STEM Middle School

Choosing a Learning Option

Hello STEM Families!  There is a lot of information coming at you very quickly and we wanted to take a moment to clarify the most commonly asked question at the moment:  What is the difference between starting online and registering for the Dearborn Virtual Learning Program (VLP)?

Starting Online:

– Students start online with their STEM peers and with their STEM TEACHERS.

– Students will follow their STEM schedule, online, just as if they were in school (schedule information coming soon)

– STEM students WILL have STEM Apps with Segerstrom/Roberts

– Students will have a daily schedule to be “in class” at an actual time (i.e. 1st hour at 8 AM, 2nd hour at 9 AM, and so on)

– October 1st the district will re-look at the COVID 19 situation and we will either come back to school OR continue online.

– You can NOT decide to join the Virtual Learning Program in the middle of the year.


– Choosing this option means you have to do NOTHING.  Just watch your emails and the blog for the first day of school information!

Dearborn Virtual Learning Program (VLP):

– Students attend school online, BUT they are NOT with their STEM peers.

– Students are NOT taught by STEM teachers.

– Students will be assigned a random subject qualified teacher

– all teachers are Dearborn teachers who applied to teach in this program.

– Students will follow a schedule that will be created for them by the VLP.

– STEM students will NOT have STEM Apps at all.

– Choice of electives will be based on what elective teachers the VLP has.

– Students will have a daily schedule to be “in class” at an actual time (i.e. 1st hour at 8 AM, 2nd hour at 9 AM, and so on)


– October 1st when the district re-looks at the COVID 19 situation, VLP students will remain online; even if we go back to school.


– Choosing this option means you must fill out the VLP application on the DPS website.  Watch your emails for the first day of school information!- Choosing this option is a YEAR long commitment.

– If at the semester you decide you would like to come back to school face-to-face, you will be placed in any middle school that has a vacancy

– THIS MAY NOT BE AT STEM, it may not be your home middle school, and transportation may not be available.


– If you choose this option, you will be allowed to return to STEM for the 2021-2022 school year.

We hope that this clarifies the difference between the two pathways.

–Jennifer Fryzel
6th and 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher
STEM Lead Teacher  2018 National Blue Ribbon School
Dearborn Heights Campus

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