More cyber schools await Georgia students this fall

By D. Aileen Dodd

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The menu of cyber schools in Georgia will grow this fall.

Members of the Georgia Charter Schools Committee heard a pitch Wednesday to expand the network of cyber campuses serving students in metro Atlanta including plans for a new virtual campus located at Gwinnett County Schools. The offerings could raise the number of full-time virtual schools approved by the state to six, with most, such as Georgia Cyber Academy, serving students statewide.

Gwinnett Schools proposes a virtual high school this fall that will offer the same curriculum as brick-and-mortar schools. Gwinnett County Online Campus would use the Internet to deliver instruction and have a team of teachers offering individualized instruction. The school is expected to serve about 125 students its inaugural year.

"The neat thing about it is we are open 24-7,” said the school's principal, Christopher Ray. “This is not sink or swim. We need to support those students. We will supply them with a learning coach.”

If approved on April 14 by the state school board, Gwinnett will follow Forsyth County Schools into the local virtual high school business. Currently, Gwinnett Schools has 5,000 students enrolled in a limited selection of virtual courses including those needing credit recovery to make up failed classes.

“We have been working in online education for the past 11 years,” Steve Flynt, a Gwinnett associate superintendent, told the state. “Just now have we gotten to the point where we are ready to open a school.”

State Department of Education staff have recommended the school for approval.