Introduction
The Virginia Virtual Academy is a virtual school for students in grades K-8. It is located in Herndon, Virginia.
It is part of the Carroll County Public School System.
Its uses the K12 curriculum developed by a company called K12 based in Northern Virginia.
Virginia Virtual Academy opened in September of 2009.
It is the only virtual school program in the state of Virginia.
They have approximately 400 students.
Tuition is free but students residing outside the Carroll County Public School district have to pay an annual registration fee.
It teaches the core curriculum and core subjects like math, science, geography and history, language arts and English. It also offers classes in art, music and foreign languages.
It also offers a robust advanced learner program and range of extracurricular activities.
All their classes are taught by experienced, high quality certified teachers.
How it works
Virginia Virtual Academy is a public school program.
Students are required to attend classes each day.
Each student has to log into the class using his/her own personal identification number.
Each student has to complete a year’s course work within a year’s time as required by the Virginia state law.
Each student has to have 990 hours of instructional time per calendar year and complete the assigned class work, assignments, and assessments by the end of the year.
Students also have to demonstrate 80% mastery of the topics in the core subjects to be promoted to the next grade.
“While attendance, teacher interaction, and daily lessons are conducted online, teachers also use physical materials and offline tools to teach with” (Virginia Virtual Academy, 2012)
All students have to regularly communicate with the Virginia Virtual Academy teachers via email, phone call or an online meeting.
“Each Virginia Virtual Academy student receives a box of materials, including a wide array of textbooks, CDs, videos, and other hands-on tools and resources. These materials complement the interactive online elements of the program”. (Virginia Virtual Academy, 2012)
For social interaction students attend events and activities organized by the school each month. They also engage in discussion forums that are formed and facilitated by the school based on students’ interests.
At the Virginia Virtual Academy the parent plays as important role. The parent serves as a “learning coach” for the students.
Organizational Structure
Administrative Team
The Virginia Virtual Academy has a strong administrative team made up of the head of the school, an academic administrator, operations manager and a special programs manager.
Teachers
Virginia Virtual Academy’s teachers are licensed in the state of Virginia and are trained and qualified to teach in a virtual environment. They also have special professional development requirements to update their teaching and technology skills as new trends emerge in the area of virtual schooling.
Regulatory Environment
Students are required to take The Standards of Learning Assessments (SOL) a standardized test mandated by the state of Virginia.
Virginia Virtual Academy follows the NCLB legislation and state guidelines, students are expected to make at least a year’s growth in a year’s time to progress to the next grade level.
Scope of Course Offerings
Virginia Virtual Academy offers its students instruction in the core subject areas as well as art, music and foreign languages.
Students are taught using asynchronous and synchronous means using Blackboard Collaborate as a teaching platform and a variety of multimedia.
Virginia Virtual Academy uses animations, interactive text books, CDs, videos and hands-on experiments to teach its students.
There is an assessment after every lesson to ensure the student has mastered the subject area before moving on.
Each course is aligned with the Virginia state standards and curriculum guidelines.
Student Body
The student body at the Virginia Virtual Academy consists of 45% girls; 55% boys
They have approximately 40-55 students in each grade for grades K-4 and approximately 50-65 students in each grade for grades 5-8.
Conclusion
Virginia Virtual Academy provides its students with a comprehensive free education, provided by qualified, licensed teachers that adheres to the Virginia Public Schools standards and follows the Virginia Public School curriculum with the flexibility of time and place. It is a wonderful alternative for students that are not able to attend a traditional school.
