Junior Robert Brown had three semesters until graduation and wanted to add some Advanced Placement rigor to his schedule. But with a commitment to yearbook, his core subjects and the pesky physical education requirement, Brown had no room in his schedule for the last AP class he wanted to add.
To solve his schedule crunch, Brown joined a growing number of Grady and APS students turning to the Atlanta Virtual Academy.
APS launched Atlanta Virtual Academy last fall after experimenting with a pilot program over the summer. The program began with 100 students systemwide and now serves three times that number.
The ultimate goal for the Virtual Academy is to provide a complete curriculum to middle and high school students.
“To be a diploma granting institution that is recognized as part of the APS system would be a beneficial resource to students systemwide,” said Doryiane Gunter, APS program manager for distance education.
For now, however, the program primarily helps people make their schedules more flexible or provides students a second chance to retake classes.
Senior Preston Choi, who juggles art, theater, and debate benefited from taking PE online.
“It was nice to know I wouldn’t have to worry about taking [physical fitness] at Grady,” Choi said. “I thought [physical education] was taking a lot of time away [that] I could be using facilities here [scene shop, art room, etc.] and materials that I didn’t have at home to aid me in making artwork.”
AVA was originally intended to serve students who needed to second chance to earn credit in classes they had failed the first time.
Gunter explained how the system identified students could benefit from the program.
“We reached out to different counselors at different schools and asked them to identify students who could benefit,”Gunter said. “Most students take the courses for credit recovery in science and math, but there are many options and there are options for students to get ahead.”
John Brandhorst, the director of the fine arts department, believes that the Virtual Academy would benefit the arts program by enabling more Grady students to enroll in arts classes.
“It’s always good to have options,” Brandhorst said. “Students should attend and leave high school with the feeling that their needs and academic desires were both well-served.”
While Brown benefited from the new schedule flexibility that online PE gave him, he found it difficult to retain his commitment to the online class.
“I feel it would be a lot easier just to take the gym class at Grady,” Brown said. “It would require a lot less work for the exact same credit; a lot of the unnecessary work would be cut out.”
Summer and fall registation for Atlanta Virtual Academy will begin Monday April 21 at http://www.atlantapublicschools.us/Page/39842. Summer classes are June 11 to July 23.
