K-12 Hybrid Learning Is the New Parent Preference

More parents want a weekly hybrid K-12 school model for their children. According to an EdChoice poll, if given the option, 59% of parents would prefer their children’s schooling occur one or more days each week at home with a parent or tutor, while only 41% desire on-campus schooling five days a week for their child.

Of the 59% of parents, 11% prefer that all learning occurs at home. That leaves the rest, 48%, preferring a hybrid approach to learning for their children, combining on-campus and at-home learning days each week – ranging from one day a week at home to four days a week at home. The most desirable arrangement was two days a week at home, as indicated by 16% of parents, followed by three days a week at home, as indicated by 14%.

While a two- or three-day-a-week of K-12 learning may sound new, this hybrid learning model has existed for several decades. But it’s still reaching only a small segment of the population – nowhere near the 30% of parents indicating either the two- or three-day-a-week model as their preference.

The hybrid model was launched in 1993 by Grace Prep Academy in Arlington, Texas, to meet a growing need among families who sought something between homeschooling and traditional five-day-a-week, on-campus schooling for their children. The flagship school birthed a new college-preparatory K-12 model, “University-Model Schooling.” The school’s enrollment grew from 186 students to more than 500 students within its first eight years. Hundreds were waitlisted. Over time, other University-Model schools began.

According to Dr. John William Turner, Jr., University-Model Schooling is structured as follows: 

Students take challenging age-appropriate courses of study that are set in a university-type scheduling of classes – either on Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday. Outside of class, the students work to develop sound study habits and the kind of strong work ethic they will need for success in college.

The model is based on the reality that parental involvement positively affects a child’s learning. The model also provides flexibility to parents, allowing them to select less than full-time enrollment.

During the first year that Grace Prep Academy was in operation, the students who sought admission had been almost exclusively home-schooled. The school anticipated that most families would register for only a few courses, but this proved not to be the case – approximately 95% of families elected to enroll their students full-time.

By the school’s third year, word had gotten out beyond the home-school community, and the enrollment mix shifted to a mix of one-third each of students previously home-schooled, those attending public school, and those attending private school. 

Eventually, as the years passed, the school’s strong retention rate meant that most students were now completing all their K-12 schooling in the Grace Prep Academy blended model. Parents who select this model are consistently pleased with their children’s academic growth and character development. The school’s emphasis on a strategic partnership with parents plays a significant role in this success.

Within 20 years from its launch, the Grace Prep Academy hybrid model was replicated repeatedly, resulting in 71 University-Model schools in 19 states and one international school.

The model’s many advantages draw families in, at a time when many traditional public schools are effectively pushing parents out. Extreme far-left ideologies thrust on public school children include critical race theory, radical gender ideology, revisionist history, climate-change hysteria, and an aggressively anti-American worldview. 

Parents want a school for their children that both aligns with their values and provides high-quality academics. They also want more time with their children. The blended model provides an attractive solution for parents at a lower price than traditional private schools due to less time spent on campus.

It’s important to note, however, that hybrid learning is not for everyone. It requires parents who want to be actively involved and can make the at-home days work with their schedules. With more parents having the flexibility of remote work than in decades past, the model has become increasingly feasible for many families.

Combine the flexibility that more working parents now enjoy with the great awakening that public school parents experienced during the COVID-19 school closures, and you can understand why demand for hybrid learning has reached an all-time high.