MANSFIELD — Many area schools are trying to leave online learning behind this fall. Mansfield City Schools is taking a different approach with its Tyger Digital Academy (TDA) program.

Unlike surrounding districts, MCS allows any K-12 student to continue their schooling through its virtual program without an extenuating circumstance.

“We just want to be able to give families an option,” superintendent Stan Jefferson said.

Last year, many local families wanted a remote option for their students. MCS began the 2020-2021 school year with more than 1,100 students enrolled in the TDA. About 850 students were still enrolled in the program at the end of the school year.

As of Aug. 4, there were 320 students enrolled in the Tyger Digital Academy for the 2021-2022 school year, according to Director of Digital Education Heather Kushner.

There are 30 district staff members assigned to the TDA. Students in the TDA will be eligible for breakfast and lunch deliveries from the district, but parents must fill out an online form ahead of time.

Jefferson called last year “a tremendous learning experience” for educators. Now the district hopes to implement the lessons learned to improve the educational experience. 

Unlike last school year, TDA students won’t be fully online. The state of Ohio discontinued provisions that allow traditional school districts to participate in fully remote learning, but it’s allowing school districts to provide a “blended learning” platform for students.

As a blended learning program, students will use online software platforms but also receive virtual instruction from TDA teachers. They will also be required to have regular, in-person contact with school officials. Only those with highly sensitive medical needs can be fully remote.

“With the blended learning model, our teachers will be able to maybe see our students once-a-week on a regular schedule or once-every-other week,” said Heath Kushner, Director of Digital Learning.

“It’s our intention to see our students on a more frequent basis but still to provide that flexibility that families want.”

In addition to regular check-ins, students could come in for tutoring or other interventions as needed.

Kushner, who has worked as an intervention specialist and more recently as the dean of students at the Hedges Campus, said she wants to personalize the TDA experience to each family’s unique needs.

“I would like to connect with our families. I know that’s a lot of work, but our families are important and every student is different,” she said. “I would really like to address individual student needs and to address the needs also of the family, while still providing the required standards for education.”

If a student simply isn’t thriving in the TDA, the district will allow them to transition back into their home building.

Kushner and Jefferson hope the program will continue to grow and possibly expand to attract students from outside of Richland County.

“I have ideas. I’d like to try to bridge out obviously to the neighboring counties, but to try to bridge into the state — to make this a statewide program for us,” Kushner said.

Since the TDA is licensed as a public school, the district will receive the same state funding per student that other districts schools do, Treasurer Tacy Courtwright confirmed in an email. This includes open enrollment dollars.

The Tyger Digital Academy will hold its open house on Aug. 23 from 5 to 6:30 p.m.