Wisconsin students wanting to enter a virtual school this fall will have a place, say state officials.

The state Department of Public Instruction says this year’s wait-list is “exhausted.” The news comes just before the start of the academic year.

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The Department of Public Instruction says a waiting list for Wisconsin’s virtual schools has been exhausted. But Julie Thompson of the Coalition of Virtual School Families says not everyone who signed up will get into the school they originally chose. And she said many parents had waited so long to see if they’ll get in, that they dropped out.

For the rest of the article, go to Public School Students Alloawed to Take Online Classes This Fall

Just weeks before the start of the 2010-’11 school year, all of the students who applied to attend virtual charter schools using the state’s open enrollment program have been offered seats in the fall.

The state Department of Public Instruction announced on its website that the virtual charter school waiting list had been exhausted.

For the rest of the article, go to No students left on virtual school waiting list

The Black River Falls School District now has established a virtual school option for students in an effort to recapture those who are open enrolling out of the district.

The school board voted 6-0 to adopt its virtual school policy and handbook after conducting a second reading at its regular meeting Monday. Member Ron Wirtz asked Superintendent Ron Saari if the district is going to implement any informational campaigns to attract parents and students to the program.

“Right now, we’re not doing a marketing plan for it at this point because it’s so late. A lot of the kids — their schedules — were already created back in January, February and March,” Saari said.

“What we’re hoping to do is try to attract some of those other parents whose children were open enrolled out and try to recapture some of them and then next year (use) that in a marketing form for the district.”

The district will now partner with the Wisconsin Virtual School — a sixth- through 12th-grade supplemental online program — which was created through a partnership between the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Cooperative Educational Service Agency No. 9. WVS works with school districts in the state to provide online learning opportunities for middle and high school students.

For the rest of the article, go to Black River Falls establishes virtual school

Continued popularity of Wisconsin’s virtual schools are pushing them near capacity, which may force the Legislature to revisit an enrollment cap put in place two years ago, an audit released Tuesday shows.

The state’s 15 virtual schools offer classes from kindergarten through high school over the Internet, allowing students to attend from home. They have been growing in popularity in Wisconsin and nationwide as an alternative for students who may not otherwise perform as well in a traditional school.

But the future of Wisconsin’s virtual schools was put in jeopardy when a state appeals court ruled in 2007 that the largest one, Wisconsin Virtual School, was operating in violation of open enrollment, charter school and teacher licensing laws.

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From EdWeek.org