Odyssey School- Today's School for Tomorrow's World

Georgia Virtual Academy will serve students in grades K-8 across the state beginning this school year.

Odyssey School, Georgia's first stateapproved charter school, announced today they will offer the state's first K-8 public virtual school program. The Georgia Virtual Academy, a tuition-free program of Odyssey School, will begin serving students across the state this school year.

The Georgia Virtual Academy will use the curriculum and school services provided by K12 Inc. - a leading national provider of individualized, one-to-one learning solutions for students in online schools and traditional classrooms.

Earlier this month, the Georgia State Board of Education unanimously approved an amendment to the Odyssey charter to offer the Georgia Virtual Academy online school program to students across the state.

"The demand for excellent online learning programs is rapidly growing in Georgia and across the country," said Andy Geeter, School Director of Odyssey School. "Offering a public online school program for students in Georgia will help Odyssey expand on its mission to provide a challenging, high-quality education through innovative curriculum that focuses on the needs of each student. We are also very excited to be working with a partner in K12 who shares our commitment to serving kids."

The Georgia Virtual Academy will give every student an individualized learning program using lessons developed by K12 in Math, English/Language Arts, Science, and History, in addition to a Physical Education/Health course. Students will access lessons through the innovative K12 Online School (OLS) and use other K12 education materials (textbooks, workbooks, math and science supplies, and other hands-on projects) that will be shipped directly to the student. In certain cases based on financial need, Georgia Virtual Academy may loan a computer and provide Internet reimbursement to an enrolling student.

Every student enrolled in the Georgia Virtual Academy will be assigned to a state-certified teacher. The Georgia Virtual Academy teachers will work in partnership with the students and parents to help meet the students' learning needs. Teachers will assign lessons, provide instruction, guidance and support and regularly communicate with students and parents via phone, email, Web-based "e-classrooms," and face-to-face meetings. Teachers will also organize school outings for students and their families. Students will work with a "learning coach," usually a parent or responsible adult, to help guide them through the K12 lessons.

Students will be held accountable to academic progress and attendance requirements, and will also be required to participate in Georgia's Criterion- Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) and other standardized tests.

Information sessions and "Meet and Greet Socials" will be held across the state during July and August for families interested in the Georgia Virtual Academy. Parents and kids will have the opportunity to learn more about the Georgia Virtual Academy, meet with virtual school teachers, see the K12 curriculum and learning materials, and find how they can enroll in this exciting new public virtual school.

For more information on the Georgia Virtual Academy, including a complete list of upcoming information sessions and events across the state, visit www.K12.com/ga.

About Odyssey School: Odyssey School was the first state-approved charter school in Georgia, obtaining approval from the Georgia State Board of Education in 2001. As a public school of choice, Odyssey opened in August 2004 serving students in grades K-5. In three years the school has grown from 119 students to a capacity enrollment of over 170 for the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, and has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) every year.

More information on Odyssey School can be found at www.odysseycharterschool.net.

About K12 Inc. K12 Inc. is a technology-based learning company that offers curriculum and educational services created for online delivery to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, or K-12. The K12 curriculum is used by tens of thousands of students across the country in virtual public schools, distance education programs, and traditional classrooms.

K12 provides its curriculum to 17 statewide public virtual schools and 3 public virtual schools in major metropolitan cities. Many of the nation's top-scoring virtual schools use the K12 learning program.

More information on K12 can be found at www.K12.com.