Virtual learning charter schools part of an America-wide ‘boom’
The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS) in New Hampshire, US, boasts around 200 full-time primary and high school students and about 10,000 part-time students from traditional schools throughout the state who take online VLACS courses as they like. Schools such as VLACS are part of a nationwide boom, with the number of full-time virtual schools growing from a handful a decade ago, to more than 450 today with more than 260,000 full-time students and many millions of part-timers. The schools are particularly suited to students with strong sporting commitments, or who live in rural areas.

Emily Duggan, 16, spends most afternoons at a dance studio tucked behind a shopping plaza near her home in Exeter, New Hampshire. Blond and doe-eyed, Duggan has been dancing since she was two, everything from tap to ballet. She puts in about 12 hours a week at the studio, including classes and rehearsals with the dance team for weekend competitions. Duggan also prides herself on getting good grades in school. But two years ago, the stress of managing both dance and academics overwhelmed her.

She was exhausted and losing weight. Some nights, Duggan faced four hours of homework after a day of school and dancing that stretched into the evening, “I would just break down crying and saying, ‘I can’t do this anymore!’ ” she recalled.

Her parents agreed. In January 2015, Duggan enrolled in New Hampshire’s self-paced Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, joining about 200 full-time middle and high school students and about 10,000 part-timers from brick-and-mortar schools statewide who take online VLACS courses a la carte. There is no entrance exam, screening or application required to attend VLACS, which is free for any New Hampshire student.

Two years ago, Emily Duggan, 16, enrolled in the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS) because the self-paced school left her time for her rigorous schedule of dance practice and competition. Chris Berdik

VLACS is part of a nationwide boom: In the last decade, the number of full-time virtual schools has grown from a handful to over 450, enrolling more than 260,000 full-time students and millions more part time.

Virtual schools promise flexibility and a universe of learning just keystrokes away. But a slew of recent studies have found lackluster performance at online schools, seriously tarnishing their promise. Amid all the bad news, VLACS stands out as an online success story. On average, the school’s full-time students typically equal or modestly exceed New Hampshire average scores on state reading and math tests, as well as on the SAT.

The secret to VLACS’ success may be that it does things differently from most virtual schools. It puts a focus on building strong student-teacher relationships. It breaks up traditional courses into specific skills and abilities, called “competencies,” that students master through a personalized blend of traditional lesson plans, offline projects and real-world experiences. Also, VLACS’s funding is based on student performance rather than enrollment.

By zigging when others zag, not only is VLACS outperforming much of the online field using the old yardstick of standardized tests, it might also radically change how students learn.

Relationships Matter

VLACS is headquartered in a former high school in Exeter, New Hampshire — a brick edifice used for a century until the town opened a new high school in 2006. The only students here now are in photos, like the one of a VLACS graduation ceremony that hangs in a classroom turned conference room.

Because VLACS is self-paced, students graduate throughout the year, and only about half the year’s graduates show up to the ceremonies held each June. Most of the blue-cloaked graduates, clutching diplomas and mugging for the camera, have never met each other or their teachers, at least not in person. Still, they seek each other out.

'There’s an assumption that virtual school students are closed off, online all day, and they don’t ever meet anyone. That’s not the case.' Kyle Cote, VLACS director of guidance services

VLACS’s founder and CEO, Steve Kossakoski, sat for an interview earlier this spring in the conference room with the graduation photo. “Those ceremonies are amazing. Hugs all around,” said Kossakoski, who takes the opportunity to bring up his mantra — relationships matter.

“When you think about virtual education, it’s often more about efficiency and getting more students through than it is about relationships,” he said.