An online learning option, Texas Promise Academy, will begin in the 2026-2027 school year for intermediate and high school students in Klein ISD. This is being introduced to allow for more diverse learning opportunities.
“We are excited to offer this as another way to serve our students and families,” Klein ISD Chief Academic Officer Dr. Anthony Indelicato said.
Leslie Komplien, a former principal at Ulrich Intermediate, Krohn Elementary, and Strack Intermediate, has been named the new principal of Texas Promise Academy.
“I have experience at all grade levels. From Pre-K all the way through twelfth grade,” Kompelien said. “I say I have seen kids enter with a promise and exit with a purpose.”
To apply to the new online school, families can go to the Texas Promise Academy website and fill out the application they have provided. With the program being so new, the administrators are able to view each application thoroughly, looking at things such as grades, attendance, and behavior. Students who enroll will be allowed to do all online classes or a combination of online and in-person.
“We have Klein Prep, Dual Credit, and Advanced Placement classes,” Kompelien said. “We actually have two graduation endorsements, business and industry and multi-disciplinary, through fully virtual. So you will actually be able to earn a full high school diploma completely online.”
Students are also afforded an opportunity to participate in a hybrid option with online and in-person classes. Those who do decide this path will still be required to follow general security procedures when entering and exiting the campus, and will be required to attend the in-person classes with the same attendance expectations as full time in-person students.
“You would need to be here at transition time to be at one of the doors that allows for transition,” Klein Oak Principal Thomas Hensley said. “If you’re late, then you would have to go through the normal front desk check-in procedures. If you were a student at Klein Oak, you would need to have your ID visible.”
An online learning program like Texas Promise Academy is designed to help students who struggle with bullying, want to get ahead in their academics, or might struggle with attendance due to traveling or sickness.
“Online learning can potentially reduce school related stress for students who feel anxious or overwhelmed, provide a safer environment for those who have experienced bullying or social conflict, and allow students to learn at a comfortable pace without feeling rushed or left behind,” Klein ISD Youth Service Specialist Callie Cantrelle-Richard said.
Though there are benefits, online-only graduation plans can also negatively impact a student’s mental health by increasing their feelings of isolation and anxiety according to the Intercultural Development Research Association.
“I think the social aspect of life is important,” chemistry teacher Katherine Stastny said. “You need to be able to interact with all kinds of people and learn to handle difficult situations that will not come up when you are more secluded at home.”
Students who choose the hybrid option will still get to interact with peers at their home campus, but those who choose all online classes could lack that sense of community unless they are involved in non-school related clubs or sports.
“I would say [lack of socialization] socialization was the biggest negative of homeschool, but I still played baseball so I was still able to keep up with my friends,” senior Jacob George said. “Though, if you don’t play a sport or stuff like that, I could definitely see it being more damaging.”
Besides the social aspect being a possible negative, there are other potential downsides that could reveal themselves as time passes. One of the main questions, which is currently being discussed with the Texas Education Agency, is how this will affect GPA and class ranks.
“Right now we are exploring all of the options on how to make a final decision,” Kompelien said. “I can’t speak to the different types of options because there are so many. It’s just really at which one has the best outcome for the students and families.”
Once they come to a decision on how class rank, GPA, and similar matters will be handled, that information will be available on the Texas Promise Academy website. Besides that, possible concerns arise about how this will affect learning as a whole.
“I think it will improve learning for some students, but as a whole I think it will hinder the overall depth of learning,” Stastny said. “It will not yield to the deeper discussions and conversations that take place in the higher level classes.”
Overall, the Texas Promise Academy will present both challenges and exciting opportunities for this upcoming school year.
“Any new initiative comes with a learning curve,” Dr. Indelicato said. “We plan to gather ongoing feedback from students and families so we can continue to refine and strengthen the program, just as we do with our campus-based offerings.”
