PA Distance Third-Grader, Payton Duncan, Values the Experiences Cyber School Affords Her

“I love PA Distance because all of the teachers make the learning fun and interesting,” Payton said. “There are never snow days and we never have to miss a day of school. I think PA Distance is the best.”

As a mother to a then kindergartener, Mrs. White Duncan naturally wanted to find a school that fit the needs of her smart, outgoing, and eager six-year-old.

“When I was looking to enroll her into kindergarten I had contacted other schools and I was always talking to a machine. There was no person to talk to on the other end,” Mrs. White Duncan said. “When I contacted PA Distance, there was always someone on the other end to help me and answer questions.”

“That was a big thing when I was looking to enroll Payton into a school. I wanted a personal relationship where my child isn’t just a number,” Mrs. White Duncan added. “She gets up in the morning and is excited about school.”

“I get up at 7:00 am, my mom brings me to my grandmother’s house before she goes to work,” Payton explains. “Then, I get on my computer at 9:00 am and I get to see my teachers for my Live Learning. I do homework after that on my own on the different programs PA Distance has.”

When her mother gets home from work at 3:30 pm during the school year, Payton is done with her homework for the day and is ready for her to help scan it in, using the school-provided printer/scanner, so her teachers can review and grade it.

“The self-led courses are individualized for each child. If she’s advanced with a certain topic, she is able to work ahead on her own,” Mrs. White Duncan explained. “She is being challenged all the time. If she needs to help her teachers are there to help, too.”

“I email and G-chat my teachers when I need help,” Payton added.

“Even though it’s an online charter school, you still have the ability to talk to people,” Mrs. White Duncan said. “PA Distance communicates a lot. I get frequent emails through Parent Square and I can always get a hold of someone if I need more info.”

Mrs. White Duncan mentioned that, in a lot of personal situations, friends question whether Payton is receiving the right amount of social interaction that a student might get in a brick-and-mortar school. A frequent question their family gets is, “Are you worried Payton isn’t socializing enough?”

“I say no - because everyone that is online wants to be there. She sees and talks to her teachers and talks to her friends,” Mrs. White Duncan explains.

Payton also has had the opportunity to interact with her teachers and peers while on in-person field trips, during elementary music concerts, and after-school clubs throughout her two years at PA Distance.

“I love that my teachers are so nice and that I have online concerts in the spring and winter that I attend. I like having field trips because they’re all over Pennsylvania,” Payton said. “I liked it when we went on a field trip to Fallingwater and to the Pittsburgh Zoo, Carnegie Museum, and the Heinz History Center.”

Payton also explained that she has had time to be actively involved in other things outside of PA Distance. She is in Girl Scouts, plays soccer, dance, and ballet takes piano lessons and even tends her own backyard fruit and vegetable garden.

“She has time to do all that being enrolled at PA Distance and doesn’t miss anything,” Mrs. White Duncan said. “She likes to keep busy and if she’s interested in something, we try to make it happen.”

As a seven-year-old, Payton has already been thinking about her future and what she wants to do when she grows up.

“I’m thinking of being a farmer or a kids doctor,” Payton explained. “I think that I might be able to help people and that would be a fun job to have. I thought a farmer because I’ve always wanted to have a horse and all the animals that farmers have.”

Mrs. White Duncan and Payton end the conversation by referencing some of the common misconceptions surrounding cyber schools in Pennsylvania.

“People don’t fully understand that they have a choice in their child’s education,” Mrs. White Duncan said. “People don’t understand the great things that cyber schools and charter schools offer.”

“We tell everybody about PA Distance,” Mrs. White Duncan said. “I work as a school nurse and come from a family of educators. We are very familiar with education in schools both in Pennsylvania and around the country and, with that knowledge, have every intention to keep Payton in cyber school. She loves it,” Mrs. White Duncan explained.

“She has a younger sister who will also join the PA Distance family when she is old enough for Kindergarten,” Mrs. White Duncan added.

“Oftentimes, parents I talk to think that charter or cyber school is homeschooling but I emphasize this is not homeschooling. My mother is home during the day with Payton and her sister but she does not teach them,” Mrs. White Duncan explained. “Payton has a teacher, she has several teachers, with live learning, and they are responsible for her learning. She is tested by them and graded by them.”

“I wanted to give her the choice and the opportunities that work for her,” Mrs. White Duncan explained. “She gets everything she wants and more at PA Distance.”