Maine Virtual Academy Celebrates Inaugural Year with Ribbon Cutting

BALLARD, Maine, Oct. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Maine Virtual Academy (MEVA), a new statewide online public charter school, celebrated its inaugural year with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour of its new offices in the Ballard Center on October 20th. On hand for the ribbon cutting were representatives from the Maine Virtual Academy Board of Directors, teachers, and school staff.

MEVA uses an innovative education model -- incorporating online lessons and instruction delivered by teachers -- that is individualized to meet each students' educational goals. The state- certified teachers provide direct instruction to students and monitor students' progress, attendance, and content mastery, and work in partnership with parents. MEVA's team of educators and school leaders are based at the school's administrative headquarters. 

MEVA is authorized by the Maine Charter School Commission and is governed by an independent, nonprofit board of directors.

"This has been a very exciting fall for us," said Amy Carlisle, chair of the Maine Virtual Academy board of directors and resident of Falmouth, ME. "Today was a day to celebrate all the hard work that was done over many years to open our school. It was also an opportunity to showcase our incredible team of educators that make our public school a great option for Maine students."

MEVA students can chose from a diverse Middle school and High school K¹² catalog of courses including many electives that are not offered in traditional schools. Each student is given a customized learning plan, where they have greater freedom to progress through lessons at their own pace and receive quality instruction, support, and individual attention from highly skilled and state-certified teachers.  The school also offers clubs, school outings, dances and other activities to foster community. Because MEVA is a public school, there is no tuition to enroll.

"We are off to a great start of the school year," said Beth Lorigan, CEO of Maine Virtual Academy.  "Our teachers and staff worked extremely hard to prepare for a successful school launch.  We are building relationships with our parents and students and already creating a close knit school community."

Also in attendance was Nate Davis, Chairman and CEO at K12 Inc., which provides the curriculum, technology and academic program to Maine Virtual Academy. K12, a company of educators, serves thousands of schools, districts, and educational institutions, and supports the largest network of K-12 online school teachers in the U.S.

"Maine Virtual Academy is high quality school led by a dedicated governing board and talented team of educators," said Davis.  "K12 is proud to serve Maine Virtual Academy and partner with them as work to meet the education needs of students in this state."

MEVA opened in September and serves students in grades 7-12 statewide. The school currently serves approximately 300 students. 

About Maine Virtual Academy
Maine Virtual Academy (MEVA) is a full-time online public school program that serves students in grades 7 through 12. Authorized by the Maine Charter School Commission, MEVA is available tuition-free to students in the state of Maine and utilizes the award-winning curriculum from K¹² Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's largest provider of proprietary curriculum and online education programs for grades K-12. For more information about MEVA, visit http://meva.k12.com/. 

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SOURCE Maine Virtual Academy