Nexus Academy accepting students for new college prep charter school on Grand Rapids' West Side

Grand Rapids high school students now have an opportunity to attend a non-traditional college preparatory school that specializes in a technology-based curriculum of blended learning -- a combination of online and face-to-face instruction.

Nexus Academy of Grand Rapids, part of the online learning Connections Education network, is putting finishing touches on outfitting the school at 801 Broadway NW in the American Seating Park. The school will have two shifts of 150 students each, with one shift running from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the second from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The school has two English teachers, two math teachers, several success coaches and a personal trainer for physical education requirements. Fitness equipment is located within the school.

"The atmosphere is a combination of a college lounge and Starbucks, one open space with visibility for all the adults in the space and Plexiglas walls," says Mickey Revenaugh, executive VP of Connections Education. "There is a lot of individualized learning and extensive use of technology where students are working on their laptops all day. The real push is toward college or a trade school."

Revenaugh says the individualized learning allows students to work at their own pace and choose the subjects they're interested in learning without requiring an entire classroom of students for that subject.

"If one student wants to take Japanese IV, they can do that," she says. "Technology-based learning gathers data on what they're learning and where they're having problems."

Nexus Academy is a free public school chartered through Central Michigan University and is accepting applications now for the Sept. 3 start date. Click here for more information.

Revenaugh says Connections Education serves 45,000 in 22 states. Another Nexus Academy opens this year in Lansing, MI., plus three others in Ohio.

Source: Mickey Revenaugh, Connections Education
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor