Shaw said the recognition was only given to the top 18 percent of school districts in Virginia for their policies towards guidance and instruction for homeschooled students, including allowance of part-time enrollment.
“We just wanted to congratulate you on the sense of community you promote,” said Shaw to the school board.
The number of students home schooled in Fluvanna County has tripled since 2005, to from 51 students to 154 students. The school division plans to include more programs for home schooled students in the coming year, adding more online instruction options.
“We’re trying to tie in some services to try and see if we can get [home schooled students] under our umbrella somehow,” said the new Director of Student Services Kelly Wilmore. The district plans on using a program called APEX Learning for online education.
“We’ve been using APEX for three to four years, it just meets our needs the best,” said Director of Secondary Instruction Brenda Gilliam. “It was originally developed to provide advanced placement classes online, they’re very rigorous.”
Home schooled students who sign up to take online classes through Fluvanna County Public Schools will still be required to take the annual Standards of Learning (SOL) tests, as they would be held to the same education standards as public school students.
“I just think it’s an important outreach effort, especially for getting middle and high school students interested in what we have to offer,” said Superintendent Gena Keller.
