INFORMATIONAL

  The Virginia Satellite Educational Network (VSEN) enters
  its thirteenth year of broadcasting student credit
  courses to Virginia students in the Fall, 1997.

  Courses include Japanese I, II and III; Latin I, II, III;
  Advanced Placement Calculus; Advanced Placement
  Statistics; Advanced Placement English and Advanced
  Placement United States History. Staff development
  offerings will be announced at a later date. Although
  live viewing of satellite courses is encouraged, tape
  delayed viewing is acceptable.

  VSEN courses are designed to offer educational
  opportunities to schools and students in which there are
  too few students to justify hiring a full time teacher,
  or a qualified teacher is unavailable. Courses are
  broadcast live daily to schools equipped with satellite
  dishes, over cable systems, or ITFS channels. All VSEN
  teachers are certified Virginia teachers who have been
  trained to teach televised courses.  Students receives a
  high degree of specialized assistance from VSEN teachers
  via 800 telephone lines, fax and, in some cases, the
  Internet.

  The Department of Education will continue to support
  participating schools with satellite equipment repair
  assistance. In the event of a satellite receive equipment
  failure at a school with students enrolled in VSEN credit
  courses, the Department will reimburse the school
  division for repairs made to the satellite system.

  As your schools prepare their course catalogs, please
  consider listing  the courses offered by VSEN that your
  schools currently do not offer. Registration information
  and course descriptions are available on the internet as
  part of the Department of Education's homepage at
  http://pen.k12.va.us. A registration kit will be mailed
  directly to schools in January, 1997.

  For more information on VSEN course offerings or access
  please call Greg Weisiger, VSEN administrator, at (804)
  692-0335.


  RTL/emt