This month, Florida Virtual School unveiled eight new courses for their platform: Environmental Science, Agricultural Communications 2, Cybersecurity Essentials, Hebrew 1, Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism, M/J Visual Art 1 and 2, and the AP Capstone program, which consists of AP Seminar and AP Research.
“Additional classes are always good on FLVS, because kids are always looking to do new or unusual things,” said School Counselor Stacey Blevins, “any way for them to stand out and take something unusual or extra through FLVS is always a good thing.”
Florida students can enroll in any of the 190+ middle and high school Flex courses free of charge. Flex courses allow the students to work at a pace that suits them, at any time of the year. This means that students are able to do courses over the summer if they so choose.
“It’s a way to enhance a student’s transcript,” mentioned Blevins.
While there are benefits to FLVS, there are some drawbacks to be aware of.
“You don’t have much student-teacher instruction, it’s more of learning material on your own,” explains sophomore Abbie Grace Flohr. She took Biology and Hope through FLVS last year.
If students are interested, signing up is rather simple, only involving a few clicks.
Blevins said that “[Students can] just go to FLVS.NET, create an account, and pick a course. After the student does that, the request comes to the counselor, and the counselor will approve it, and at that point the teacher is assigned by FLVS or Hillsborough Virtual, and then the student gets started on the class.”
Under Florida law, one online course is required in order to obtain a diploma. These courses can be completed through the Florida Virtual School program or the Hillsborough Virtual School program.
“It adds some flexibility for students, on their schedule, to be able to do things like [coenrollment],” Blevins stated.
If students are still confused when it comes to this, there is always the option of consulting their guidance counselor in the main office.
Anthony Menold // Staff Writer