Calvert Education Services quietly merged with Vschoolz this week. The details of the deal are undisclosed, but the partnership positions Calvert Education to expand its current K-8 offerings through high school and to offer a wider range of electives. Calvert is steeped in a long tradition of distance learning; Calvert students completed correspondence courses via horseback as far back as 1906. The program has a century of experience working with home school students and partnering with districts to provide online and blending learning courses. The original non-profit brick-and-mortar Calvert School maintained a small interest in Calvert Education Services when Camden Partners became a majority owner in early 2013.
Given the recent concerns around K12 Inc, it’s notable that Calvert relies heavily on its Academic Board of Governors, chaired by Nancy Grasmick, former State Superintendent of Maryland, to ensure the integrity of the educational program. The merger provides Calvert with the Vschoolz platform, designed recently to take advantage of technology innovations that allow it to offer flexible and adaptive learning options. "Combining the VSCHOOLZ blended learning systems and technologies with the Calvert model creates outstanding new opportunities for delivering high quality digital education to meet the growing global demand for online and blended learning," said Richard Rasmus, chief executive officer of CES.
In addition to offering new individual courses now, Calvert will be launching a full online high school in the fall of 2014.
