“She has a few health issues, so a full long day is difficult, so for her to continue to have a more rigorous schedule, and to be able to take the classes she’d like to take- this is a great opportunity,” says Lori Swanson of her daughter, who is taking two virtual school classes, and the rest at Chiles High School.

“We want every student to graduate and we know that sometimes there isn’t one fit for all, one size doesn’t fit all in education,” says the Virtual School principal, Gillian Gregory.

For the rest of the article, go to Students Enjoy Self Pacing, Convenience of Leon County Virtual School

This year Leon County Schools introduced Leon County Virtual School for local middle and high school students. Although online classes have been available through Florida Virtual School, the localization makes online classes more specific and practical for users. According to the Tallahassee Democrat (Wednesday August 31), there are already more than 1,000 students registered. This is a step in the right direction for Leon County schools.

More colleges and universities are increasing their number of online courses to accommodate student schedules and to encourage distance learning. I think allowing middle and high school students a jump start on this trend will give them the opportunity to boost their work ethic.

For the rest of the article, go to Attending virtual school can have it’s benefits

Yet, the perception remains even today that these are children in isolation, learning God knows what. But that’s hardly the case; they have every opportunity as their peers in public school. If mom or dad isn’t comfortable with a subject, then some other mom or dad in their homeschool alliance probably is. Homeschool World, a magazine dedicated to home education, on its website lists 85 homeschool alliances throughout Florida; there are at least two in Marion — Christian Home Educators Association and Home Education After Righteous Teaching, or HEART.

Or, there’s the free Marion Virtual School, an online “campus” with dozens of academic courses taught by local certified teachers; it’s a franchise of the Florida Virtual School, its statewide counterpart. But Marion Virtual offers a diploma, Archibald says.

For the rest of the article, go to Home plus school

“Smart Horizons Career Online Education is really a natural continuation of what I established with the University of Miami Online High School,” Goldman said. “The University of Miami model was a high-tuition, online college preparatory program, but we have a very different clientele for Smart Horizons Career Online Education. We are aiming at the 45 million high school dropouts nationwide who will be able to use SHCOE as a stepping stone to a new career. We determined that with SHCOE, we would develop a model with low tuition—less than a thousand dollars for the entire program. This program will aid students to move forward and earn an online high school diploma and provide the knowledge base to build a viable career.”

Smart Horizons Career Online Education is a private online high school district that gives students returning to the education process an opportunity to earn an 18-credit high school diploma as well as complete course work for a career certificate. Online career certificate courses are currently offered in the fields of health care, early childhood education, transportation services, homeland security, protection services, and office management.

For the rest of the article, go to Smart Horizons Career Online Education Names Innovative Educational Leader as New Chairman of the Board

Recognizing that many dropouts are now adults who often believe they are too old — or too embarrassed — to return to school, Smart Horizons Career Online Education is providing an opportunity for students to earn an 18-credit high school diploma, as well as complete course work for a career certificate in one online program.

To increase the number of students in the program, the Pensacola-based online education service is offering $1,000 scholarships to the first 50 students who apply and meet the criteria for the program.

For the rest of the article, go to Go online for high school diploma

“And I will tell you there are some districts that did not use the funding that came for the right purposes,” Elia said. “And if they can’t meet it now, I think it’s reasonable to have a penalty.”

In fact in a press release, Elia made it clear she expects to “reap” up to $35 million in rewards for meeting class size requirements.

Elia acknowledged that some families may be inconvenienced if students have to be bused to a less crowded school. But she added that the district is looking at options like letting high school students take virtual or online classes and the district is trying co-teaching in some locations.

For the rest of the article, go to Class Size Penalties Loom as Schools Open

So far this year, the agency has hired another 250 online teachers and opened 25 additional learning labs on middle and high school campuses statewide to help districts comply with the class size amendment requirements.

“They may still be cutting electives or AP courses due to lack of resources, then we’re really plugging and filling the gap academically,” said Julie Young, Florida Virtual School.

“I love technology and I wanted to be able to incorporate more of the technology with my teaching,” said Regina Calhoun, Florida Virtual School teacher.

For the rest of the article, go to Thousands Of Local Students Taking Virtual Classes

“We may use that if, for instance, we had a math class with a few students over (the class-size limit),” Thomas said. “If I could open one section to solve the problem, I could use an existing teacher if they volunteer, which would be cheaper than hiring a full-time teacher.”

Other strategies in Escambia include hiring part-time teachers, monitoring low-enrollment courses and using Escambia Virtual School, a franchise of Florida Virtual School.

“If we have a student who is capable of taking a class virtually, we could put them in the computer lab,” said Thomas. “Where we have low enrollment, we may have to cancel the course.”

For the rest of the article, go to Cuts target class limits

Students in grades 6-12 who are enrolled in private schools, charter schools and traditional public schools may enroll in part time virtual school.

Many of the students who are currently enrolled are professional athletes or students who have physical or psychological disabilities that make attending a brick and mortar school very difficult.

Orientation for students will be held at Lee County School District Headquarters at the corner of Colonial and Metro in Fort Myers.

For the rest of the article, go to Orientations underway for Lee Virtual Instruction Program

Rachman gave the Heritage a pdf copy of a mediation agreement between Cyber High and the Orange County School Board, dated June 27, 2003.

The agreement states, in part: “The parties agree that the opening and operation of a new charter school is complex, difficult and challenging. The parties agree that the opening of Cyber High School in Orange County, FL, was done in good faith with the intention of educating the children who attended the school. Further, the parties agree that the economics of operating a school are so challenging that Cyber High Charter School could not obtain adequate funding to effectively operate a charter school. The parties agree that there was no criminal wrongdoing or theft.”

For the rest of the article, go to Rachman runs for Orange County School Board Chair