The Arkansas Virtual School (ARVS) is a pilot program offered to school districts by the Arkansas Department of Education through the U.S. Department of Education (USDoE) Voluntary Public School Choice Program Grant. General information on the ARVS was previously released through ADE Director’s Memo Number IT-03-004. The purpose of this memo is to provide additional information regarding district participation, student enrollment, funding, support services and academic assessment.
District Participation: School district participation in the ARVS pilot program is optional. Students are required to be legally enrolled students of the resident school district or open-enrollment charter school in order to participate in the ARVS pilot program. School districts and open-enrollment charter schools choosing to participate in the ARVS pilot program are required to complete the attached Participation Confirmation Form.
Funding: For each student participating in the ARVS pilot program, the school district or open enrollment charter school will receive per pupil funding based on Average Daily Membership (ADM).
Student Enrollment: The ADE has completed a random lottery (see www.arvs.org for a copy of the lottery guidelines) to select the initial students to be offered enrollment. ARVS staff will be contacting school districts to inform them that resident students have been selected in the lottery to determine district participation, and to request assistance in enrolling the student in the public school system.
Support Services: K-5 students participating in the ARVS will have access to language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, music, and art through the K12 Curriculum (www.k12.com). School districts are required to provide full access to public school programs and support services to legally enrolled ARVS students in accordance with all state and federal statutes.
Academic Assessment: ARVS students will participate in the required state-testing program. Student scores will be included in the school’s combined population report. Unless students were enrolled in the District on or before October 1, 2002, scores will not be included in the 2002-2003 general population report used in the state’s accountability system. ARVS student scores will also be maintained separately to evaluate the success of the program.
Direct questions about the program to Randall Greenway, Head of School, Arkansas Virtual School at 501-664-4225; Fax 501-664-4226; or by e-mail at rgreenway@k12.com. Additional information is available at the ARVS web site: www.arvs.org