PA Virtual Charter School Named Parent's Choice

For Immediate Release, January 20, 2009

NORRISTOWN, PA -- The Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School today announces that it has been named "Parents' Choice, Best Public School in Pennsylvania," according to the latest edition of BusinessWeek and GreatSchools.

The GreatSchools/BusinessWeek Five Top-Performing High Schools initiative is based on both academic performance and parent opinion. GreatSchools identified the Top Academic Performance (overall and low-income) and Most Improved schools by analyzing publicly available school test information. GreatSchools also highlighted the Parents' Choice for both public and private schools by analyzing the Parent Ratings and Reviews on its Web site and selecting schools with the highest average parent rating that also had at least 10 parent reviews posted on www.greatschools.net . The Pennsylvania results are posted at http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/01/0115_best_schools/40.htm

"The Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School views parents as vital to the success of our unique Diamond Model Partnership and is proud that our parents not only view the education here as superior, but have shared their opinions on a respected national education web site like GreatSchools," said Sheldon Thorpe, President of the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School Board of Trustees and a pioneer PAVCS parent enrolled since the school's creation in 2001.

The PAVCS Diamond Model Partnership is a collaborative partnership integrating parents, teachers, family support coordinators and K12 Inc. © curriculum, ensuring all PAVCS students reach their full academic and social potential. This partnership has resulted in PAVCS posting the highest overall scores of all of the state's cyber charter schools on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, the state's standardized test related to No Child Left Behind.

"Data shows that student progress is directly related to parent involvement, and the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School succeeds because parents have direct input in the education of their children and the operation of this school," said Joanne Jones Barnett, Chief Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School. "It is the greatest honor to have our parents to vote us the best public school in the state."

About the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School
The Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School (PAVCS) is a public virtual school of choice that received its second 5-year charter from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 2006. PAVCS provides home-based public education for more than 3,800 Pennsylvania K-12 students. PAVCS delivers differentiated instruction through traditional regular education and special education programs. PAVCS' Diamond Model Partnership is a collaborative partnership integrating parents, teachers, family support coordinators and K12 Inc. © curriculum ensuring all PAVCS students reach their full academic and social potential.


Contact:
Joe Lyons
Executive Director of School Communications
Office: (610) 275-8500 Ext. 151
Cell: (610) 551-4034