PHOENIX — As more parents opt to use the Empower Account Scholarships, or ESAs, their options for their child’s education are expanding.
Soon, a school with a virtual reality-based education is coming to Arizona. It’s called Optima Academy Online, where students can use a curriculum that will incorporate VR learning.
“A typical day for our students, if they're taking a full load of classes, it means that they may have 20 to 30-minute sessions in the morning where they're interacting live with their teacher in virtual reality,” said Erika Donalds, the CEO of OptimaEd.
The school began in Florida and is now expanding to Arizona because of the ESA expansion, Donalds said.
Students will be able to learn from anywhere using the school's curriculum, and when they learn, students can then be in a virtual classroom with their peers or even visit the areas they talk about.
“If they're learning about the lunar landing, they may be on the moon. If they're learning about ancient Rome, they will be there,” said Donalds.
Students won’t be on the VR all day. Donalds said students will be on it for a portion of their lessons then move on and do work outside of their VR headset.
There are many other schools around the Valley that students are enrolling in. Majestic Grace Christian started in the Summer of 2022. The school says it uses a “Classical Christian curriculum that integrates the Bible into all subjects.”
The school had 11 students last year and they expect to have more than 20 this year.
The founder tells ABC15 she has more than 35 years of teaching experience and has run several other private schools.
“We know the ESAs are going to be the answer for the demographics that were unable to access other Christian schools,” the school said.
There is also another school that began Tuesday for the first time and is aiming at giving parents a choice and a safe space for kids in the LGBTQ community.
The Queer Blended Learning Center is located inside one•n•ten, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the LGBTQ community. The school says it has “core standards-aligned curriculum as well as curriculum to include LGBTQ+ history and amplify inclusive civics and history courses.”
“In Arizona, parents get to choose what is best for their student with something called an Empowerment Scholarship Account or ‘school choice voucher’. Spark Community Schools is a registered private school with AZ Department of Education, and parents who choose to enroll at the QBLC will be able to pay their tuition using their ESA voucher,” the school said.
Another school, created by the Black Mothers Forum, is operating a few micro-schools that will have a curriculum that is also focusing on issues facing children of color.
“Our micro-schools were created to provide safe, joyful and supportive learning environments for our children, who came from unsafe and unsupportive learning environments in their traditional public school settings,” the school said. “Our micro-schools are designed to end the school-to-prison pipeline and create a school-to-purpose pipeline for our children.”
The school said its students use ESA funds as well as funding from other organizations and grants in the past.
As more schools like some of these listed pop up, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is warning parents that some of their rights may be forfeited if they choose to go the ESA route.
“I want parents to go into this eyes wide open. And if you decide that an ESA is best for you, then understand that those federal protections, your right to access records and your right to not be discriminated against go away,” she said.
Mayes says private schools can pick and choose which students come in, as opposed to public schools where anyone is allowed.
She also is warning of vendors that may be fraudulent.
Several families in the ESA communities have expressed concerns with these warnings, wondering if Mayes is trying to scare them away from using ESA’s. Mayes tells ABC15 that’s not the case. She said the program has grown so quickly that she feels parents should know their rights.
“I would like to make sure that ESA parents are protected just the same way that the parents who are sending their children to public schools are,” she said.
If parents choose to go the ESA route, she says parents should do research and make sure it’s a reputable school or vendor, adding that parents should also talk with others who use that program. Mayes said parents should also ask the schools and vendors what their policies are and make sure their kids will not be discriminated against.
More than 61,000 students are now using ESA’s, according to the Arizona Department of Education. That’s about the size of the largest school district in Arizona, and the program continues to grow.
ABC15 asked these schools what their criteria is for allowing kids to go to their schools. Majestic Grace Christian says the kids and their parents sign an agreement with their “Statement of Faith” knowing that that is where they’re teaching from.
Both the QBLC and the Black Mothers forum micro-schools say that anyone is welcome to their schools.
