HOPE – A new tool for online students at Hope High School will pilot an idea for the Hope Public Schools beginning Monday, Oct. 19.

HHS Principal Bill Hoglund said a virtual school call center will operate from 4-8 p.m. each Monday through Thursday for Hope from Home Virtual Academy students at HHS.

The call center telephone number is 870-722-2730.

“The call center at HHS will be a dual center,” Hoglund said. “When the call center is not receiving calls, the attendant will reach out to students who have been identified as needing help.”

The concept provides time outside of the regular school day for parents and students to use a single source for help navigating the Buzz online platform and the Lincoln Learning content application used by the district.

“A Google form prepared for teachers and staff will let the call center know who needs to be contacted for help in Lincoln Learning/Buzz,” Hoglund said.

He said curriculum questions will be redirected by the call center to the student’s classroom teacher.

“It’s more a platform than content; and, we want to make sure students know where they are operating,” Hoglund said. “They will get someone who is actually working in Buzz all the time.”

Call center attendants will use a Google form to record issues and document reporting, he said.

“The CSV sheet from the Google form and this sheet will serve as the final documentation of work performed by the attendants,” Hoglund said.

He said the concept will be piloted at HHS for eventual use by other campuses in the district, which has more than 800 online students across five campuses. The concept was approved in September by the Hope Board of Education.