they want to be by the time they leave high school,” he said.

Using Online Courses to Support Career Exploration

Flexibility also plays a role in career exploration. When a student expresses interest in a profession, the school provides access to job shadowing and interview opportunities. Courseware then supplements that experience with online coursework that gives them exposure to the academic demands behind the career they’re considering. For example, the extensive math skills needed for engineering or the dense legal research and writing needed for law. 

The assistant principal encourages students to explore every angle of a postsecondary path before committing to it. Here, he uses nursing as an example.

“Before you decide to go spend hundreds of thousands of dollars going to nursing school, let’s set up a job shadow and interviews,” he said. “We also have a medical terminology course online if you want to take a peek and see what you’re getting into.”

For many students, that early exposure brings clarity. The coursework becomes part of a broader independent project and final exhibition, helping them make informed decisions about their future long before those decisions start to carry financial or time commitments.

Expanding Course Access in a Small Rural High School

The school’s use of Courseware has expanded their curriculum far beyond what a small rural campus could normally offer. Courses in criminal justice, forensic science, and related fields have become popular options, giving students early exposure to subjects they might not otherwise encounter until college.

The assistant principal sees this expanded access as transformational. “It gives kids an opportunity to explore electives that we just don’t offer as a small high school.”

From Flexible Learning to Fair Assessment

Across every scenario, the school relies on consistent principles:

• Every student enrolled in an online course is assigned to a teacher
• Teachers check in regularly and monitor detailed engagement data
• Learning remains the constant while time remains flexible
• Final assessments are completed in person to ensure academic integrity

Guided notes play a central role, particularly for students who haven’t developed strong study habits. Many discover for the first time that organized notetaking makes learning more manageable. In some cases, students may use their own notes during assessments, reinforcing that preparation leads to success.

“There’s a level of trust in this partnership,” the assistant principal says. “You can’t cheat your way to a high school diploma.”

Graduation Outcomes and Lasting Impact

The school maintains both a strong graduation rate and clear visibility into students’ immediate postsecondary paths, whether they enter the workforce, attend two- or four-year colleges, pursue apprenticeships, or enlist in the military. And alumni regularly return to share their experiences with current students in the tightly knit community. But the true success of the model lies in how fully it’s integrated. 

“I think it’s how you embed it into your systems and culture, so it becomes a tool for meeting student needs and personalized education,” the assistant principal says. “That’s what we’ve found most beneficial.”

At this high school, barriers don’t define outcomes. Every student has a realistic path to graduation, backed by strong relationships, clear expectations, and flexible pathways that make success achievable today and beyond.