Students in Virginia currently have no option for a full-time online program. While more than two dozen states, including Virginia, offer part-time or supplemental courses through virtual schools run by the government or outside providers, the commonwealth and Florida would be the only states with state-run, full-time online programs.
The pilot grew out of the Virtual Virginia program, which launched in 2002 as a way to help students in rural parts of the state – such as Highland County, where there are fewer than 300 students in the district – gain access to Advanced Placement courses and world languages not available in their schools.
“T hose opportunities were somewhat limited in our more rural, remote school divisions because of challenges in recruiting teachers to present the content, and also challenges in terms of forming classes with enough students to justify a teacher,” says Charles Pyle, communications director for the Virginia Department of Education. “[Virtual Virginia] has opened doors for students that otherwise wouldn’t just be closed, they just wouldn’t exist.”