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.
The head of the school is like the principal in a traditional school. She makes all decisions for the school. She is in charge of recruiting new staff as well as “appointing, supervising, evaluating and monitoring academic and administrative staff” (Moore & Kearsley, 2005) the head administrator is also responsible for marketing the school and its program to potential students, selecting courses to be offered, managing the budget, locating and allocating funds for the school, its technology and its programs. In addition to these, she is also in charge of putting policies and procedures in place and making sure they are followed.
"The academic administrator’s role is to coordinate all academic aspects of the school, ensure that the students' academic performance, progress and attendance is compliant with school, county and/or district requirements. She is also responsible for working with teachers to create programs and best practices to increase student achievement. She is in charge of new teacher orientation, annual professional development for teachers and staff, teacher evaluation and performance review and teacher training. She works with Southern Region Operations and Special Education managers to ensure that the school is meeting the needs of students while complying with local, state, and federal laws regarding special education. She manages teacher matching to students as well as researches and implements non-K12 curriculum resources to meet state standards as needed. She also reviews and maintains current K12 curriculum alignments with changes in state or district tests. She develops and oversees implementation of the school’s Student Achievement Improvement Plan and develops and maintains relationships with districts, educational stakeholders, and the state. She also coordinates the Advanced Learners Program (ALP)." (Suzanne Sloane, head of school) during and email interview with her, October, 2012
The operations manager performs the duties of the office person and the technology person in a face to face school. She manages the day to day operations of the school like enrollment and registration, attendance and schedules. She also maintains regular communication with parents about happenings in the school and outside the school. She is the contact person if the teacher, student or parents have general school related questions.
The technology manager maintains and obtains technology including the servers, hardware and software and makes sure all the technology is in perfect working condition. She also updates technology as needed, maintains the website, and provides suggestions about the implementation and design of the curriculum from the technology point of view. This person also serves as a help desk person for teachers and students when they have technology questions related to access, computer programs, hardware and software or any connection difficulties.
The special education services manager coordinates services for special education students. The special education services manager converts the students IEP (Individualized Education Plan) to a virtual IEP and arranges for students in the schools to receive services listed on their IEP in a virtual setting. She also follows up with parents, service providers and IEP team members to make sure the services are being delivered and schedules required meetings in a timely manner to discuss changes to the IEP. In addition to the above, the special education manager also sends feedback and quarterly updates and progress reports to parents.
“The administrators at Virginia Virtual School have extensive experience in serving public and private enterprises. Together, they provide a strong backbone for the day-to-day operations of the Virginia Virtual Academy.” (Virginia Virtual Academy, 2012)
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.
In addition to teaching teachers are responsible for monitoring daily progress of the students, keeping track of their attendance, grading their work, providing feedback, sending quarterly reports, meeting with parents for parent teacher conferences and keeping parents informed of the student’s progress.
