Singh, a senior, is one of a handful of RHHS students participating in the Virtual High School program, new to RHHS this year. It allows students to take classes online that are not offered at the high school. Singh is enrolled in AP Economics.
"I recommend this Virtual High School to any student who has a chance to [particpate]," Singh said. "It's a great way to further learn about any interests you have because they offer so many varieties of courses in every field you can think of. The only thing is it requires a lot of work that you have to put into it."
Singh, who also attends the Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Sciences in Hartford, heard about VHS from a homeroom announcement. Interested in pursuing business and engineering in college, he selected AP Economics to supplement other business classes he's taken in high school.
Besides possibly preparing him for a future major, Singh sees the class as way to prepare him for added responsibility that comes with college.
"It teaches a lot about responbility and scheduling and timing which is a big deal in college because everything is on your own," Singh said. "They don't baby you anymore so you have to learn how to manage your time well to succeed in college and in the future."
He also said the freedom to do the work on your own time is a positive, a change of pace from the structured classroom environment students are used to being in every day.
However, there are some sacrifices involved in taking a VHS course. For instance, Singh said if you e-mail a teacher a question, you may not get a response until the next day.
"You don't get the instaneous information that a teacher would provide in a classroom," he said. "There's also not that connection that is sometimes made, whether good or bad, with face-to-face [contact] with a teacher."
But, to Singh, taking a VHS course is still worth it. He views it as chance for students to step outside their educational comfort zone and gain important experience if they need to take an online class in the future, perhaps in college.
"It's a great opportunity to see how you can ... learn on your own and not sit in an environment that you're very used to," he said. "Because being in high school, after three or four years you're very used to the environment. You can adjust very easily. But this online course provides you with a new environment."