KC Virtual Academy Presents ‘Virtual School of Choice’ to Board

By Christopher Miller

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Dave Peters, Online Learning Principal for the Virtual Academy, presented to the board Thursday evening as the School of the Month for May.

Mr. Peters’ presentation included an information video about the program and a brief presentation about the academy.

“Students enrolled in the virtual academy earn their diploma from their local high school and participate in sports and extracurricular activities. We see their in-school involvement is just as important as their coursework,” Peters explained.

The platform that the school district uses is called the Capital Area Online Learning Association (CAOLA), which is the largest online learning consortium in the state with 115,000 students enrolled.

“We work to fit the student’s individual needs so that students learn at a time and place of their choosing, selecting from a wide array of classes online, and some only available online and not at KCSD in-person,” he said.

A new feature that the virtual academy and online platform are rolling out is the chance for dual enrollment through edisonlearning.

“Students will have the option to choose from hundreds of college-level courses to take online for college credit.”

“The virtual academy exists to expand the access to quality education for diverse learners, supports personalized and flexible learning paths, meets the needs of students with health, mobility, or scheduling challenges, and keeps the school district competitive and innovative.”

Students who attend classes through the virtual academy also have access to school counselors, special education, technology support, mental health resources, athletics and extracurriculars, special events and assemblies, and CTC programs.

Students are also not only attending the academy from home, but can do so from inside a school full-time or through hybrid classes.

“We want to be the virtual school of choice,” Peters said. “It costs around $2,400 for a student to attend and access the virtual school, while regular education classes in a virtual setting outside of the district would cost $15,000, or $30,000 for special education settings.”