Schools and state governments have begun to take notice of the potential savings that virtual education can provide, with Florida, Arizona, and Alabama even establishing state-sponsored virtual school programs that offer courses to thousands of students a year.

The Florida Virtual School runs all year long, does not have a specific academic calendar, and has a staff of 1,000 full-time teachers that is on call seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., a significant shift for teachers used to working during typical schools hours from September to June. The school plans to enroll close to 240,000 students from 45 states and 30 countries this year, most of whom will only take a course or two with the school.

“We’re growing every year by 30 to 40%,” says Andy Ross, who is the chief sales and marketing officer at the Florida Virtual School. Ross claims that Florida Virtual School has saved Florida $22 million last year by offering its virtual courses to students.

For the rest of the article, go to Summer school goes online

TUSCALOOSA | The Tuscaloosa City Board of Education unanimously approved a proposal Tuesday night to implement an online academic program that will allow students to earn credits on their own schedule.

During a board meeting, Zachary Barnes, the director of graduation success and dropout prevention for the school system, and Robert Coates, director of secondary education, spoke to the board about Bridgewater Academy, a fully accredited online school that allows students to have access course studies 24 hours a day.

As a credit recovery program, Bridgewater Academy makes earning course credits as simple as logging onto a website.

Barnes said that Bridgewater will not replace other programs the system uses for credit recovery, like Plato Learning.

For the rest of the article, go to City school board approves online academic program

Best Online High Schools is pleased to offer yet another state-specific website for online high schools. Alabama Online High Schools will offer solid information on virtual high schools as well as related information about what is happening with these schools in Alabama.