Mrs. Jan Bleek This is Me

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1. 1. Internet Academy - In the News/The Bellingham Herald

   www.iacademy.org/IA/AboutIA/Be - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/28/2007   Last Visited: 8/28/2007

   Of the school's 484 students, 72 percent live outside the Federal Way School District, said Jan Bleek, principal of the Internet Academy. Most live along the Interstate 5 corridor, Bleek said, but the student body lives in 80 school districts throughout the state. Students also come from other states: California, Idaho, Maine, Alaska and Texas.
   
   "This year and last, we have served students in China, Sicily, Italy, Costa Rica, Finland and Romania," Bleek said.
   
   Washington state students don't have to pay tuition to attend the Internet Academy if their home school district allows them to transfer to Federal Way. Students from outside the state, or those taking a full load of classes in their district school or summer courses, pay $140 to $275 in tuition for each course.
   
   The students themselves are a patchwork: pupils who study exclusively from home, high school students picking up extra classes to graduate early, students too sick to attend school, kids who flunked a class and are trying again online, students whose small, rural high schools don't have enough students to offer classes in physics and calculus, let alone Shakespeare, and musicians and athletes whose practice schedule conflicts with traditional schooling.
   
   The younger the students, the more likely they're 100 percent homeschoolers, Bleek said. The programs for kindergartners through second-graders, are all meant to help homeschooling parents, which was the original goal of the Internet Academy when it began seven years ago.
   
   The school has grown since then and today offers 12- to 18-week courses mostly in core courses such as math and English and a few electives such as photography. They're seeing more students every year, particularly for summer school, Bleek said.
   
   Many of the school's older students are homeschoolers, too, Bleek said.
   
   "A lot of them are at that age where they're taking classes that are maybe getting too advanced for parents to really feel comfortable with" teaching themselves, she said.
   ...
   After 10 years as a principal, including two years at the Internet Academy, Jan Bleek thinks the differences between teaching in a classroom and teaching online aren't as great as many think.
   
   "A good teacher is a good teacher, whether in the classroom or online," Bleek said.
   
   Good teachers establish relationships with their students, she said.
   ...
   Bleek said the school tries to be upfront with families when they're considering an online course.
   
   "We're finding that the more realistic a picture we can give of what it takes to be a successful student, it helps people make a better decision of whether this is something that may work for them, or just won't work at all," Bleek said.

2. 2. FWPS School Board Minutes - 03/09/04

   www.fwps.org/info/board/minute - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/9/2004   Last Visited: 12/7/2007

   Mrs. Jan Bleek, Director of Special Projects for Federal Way School District and the Internet Academy Principal said that beginning this evening transition reports will be given from secondary schools.

3. 3. Federal Way Public Schools - School Board Minutes - 12/13/99

   www.fwps.org/info/board/minute - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/13/1999   Last Visited: 12/7/2007

   Dr. Carla Jackson, Director of Organizational Development, assisted by staff member, Jan Bleek, and Robin Lake, from the University of Washington, presented an overview of the Schoolwide Design project.
   ...
   Mrs. Bleek and Robin Lake briefed the Board on the evaluation components of the program, what will work best for the Federal Way School District, and what has been learned from reform efforts in the State and the Nation.
   ...
   Jan Bleek, staff member, provided the Board with an overview of where the District is in terms of the evaluation process for the program. She said that pieces of the evaluation process are still being developed for the overall schoolwide design program, the specific study grants, and the specific implementation grants. Mrs. Bleek told the Board that rubrics have been developed as guidelines for schools who want to submit study grants. She said that the Team does screen the study grants and that there is a quality control piece built in. She said that the Team does work with the schools and does provide feedback to help them develop the very best study grant that they can. She said that built in to the application process for the study grant is a mid-year evaluation that the schools are responsible for at the school site. Mrs. Bleek said that the Team is now working with Robin Lake to develop a year-end assessment for the study grants.
   ...
   Mrs. Bleek said that one of the pieces that has not been firmed up yet is including a self reflection piece with the schools having to answer two to three questions that will determine whether or not the indicators for success are there. Mrs. Bleek said that the consultants, Tony Wagner and Paul Hill, have been asked to assist with the screening of the evaluation process before it is used in the buildings.
   ...
   Mrs. Bleek said that another component for the study grants will be if there is a decision to pursue an implementation grant that is an outgrowth of their study grant, the schools will have to provide the data and rationale to support that. Mrs. Bleek said in regard to the evaluation of the implementation grants, there is a rubric for the application grant process. She said that a bigger part of the implementation grant is a fully blown evaluation process that the schools need to have stated up front as part of their application. She said that schools involved in implementation grants will also agree to do a ye