The example of online education: A school in Scio with a principal who lives near Seattle

Chris Long is trying to be an example that location isn’t the most important factor when it comes to education.

The first principal hired for the new Willamette Connections Academy – an online public charter school which starts its first school year Sept. 3 – lives in Maple Valley, Washington, about 30 miles southeast of Seattle and 236 miles away from the school’s office in Scio.

And she doesn’t have plans to move to Oregon anytime soon.

“The great thing about working at an online environment is my work is local,” she said. “Even on the road, I have pulled off to the side of the road and had meetings when I’m travelling.

“Being able to model 21st century schools and being in that online environment and how we can interact and how we can work effectively is something that I model to my staff and model to our students as well.”

Teachers and administrators at schools in Oregon must have teacher licenses in Oregon, but there is no requirement they live in the state. Long said she has completed the necessary paperwork for her license in Oregon

She said she anticipates making the trek to Oregon at least once a month for school board meetings during the first school year and possibly more frequently.

Long says she anticipates the new school to open in the fall with about 50 students from throughout Oregon, though she expects that number to grow to 250 as the school year progresses.

Though this is Long’s first principal position, she has worked in education the majority of her adult life, including as a program manager for Pearson Online – the parent company for Connections Academy – the past two years after moving to Washington.

Since she was hired in June, Long has been in charge of hiring teachers, put on a retreat with them and hired a full-time administrative assistant to work in the school’s office.

The school has leased a building from the Scio School District near Centennial Elementary School for its home office. The school's charter is through Scio and its office has to be located in the district.

She said the school will use the Connections Academy curriculum as a base for its instruction, much like Mill City-based Oregon Connections Academy, but what will make the school unique is the classes the students want to be taught.

“We have various staff that live close by that will be coming in and out of the office to work and to serve students,” Long said.

Willamette Connections Academy board president Timothy Hire said Long's distance from the school’s Scio headquarters will serve as an example for students.

Many of the students at the school also will be doing their work from a distance.

“The mission of the school as with many schools nowadays is to prepare students for 21st century careers,” Hyre said. “This is just a microcosm of how companies are going.

“All this happens due to technology. It allows you to hire the best people possible as well because you don’t have geographical barriers anymore.”

bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler