| Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School | |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School Logo | |
| Address | |
| 1332 Enterprise Drive West Chester, Pennsylvania, 19380 United States |
|
| Information | |
| School type | Public, Cyber Charter School |
| Opened | September 13, 2004 |
| Founder | Dr. James Hanak |
| Status | Open |
| Staff | 75 |
| Faculty | 167 |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Enrollment | 2303 (12-21-2011) |
| Classes offered | 236 |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Mascot | Eagle |
| Nickname | PALCS |
| Publication | WPAL, The Beak (podcast) |
| Newspaper | The Talon |
| Website | http://www.palcs.org |
The Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School (PALCS) is a public cyber charter school, approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education[1] and open to all students in grades K-12 who reside in the state of Pennsylvania.[2]
Contents |
As a cyber school, PA Leadership provides educational content over the Internet. As a Pennsylvania public charter school, any student residing in Pennsylvania can choose to enroll in the school. After a registration and orientation process students receive a desktop computer system, textbooks and online resources.[2]
Students "attend" school by logging on to the school website, a Moodle-based learning management system, every Monday - Friday during the school year and complete the assignments by a specified deadline, which is one week after the assignment is posted by the teacher. Students have access to their assignments 24/7 and can work from any Internet-connected computer.[3]
Qualified teachers select materials from a variety of publishers and create their own lessons, which are posted on the school site for students to complete. Teachers also hold live multimedia chats weekly, where teachers can share an interactive whiteboard with students using headphones and/or a webcam.[3]
The main PALCS office is located on Enterprise Drive in West Chester, Pennsylvania and the Western regional office is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[4]
PALCS runs a Performing Arts Center in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Students take classes in Dance, Theater, Photography, Music, Art, etc. at the site while completing their normal coursework at home.[5] Student art work can be seen on display in a storefront at the Exton Square Mall in Exton, Pennsylvania.
PALCS also runs the University Scholars program in West Chester where gifted and/or highly motivated students receive on-site, personalized instruction from teachers.[6] The University Scholars program moved to a new PALCS location in the 2011-2012 school year, located minutes away from the Enterprise Drive building.