Virtual classes aren't just for college anymore

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indiana students can now earn a high school degree from home, or from a coffee shop, or from any place where Internet access is available. That’s because there is a new, virtual high school: the Achieve Virtual Education Academy.

The teachers are from Ben Davis High School, but the students can be located anywhere in the state. The Indiana Department of Education helped unveil the first virtual public high school today, a venture made possible by a new state law. It's operated by the Wayne Township School district, and administrators hope to have a student body of 50 this fall, with an additional 150 part-time students.

Students who can benefit from the virtual model include kids who are ill or were expelled from their original school. Students who complete their high school curriculum through the virtual school receive a state-certified diploma.

"Some of our students we know struggle with the structure of a traditional school," said Superintendent Jeff Butts, "and this school is also open for them."

The virtual school also makes it possible for traditional students to work ahead and for rural students to take advanced placement classes that aren't available in their home districts. All of the materials will be available online. There is one thing students can't accomplish online, though: They have to take final exams in person, in front of the instructor.

Classes can start any time, and students can work at their own speed.

"You'll have students who are very ambitious," Butts said, "and may finish a semester-long course, what we usually consider a semester-long course, in nine weeks."

Because students from around the state can sign up, Wayne Township hopes to find a niche. But state School Superintendent Tony Bennett said he hopes the Achieve Academy is not the last virtual school in the state.

"Isn't it amazing what happens when good competition occurs?" he said at a news conference Friday.

The classes are free for students who sign up before mid-September. After that they cost $250 per class