Forsyth County, GA, another community that has experienced rapid growth in student populations, will launch a new program this fall that Jennifer Caracciolo, spokeswomen for Forsyth County Public Schools, said could help defer construction costs of new high schools in the coming years.

The iAchieve Virtual Academy will go online this fall, offering approximately 60 students in Forsyth and around the state an alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar learning environments. Students in grades 6-12 will be able to take courses online from their homes or other locations while earning credits toward a standard high school diploma.

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The acquisition bolsters K12′s position as a leader in K-12 online education and a premier provider of virtual school solutions. The move adds a new line of products and services to K12′s robust offerings for public and private schools, international schools, and individual consumers. Additionally, K12(R) significantly increases the size of its online private school offering through the acquisition of KCDL.

For the rest of the article, go to K12 Inc. Announces Acquisition of KC Distance Learning, Inc.

The department is also moving forward on new guidelines and accountability procedures for virtual schools serving multiple districts. The issue of how the contractors will be paid is being left up to the General Assembly.

“We need to make sure, ultimately, that what is provided is good for the kids and is going to improve their learning and test scores,” said Lan Neugent, assistant superintendent for technology.

For the rest of the article, go to Virginia plans to weigh student growth in teacher evaluations

The oldest example is a state virtual school. Virtual Virginia, operated by the state Department of Education, offers more than 60 middle and high school courses ranging from Latin and AP Art History to Spanish and AP Statistics. But enrollment in Virtual Virginia is capped and has significant restrictions – one reason why, in 2008-09, fewer than 5,000 students were enrolled. In fact, Virginia’s enrollment ranks only midway among states with state virtual schools and is far outpaced by states like Florida, South Carolina and Alabama.

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“I was really surprised,” said Vandeveer, whose daughters take Latin and Spanish at Smithfield High School. “It messed up their plans in progressing through the classes.”

Virtual Virginia, a program of the Virginia Department of Education, offers online courses in AP studies, foreign language, core academics and elective classes to students across the nation.

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Virtual Virginia

The laws aim to improve the application and review process for public charter school applicants, as well as establishing uniform statewide input standards for the application process. Children will also be allowed to choose schools that fall outside their zip codes, expand college laboratory schools and improve and promote virtual learning.

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K12 Inc., America’s largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online school programs for students in kindergarten through high school, operates public virtual schools in 25 states (and D.C.) in partnership with charter schools and school districts.

The majority of graduates — 93 percent — plan to continue their education at colleges and universities, according to K12′s 2010 senior survey. The survey also indicated that K12 graduates received over 1 million dollars in combined scholarship money.

K12 students from this year’s class have been accepted to many of the nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities, including Cornell, Duke, Middlebury College, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford, Vanderbilt, University of Southern California, and many more schools across the U.S.

“All of us at K12 are extremely proud of these students,” said Ron Packard, founder and CEO of K12 Inc. “These students are tomorrow’s leaders. Their achievements are the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and perseverance. The parents, family members and friends of these graduates also deserve praise for providing encouragement, love and support through the years. Congratulations to the Class of 2010.”

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The two committees will meet in Richmond this afternoon, starting with national education sources addressing the panel on charters, a topic of particularly high interest for education advocates in the state.

Meanwhile, work is proceeding on the governor’s third education initiative, creating criteria for approving virtual school providers, including on how the state should pay local school systems for students who attend the online academies.

For the rest of the article, go to Financing for virtual schools under study