Maryland Rising Star Virtual Academy Welcome to this introductory presentation brought to you by the Maryland Rising Star Virtual Academy! This is an outstanding schooling option brought to you by the State of Maryland. Let’s explore what this is all about!

What is a virtual school? “The provision of asynchronous, computer-mediated interaction between a teacher and students over the Internet” What is a virtual school? Well it’s NOT what you see here – this is a traditional “brick and mortar” school, where students attend school is a classroom with 20-30 other learners and one teacher. Virtual schooling is defined as ----- This is more what virtual schooling looks like. Students working from home or some other non-traditional school building, communicating with their teacher, other learners and the educational content over the internet.

What’s in it for my child? Work when and where you like Work at your own pace Expanded high quality educational access Improved student outcomes Knowledge, skills, attitudes Why would you want this for your child. Here are three outstanding reasons. As just described, your child can work wherever or whenever they choose, so long as they have internet access. Some classwork may have an assigned time of day so the students and teachers can conference together, but most work is completed at your own pace. Maryland rising Star Virtual Academy is able to offer a wider selection of courses designed to meet specific student needs, and all courses are designed to the highest possible academic standards. Virtual schooling has been shown to improve student outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Students earn as good or better grades than students who attend a traditional school.

Benefits of Virtual Schooling This might be the best benefit of all. http://www.thegazette.com/2012/04/08/there-are-benefits-to-virtual-schooling

Targeted Student Audiences Credit recovery Special needs Advanced placement MRSVA is designed to meet three specific student needs. Credit recovery – students who were unsuccessful in passing a course at a traditional school in Maryland can successfully earn those credits by retaking the course online. We often find that students are more successful in the online environment due to the increased personalized attention from the teacher. Children with special health needs often have special learning needs as well. MRSVA is prepared to provided teachers with advanced training in inclusion education in vocational training, cognitive instruction, and speech-language pathology. Many students in Maryland live in a rural area where advanced placement courses (such as AP physics, AP math or science) are not available at their high school. This can be a barrier to acceptance at the college of choice. MRSVA is prepared to offer these courses, taught by specialists in the appropriate content area.

Why MRSVA? Five core values Master Teachers Dedication to best practices in learning theory Accountability and evaluation Outcomes measures Accreditation MRSVA holds five core values in all the training offered. Master Teachers – all teachers will have an advanced degrees (masters or PhD) in teaching methods, inclusion teaching, or content expertise, AND education and certification in online training. We are dedicated to implementing cutting edge learning theory including teaching students to be life long learners and critical thinkers. We hold ourselves to the highest level of accountability in terms of teacher, course and program evaluations, evaluating a variety of outcomes measures assuring students receive as good or better an education as they would at a traditional school. Last, MRSVA is accredited by every relevant organization in the industry.

Maryland Rising Star Virtual Academy I hope you have enjoyed this very brief glimpse at MRSVA – a virtual school that has been crafted to meet the specialized and special needs of learners in Maryland. We look forward to working with you and your child in the near future!