MADISON, Wis. — Up to 250 students in the Madison Metropolitan School District will be able to take advantage of an online learning option for the upcoming school year. 

The new virtual option for the 2021-22 school year is called the Madison Promise Academy. It’s an immersive learning platform, where students will have everything they need at their fingertips. 

MMSD staff are clear: this is not an extension of pandemic learning. It’s not just a livestream of the in-person classroom, as some students will be there face-to-face. Inspired by how some students thrived going to class online, this is a whole new platform. 

“We will not use Google Classroom, we will not use Zoom, students will have a one stop shop,”  said TJ McCray, executive director of library and technical services. “Their teachers, their curriculum will be there, their textbooks will be there. Everything that they need will be built inside of this individual personalized learning management system for this program.” 

It’s for kids in sixth through twelfth grade, but only a handful of students will be accepted. 

Only between 200 and 250 total students will be admitted into the program. For comparison, in spring 2021 when students were allowed to go back to school in-person or stay home, 40 percent of students learned from home. 

There are no AP or honors courses offered online. Kids cannot go to campus for one class in-person, then head home. It’s all or nothing. 

“You will truly be a virtual student,” McCray said. “You will take your exams, your quizzes, everything will be online and everything will be secure.” 

Students can participate in clubs and sports, as long as those activities are not on campus during the school day. 

“Let's just say it's Memorial [for example]. So they will enroll in Memorial, take the courses through us, but then they'll be allowed all extracurricular activities at their schools,” McCray said. "Sports, drama, theater, all those things, because they’re after school.” 

Over time, administrators expect the program will grow to elementary school grades and include more classes. For now, this is for a portion of students who thrived learning online. 

“This is a labor of love. We're constantly still working on this program,” McCray said with a big smile on his face. “There's a lot behind-the-scenes going on. Hiring for teachers, to onboarding, to building. We’re still working, we’re still learning as we go.”