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_ 1            _‘__    I   biology to algebra, Spanish, art history, and even physi- i
`   ‘?        cal education — for students in grades 7 through 12. 1
`  i   i     3 It currently serves about 16,000 students who take,
t.  ’*’»  ·     on average, 2.5 classes each with FLVS — for a total of
 i g W_'L_g    ng ww   __;4 Q _Ji,;:   N   _?,,   `__'_     some 30,000 active course enrollments.
in     In the past five years, FLVS has enjoyed. "tremen-
·     "i`ii   ”` A ‘ dous gr0wth," Young says. Despite employing some 200
· "" * YQ  g     i- j’”“Q. i s _  2 teachers and increasing its enrollments by 5,000 to
we-·~ "?  .r*+·:_,£;§;;  924*    V. ia   L JU     ·   h d · ·  
    §t»  t V _. V Mt t , per year, it sti as stu ents on waiting ists.
‘ l in J   A   , A   “Julie Young has built one of the most highly ao-
_   `~ri _  ~,_    7 — claimed online high school networks in the world," says
      t_ -_,g.    lgji a   John G. Flores, executive director of the United States
  it,    2*;,   Distance Learning Association. "Her leadership, char-
.4* ‘ ” _”     ,/"`   acter, and caring personality have allowed her to nur- `
,  ·‘   ii   _ .1     ‘ ‘ii` ture a program that others judge themselves against."  
     ‘     .   ,_,g,`ii "'F The vast majority of FLVS students are Florida resi- l
    .     ._ sg dents who can take the courses for free, though it does {
    ` i  , , _     t V o serve about 300 tuition—based students from other y.
   , . I V J  , 1     _ tg states as well. FLVS also markets its courses to other  
`I   -  ` l· .-     _`V,  2 § states, including Kentucky, for their own virtual school l
I 4 og ,__..     t og programs. .
s   l “ »$ Twenty percent of FLVS students are home- ,
- E schooled. Other students sign up to take advantage of a i
“* class their local school doesn’t offer. Still others may ,
Julie Young, left, shares a moment with Nancy Clavi/son, have a scheduling conflict or want to retake a class they
executive assistant, in Y0ung’s office. didn’t pass originally. Only one percent of the school’s
students use FLVS as their only source of education.
Young has worked hard to build partnerships with
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