eSchool Program History

On January 24, 2006 the Kenosha School Board approved a recommendation to establish a virtual e-school in Kenosha Unified. This recommendation was brought forward to address the issue of overcrowding within Kenosha Unified School District. On May 23, 2006 the School Board officially approved a charter school request that created the Kenosha eSchool. This school served students in grades 9 – 12, and had approval for a five (5) year period. On August 24, 2010, another renewal for three (3) years was granted. The charter was also updated and approved for another three (3) year period on September 27, 2011 mainly due to the expansion to grades 6-8.  On May 22, 2012 the Kenosha eSchool Charter was brought to the Board and a three (3) year extension agreement was approved. This approval was due to the growing need and interest of online learning at all grade levels, and the school was subsequently expanded to include grades K-5.  In addition, the KUSD School Board had requested that all of the existing charter schools would align their charter contract language to a communal layout, presentation, and understanding. At the same time, The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction utilized the Charter School Contract Reviewer Benchmarks instrument, and identified changes for us to make in our Charter contract. On May 26, 2015 Kenosha eSchool received another three year charter extension.  These changes occurred due to changes in State law, and the need to update names of organizations and groups that had been changed or eliminated. Updates were also needed to reflect current practices and procedures utilized by the school. Finally these changes allowed the authorizing body (the Kenosha Unified School District) flexibility to address funding of the school on an annual basis. Currently Kenosha eSchool serves approximately 1200 students within the Kenosha Unified School District.

Kenosha eSchool Program April 25, 2023

On Tuesday, April 25, 2023 the KUSD Board of Education voted unanimously to transition Kenosha eSchool from a charter to a KUSD program. This was done to allow us to continue to service special circumstance students such as teen mothers, students needing virtual learning due to medical reasons, etc. Please note this will not have a major impact for most of our students. We will continue to service students who want to take all of their courses online (full time students). We will continue to service part time enrollments as well. We will continue to service special circumstance students as noted above.
To view the Kenosha News article regarding the transition of Kenosha eSchool from Charter School to KUSD Program click on the link: Kenosha News eSchool Article

Partnerships

The Kenosha eSchool Program is involved with two prominent organizations within Wisconsin. They are the Wisconsin eSchool Network and the Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative (WDLC).

Wisconsin eSchool Network

The Kenosha eSchool Program joined the Wisconsin eSchool Network as an invested partner in 2006. The Mission of the Wisconsin eSchool Network Inc. as a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) is to share high quality online learning resources and best practices while maintaining maximum autonomy for schools and programs to best meet the needs of their local community. It is a collaborative group of WI Educators, Districts, Schools, and Programs that work together to collaborate, create, and innovate digital learning options.

Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative (WDLC)

The Wisconsin eSchool Network and CESA 9’s Wisconsin Virtual School (WVS) have partnered with the Department of Public Instruction to create equitable high quality resources to be available throughout Wisconsin. This collaborative partnership is called the Wisconsin Digital Learning Collaborative (WDLC). The WDLC now provides pathways to more than 230 districts with cost efficient digital and online tools, resources, multiple vendor solutions, professional development, and planning guidance. The two organizations have collaborated with DPI to provide a single point for schools to access quality online courses, integrating them into the new student information system. Combined, these two programs provide partnership pathways for schools to provide a variety of high quality online and blended learning opportunities throughout the State of Wisconsin.