The Virtual Academy requires students to be fairly independent in their learning. There are fewer reminders for students to complete work than there are in regular classrooms. The Virtual Academy requires students to be very motivated to complete the assigned work.

Online learning often requires students to spend more time reading information presented online through a learning management system. Students who struggle with understanding what they read are not recommended to participate in the Virtual Academy.

Students who successfully complete the requirements for graduation through coursework in the ELCO Virtual Academy will recieve an ELCO diploma.

Home education and cyber charter programs are two different options under the law. Home education programs or homeschooling put all of the responsibility of designing instructional experiences for students on the parent. Cyber charter schools typically provide teachers and instruction through an online learning environment. A cyber charter school is very similar to the ELCO Virtual Academy.

The difference is in the connection to the school district. By being part of the ELCO Virtual Academy, a student remains part of the school community and can engage in extracurricular activities and receive an ELCO diploma. A PA cyber charter school takes a very large part of the ELCO School District’s budget. The cyber charter schools spend millions of taxpayer dollars each year on advertising. The money taken from school district budgets does not fully go to educate the students in the cyber charter school. By choosing the ELCO Virtual Academy, you ensure that the local taxpayer’s dollars remain in the district and are spent to provide a quality education for all students.

There is a difference between flexible schedules and no schedule. In online learning, students benefit from having the flexibility to set their own schedules, but without a schedule, it is hard for students to pace themselves to accomplish the tasks. Students who work online must have excellent time management skills and be able to self-monitor their work or have parents/guardians who are overseeing these timelines.

Online learning requires more attention to detail, organizational skills, reading comprehension, and clarity in writing than traditional in-person classes.  There is often less interaction with a teacher and more responsibility placed on the student to read and understand the directions and to comprehend the information presented in written form.