Online Program a Hit with Formerly Homeschooled Student-Athletes

Charlotte Melick has grown up playing soccer. She became increasingly skilled and competitive and looked forward to playing for Bloomington High School South. But, because she was homeschooled, the prospect seemed doubtful.

For Henley McCormick, the sport is different, but the story is the same. As a youth baseball player, he gained notice as a pitcher and third baseman and made friends with players at Bloomington High School North. He was ready to play in high school but didn’t want to give up learning at home.

Then came MCCSC Online, a virtual learning option launched this fall by the Monroe County Community School Corp. While still small, it has gained a following among former homeschoolers and others who don’t opt for in-person school.

Taking classes online let Charlotte join friends on the South soccer team this past fall and will allow Henley to play baseball for North in the spring. “I think this was meant to be,” says Amy Melick, Charlotte’s mother. “It was written in the stars.” (Charlotte’s father is Kirby Melick, who was profiled in a September 2025 Limestone Post story about sustainable woodworkers.)

Charlotte and Henley, both freshmen, use similar language to describe how it felt to learn about the program. “I was excited to be able to play with my friends,” says Charlotte, 14, responding by email to questions from The Limestone Post. “And I was excited to be able to play for Coach David Prall because I knew he would make me a better soccer player.”

Henley, 15, says he was “very relieved and happy that I would be able to do high school on my terms and still get to play the sport that I love so much.” He’s grateful “because this is what we had hoped for when I started high school. I feel like everybody should have the choice and still get to be part of sports teams, if that’s what they want to do.”

Months into the experience, both students also say they appreciate the freedom that comes with learning online. “Mostly, I just love that I can make my own schedule every day,” says Charlotte. “I can work on my classes independently whenever it’s best for me.”

About 50 students enrolled in MCCSC Online for the fall 2025 semester, says Alexis Harmon, MCCSC assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Enrollment for the spring 2026 semester opens in December.

Some MCCSC Online students are, like Charlotte and Henley, former homeschoolers who are choosing a slightly more formal approach to learning. Some have medical conditions or just haven’t taken to attending school in person. Some discovered that they liked learning online when it was required during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And families will pursue online learning whether MCCSC provides it or not. In the 2024–25 school year, more than 150 students who lived in the district enrolled in online programs run by other school corporations and over 50 attended online charter schools, according to data from Indiana’s Public Corporation Transfer Report. That meant MCCSC missed out on about $1.5 million in state funding.

The district contracts with Edmentum, a for-profit education services company, to provide online classes taught by Indiana-certified teachers. Online students count as part of MCCSC’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship. Online classes can be “synchronous,” meeting online at scheduled times; or “asynchronous,” in which students do the work on their own schedules. Students can also craft hybrid schedules that combine online classes with in-person classes at one of the MCCSC schools.

Money was one motivation for creating MCCSC Online at a time when state policies are forcing education spending cuts. “But there’s also the aspect that, well, these are our students,” Harmon says. “We believe we have an obligation to educate our community and provide them with the skills and resources to be good citizens and employees.”

That obligation includes offering an opportunity to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities to students who attend school virtually. The Indiana High School Athletic Association, which sets rules for high school sports, also has a say. For example, since 2013 it has allowed homeschooled students to play high school sports if they are enrolled in at least one class in a local public or private school, either online or in person. Schools and school districts can impose additional requirements for extracurriculars.

MCCSC isn’t the first district in Indiana to offer an online option. Some, including Clarksville, Cloverdale and Madison-Grant schools, take an entrepreneurial approach, partnering with online learning businesses that recruit students from across the state. Others, such as Kokomo, Fort Wayne, and Evansville, have done what MCCSC is doing: establish virtual schools for their own students. There are also privately operated and publicly funded online charter schools, including one with over 5,000 students.

In 2024–25, some 34,000 students in Indiana public and charter schools were classified as virtual, which meant at least half their schooling was online, according to Legislative Services Agency data. That’s about 3.1% of students in the state. Online schools generally achieve lower test scores and graduation rates than brick-and-mortar schools, and there are ongoing debates at the legislature over how they should be regulated and funded. Currently, students who attend school online qualify for 85% as much funding as students who attend in person.

Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner says the state will review its systems of online learning next year. “The question is, what guardrails or flexibilities do we need to have in place to make sure we’re getting the outcomes that we need for kids,” Jenner told The 74.

MCCSC officials stipulate that online schooling isn’t for everyone. An MCCSC Online Handbook suggests it will work best for students who are self-motivated, responsible, and disciplined, who learn independently, and who have a supportive home environment and parent support.

For families that come out of homeschooling, self-directed learning and parent support is part of the appeal. Learning online “really allows them to work at their own pace, which is perfect for a family like mine,” Amy Melick says. “They’re used to doing it on their own.”

In the Melick and McCormick families, both parents are self-employed and can work from home and be available to support their kids’ learning. They keep busy with sports, family activities, and community projects.

“Bloomington is such a great city for homeschooling in general,” says Danielle McCormick, Henley’s mother. “Our kids never had trouble making friends and keeping friends.”

The online classes are working out fine, the parents say. But for both families, the payoff is that their children can keep playing and excelling at the games they love.

“This is what we have wanted for so long,” Danielle McCormick says. “We were just hoping for it to happen.”