SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — Students and families with the Scranton School District Cyber Academy gathered at Nay Aug Park on Wednesday for the program’s annual end-of-year picnic.
Held at the Schimelfenig Pavilion, the event brought together cyber students, teachers, and parents for an afternoon of games, raffles, face painting, and other activities aimed at building connections outside the virtual classroom.
Program Supervisor Robert Butka said 318 people signed up for this year’s picnic, about 40 more than last year, showing continued growth and engagement within the academy.
“The fact that they get to come in and see their teachers not through a screen, it’s cute when you see the elementary kids come up and see their teachers,” Butka said. “They come up and give them hugs because you can’t give them a hug through a camera screen.”
For eighth grader Joshua Wrobel, cyber school has provided a safer and more comfortable learning environment.
“I chose cyber because it’s a lot safer because of bullying,” Wrobel said. “If bullying ever happened to a child and they wanted to protect themselves, cyber is a good spot for them because they could stay at home.”
Parents at the picnic also shared how the program has positively impacted their children academically.
“There’s direct phone calls, emails, extra help, everything that you could possibly ask for,” said parent Meagen Clancy. “My daughter went from not passing any classes to getting almost hundreds in every class and wanting to do school and wanting to do extra things and events where I couldn’t get her to do so before.”
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According to district officials, approximately 975 students are currently enrolled in the Cyber Academy, with more live classes expected to be added in the future.