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Consider student needs, maximize engagement, and decide on qualitative and quantitative measures of success

Virtual schools are excitingly diverse. In addition to the varied demographics and cultures found in traditional schools, online schools serve students who’ve fallen behind or are looking to get ahead, those who have health issues that won’t allow them to attend class in person, or those who simply want to take a class not offered in their home district.

In the 2018-19 academic year, the South Carolina Department of Education’s VirtualSC served 26,525 students throughout the state in a program providing a la carte courses that didn’t fit into school schedules or were not offered locally. We also had 3,276 students in our franchise program, which partners with districts to run local virtual programs to serve students in ways that our traditional program cannot—such as running courses on a different semester schedule or using our courses in their alternative schools or homebound programs. Both our traditional and franchise programs primarily serve high school students, and all but three of our courses are for high school credit.

We had approximately 72,000 elementary and middle school students in our Elementary Keyboarding program last year, as well. We provide online keyboarding instruction through TypeTastic free of charge for any South Carolina district that would like to offer it. Keyboarding is an important skill for students, particularly since our state moved to online standardized testing. 

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