Calvert Partners Provides Virtual School Option to North East Florida Educational Consortium School Districts

BALTIMORE, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Calvert Partners is delighted to announce an innovative alliance that will provide a K-5 virtual school program to nine member school districts and three participating districts of the North East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC). The consortium is a regional, non-profit, educational service agency established to provide cooperative services to member districts. Its mission is to help member districts cooperatively meet their educational goals and objectives by providing programs and services that individual districts would not be able to provide as effectively or economically on their own.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100223/CALVERTLOGO)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100223/CALVERTLOGO)

Operating collectively as My District Virtual School, the partnership meets the mandate of Florida Statute 1002.45 which requires each Florida school district to offer a Virtual Instruction Program (VIP) for its students.  Students will enroll through the district in which they reside. Shared services include instructional supervision, marketing, and professional development.

Brady Locher, Calvert's Director of Partnership Development, said, " NEFEC and Calvert share an educational vision that embraces inspiring the best in each student through supervised instruction, engaging curriculum and successful academic outcomes. The consortium model effectively provides a quality virtual school program to rural school districts throughout Florida."

NEFEC joins a growing sector of public school leaders throughout the country who have made the decision to restore their virtual school programs to district control. Calvert Partners provides several distinct advantages to school districts relative to outsourced virtual school providers:

• Fully accredited, research-based, standards-aligned rigorous curriculum
• A dynamic complement of traditional, online- and multimedia-based instruction and resources
• Comprehensive professional development program  to build 21st century virtual instruction and supervision skills among district faculty and staff
• Comprehensive marketing and student recruitment support
• Exceptional academic and customer support services
• A full suite of assessment and student management tools that ensure positive academic results
• A favorable financial model that allows districts to retain as much as 85% of their per pupil revenue
• A comprehensive solution that enables school districts to expand educational options and maintain academic control of the students in the communities they serve

Dr. Jim Surrency, NEFEC, Executive Director, stated, "NEFEC is very excited about the partnership with Calvert and the wonderful opportunities this effort will bring to students in rural school districts throughout Florida. Calvert's high quality curriculum and collaborative delivery model provides districts a cost effective option for virtual instruction."

About Calvert Partners

Calvert has been the trusted leader in distance learning for over a century. Today its world-renowned curriculum is used by schools and students in all 50 states and over 60 countries. Calvert dedicates itself to inspiring students to realize their full potential in a 21st century learning environment using a proven curriculum and expert instructional support systems designed to encourage academic excellence.  The Calvert School standards-aligned, research-based curriculum is built on a rich foundation of reading, writing, and arithmetic. That foundation is then layered with history, science, music, geography, and the arts to ensure a well-rounded academic experience.

About My District Virtual School

MyDistrict Virtual School is an online learning option for K-12 students in participating school districts served by the North East Florida Educational Consortium.  The curriculum for Grades K-5 is provided by Calvert School and the Grade 6-12 curriculum is provided by Florida Virtual School. NEFEC member districts offering the virtual school program are:  Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Putnam, and Union.  Participating districts include Monroe, Glades, and Hardee.

SOURCE Calvert Education Services