Mt. Lebanon High School sent letters to parents and students last week announcing that students could sign up for online courses in subjects such as Chinese, screen writing, interactive game design and history of jazz for the spring semester.

The day after the letter was e-mailed to students, the district had already received one application, for the SAT prep class. High school principal Ron Davis said he expected many students to take advantage of the online offerings.

The opportunity to take classes ranging from global mythology to sports medicine for free is due to a grant partnership with the National Network of Digital Schools, which designs Lincoln Interactive courses.

In each Lincoln Interactive course, a "teacher facilitator" interacts with students through discussion board posts and e-mail messages. Students participate in podcasts and interactive activities and take quizzes and exams.

"We were intentional to look at the course catalog and try to offer students experiences that we don't offer in our course catalog," he said.

Students will still need to take their full course load, but can take the classes at their own pace outside of normal school requirements. Students may use the high school's computer facilities during study halls or before or after the school day.

"It's intended to be an independent academic experience outside of the student's course load," Dr. Davis said.

The grant will provide between 65 and 100 class slots. Students who complete a course can request to have the transcript attached to their high school transcript and mailed to colleges, but the grades in the online courses will not factor into Mt. Lebanon averages.

Dr. Davis said superintendent Timothy Steinhauer had proposed the concept of partnering with the digital schools network as a pilot program. At the end of the semester, the district will gather data and feedback to decide what role the online class experience should play in the larger curriculum.

A few years ago, the district did some pilot programs with online courses, offering Chinese and Arabic with the help of a grant through the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education. The programs were well received then, Dr. Davis said.

"We've dabbled in it in the past, but this is certainly a more expansive program," he said.

Applications for the online classes are due to Dr. Davis's office by Jan. 10.