Achievements

The Teacher Impact: How a Florida Virtual School Algebra Instructor Helped Build Student Confidence

By Katie Hodgins on May 9th, 2023

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all of our incredible Florida Virtual School (FLVS) instructors! Although this is a dedicated week to celebrate our phenomenal teachers, it’s something we love to do every day. We recognize the hard work and support our teachers dedicate daily to their students, and so do our students. Annette G., an FLVS homeschool student, faced challenges understanding the material in her math class, Algebra 1. But with the support and guidance of her Algebra teacher, Amy DeFrance, Annette finished segment two with high achievements.

FLVS Awarded International Recognitions

By Florida Virtual School on July 28th, 2020

The year 2020 has been an unprecedented one on so many levels, but it’s been said that the best way to get through tough times is to focus on the good stuff whenever you can, so we are happy to share some good news! Florida Virtual School (FLVS) was recognized six times this year by worldwide industry leaders for achievements in education and technology, winning four international awards.

Blazing the Trail with the Class of 2019

By Guest Blogger on June 14th, 2019

This post was written by 2018-19 FLVS Full Time National Honor Society President, Julia Dawson.

As a graduate of FLVS Full Time, I’m so thankful for my parent’s willingness to live unconventional lives.

Halfway through my sophomore year, my family made a life-changing decision. We decided to leave our comfortable, subdivision existence behind and set out on an adventure to travel the country in an RV. The prospect both excited and terrified me. On one hand, it meant leaving behind my friends, school, church, and the perfect, tied-with-a-bow plan I had made for my life. On the other hand, it meant embracing the unknown and forging out into a territory few have been courageous enough to explore. I had no idea that it would not only be the single most amazing experience of my life, but that it would also lead me to a school that I am immensely proud to have attended. Continue reading

Congratulations, Graduates!

By Guest Blogger on June 7th, 2018

This post was written by 2017-18 FLVS Full Time Senior Class President, McKenzie Underwood.

Class of 2018, we made it! After counting down the days until graduation all year, we finally crossed the finish line. There is not a single person who did not work extremely hard to get this far. All the late nights studying, the DBAs, the live lessons, the collaborations, the final exams, they were all worth it. Be proud of yourselves, you didn’t get here by mistake.

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge some of the amazing people who helped us get through the past four years of high school. Continue reading

Reflections from the Class of 2017

By Guest Blogger on June 7th, 2017

This post was written by 2016-17 FLVS Full Time National Honor Society President, Olivia Horne.

Family and friends – thank you for providing unwavering support, love and encouragement as we pursue our futures.

Teachers and staff – thank you for making those futures possible through your ability to make lifelong learning fun and our dreams accessible.

Fellow graduates – congratulations! From DBAs, to lives lessons, from collaborations to finals, we have each worked incredibly hard. We did it.

As we reach the end of our high school careers, it is only natural for us to reflect upon what led us here. And while our personal histories might differ greatly, we do have one thing in common: the community that is FLVS.

We, Class of 2017, have pursued our education on our own terms. We are the trailblazers, the innovative digital learners, those who are not afraid to take the path less traveled. We have dared to be different. We, Class of 2017, have proven our possession of the invaluable ability to define our own futures. Continue reading

Looking Back On Our Senior Year

By Guest Blogger on June 5th, 2017

This post was written by FLVS Full Time Senior Class President, Mari Nicole Rosales.

Senior Class President Mari Rosales with Marketing Leader Bryanna Maturen

Last Tuesday, May 30, 2017, marked the end of our high school chapter in the book that we call life.

Long gone are the days of DBAs and Blackboard live lessons. Now the time has come for us to begin our next chapter. As virtual school students, we have had quite the journey throughout high school. We are innovators and changemakers of tomorrow. Because of this, the future is limitless. It is now our turn to empower the world one step at a time with our words and actions.

As many of you know, the Florida Virtual School mascot is our lovely friend, Megabyte, the friendly robotic shark. He graces our school t-shirts and reminds us to keep on pace with our courses. Technically speaking, one megabyte is one million bytes of information. Each Florida Virtual School student is a megabyte. Gaining one million bytes of information is no easy task. As megabytes, we have learned how to be proactive, creative, and resourceful. These one million bytes we have gained from virtual school will last a lifetime. Continue reading

FLVS Full Time Honors Graduating Seniors at Commencement

By Guest Blogger on May 30th, 2017

FLVS Full Time, our statewide online public school option for students in grades Kindergarten-12, will host their high school commencement ceremony today at 3 p.m. at the CFE Arena, located on the campus of the University of Central Florida.

FLVS Full Time will graduate more than 750 students, the school’s largest class to date. Approximately 385 students from across the state are expected to attend the commencement ceremony for the traditional march. Family, friends, teachers, and representatives from FLVS Full Time will celebrate the students’ successes, with remarks from FLVS Full Time Senior Class President Mari Rosales and National Honor Society President Olivia Horne.

The FLVS Full Time Class of 2017 has been awarded more than $1.3 million in scholarships, and more than 60 percent of the graduates plan to attend two- or four-year colleges or universities. Notable college acceptances include Brigham Young, University of Central Florida, Columbia, Cornell, University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Miami, Penn State, Stanford, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt. Continue reading

FLVS Attends GOES-R Satellite Launch

By Florida Virtual School on December 7th, 2016

On Saturday, November 19, I had the privilege of watching the GOES-R weather satellite launch from Kennedy Space Center.

Now you may be wondering what GOES-R stands for. It’s the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, a satellite system that orbits the earth and sends data back to National Weather Service computers. The R indicates what number or version the GOES satellite is on, so there have already been versions A-R. GOES-S is slated to launch next year and is the twin to GOES-R.

Of course, weather satellites get launched all the time, so why would this one be any more special than the others?

Well, right now we receive images of satellite scans every 30 minutes or so. The GOES-R satellite will provide data at least every five minutes, and in some circumstances every 30 seconds! So not only will it be five times faster than current weather satellites, but it will also gather three times more data and it will have four times better resolution. Continue reading

To Bennu and Back!

By Florida Virtual School on September 29th, 2016

Hello FLVS peeps!

I had the distinct honor of representing FLVS at the OSIRIS REx rocket launch a few weeks ago.

Now if you’re wondering what exactly that means, OSIRIS REx stands for NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer. That’s a mouthful, right?

In a nutshell, NASA is sending a spacecraft to an asteroid named Bennu. Once it reaches Bennu (after a trip lasting two years), the spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for about a year, find the perfect place to collect about 80 grams of the rock, and head back home, arriving back to Earth in 2023.

It won’t actually land on the asteroid, but instead hover over it – and with the help of Canada and their amazing knowledge of spacecraft arms – will grab a small sample. (To put this in perspective, 80 grams is about the equivalent of 80 Skittle candies.)

So why are we going to Bennu? Continue reading

FLVS Full Time Class of 2016: Emma Cahoon

By Guest Blogger on July 6th, 2016

This article was originally written and published in the FLVS student newspaper, News in a Click.

When Emma Cahoon first logged onto Florida Virtual School as a freshman, she was “amazed by the course opportunities.”

Now a graduate of FLVS Full Time, Cahoon clearly took advantage of the unique course offerings that FLVS provides with a schedule that consisted of five AP Classes and resulted in a diploma with 5 and ½ extra credits.

Cahoon plans to attend the University of Florida in the fall, and credits her success to the flexibility of FLVS. “I applied to 16 schools, which is a large time commitment,” said Cahoon. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without FLVS.” Continue reading