Virginia to Launch Online High School in Fall

The Virginia Department of Education is set to launch a pilot program during Fall this year that will enable children to earn a high school diploma without having to enter a classroom.

The pilot will only accept hundred students at first and if successful will attract more students in the coming years and could possibly become a permanent feature of the State's educational system.

"How this will work will vary greatly from school to school and student to student, but it will have all the requirements, all of the credits and the electives to graduate with an advanced studies diploma or a standard diploma," department spokesman Charles Pyle told The Daily Progress

Del. Dickie Bell who is a huge supporter of virtual education is however disappointed with this new initiative. He feels it is wrong to keep an enrolment cap for students and that even K12 students should have access to such online classes.

"This is a tight grip on who and how many," he said. "This is not the same thing we've been working for five years."

Students who are part of the pilot program will receive their instructions from the Virtual Virginia Online platform. The program also has state approved coursework which is being used by more than 40,000 students.

While Albemarle County offers its own online course programme, students from here can also enrol for classes with Virtual Virginia.

 Spokesperson Phil Giarmita of Albermarle Public Schools said, "We're not yet sure if there will be any interest in the county for the pilot, but certainly the trend in education is heading down this path. But several issues have to be resolved, including course quality and teacher load."