charter school pavirtual pavcs location king of prussia pa pennsylvania 19406 united states information type education cyber school founded june 2001 1 superintendent dr joanne a jones barnett chief executive officer staff 35 non teaching staff 2013 faculty 81 teachers 2 grades k 12 pupils 2 482 pupils 2015 2 721 pupils 2014 3 3 198 pupils 2013 4 3 414 pupils 2012 5 3 353 pupils 2011 6 3 691 pupils 2010 7 3 644 pupils 2009 8 3 740 pupils 2008 9 kindergarten 116 2014 227 2008 grade 1 100 2014 325 grade 2 127 2014 346 grade 3 148 2014 364 grade 4 178 2014 369 grade 5 198 2014 374 grade 6 183 2014 338 grade 7 246 2014 341 grade 8 243 2014 348 grade 9 276 2014 328 grade 10 237 2014 216 grade 11 226 2014 164 grade 12 204 2014 0 2008 language english website www.pavcsk12.org the pennsylvania virtual charter school pavcs is a public virtual charter school . pennsylvania virtual charter school is headquartered at 630 park avenue king of prussia pennsylvania usa 19406 . in 2015 enrollment was reported as 2 482 pupils in kindergarten through 12th grades with 56.7 % of pupils eligible for a free lunch due to the family meeting the federal federal poverty level . additionally 16 % of pupils received special education services while none of the pupils were identified as gifted . 10 the school employed 104 teachers . 11 per the pennsylvania department of education 100 % of the teachers were rated highly qualified under the federal no child left behind act . 12 cyber charter schools enroll many homeschooled students 13 and also children with special needs 14 who are taught remotely via computer . 15 the school is one of the 14 public cyber charter schools operating in pennsylvania in 2015 . pa virtual charter school is a federally designated title i school . the montgomery county intermediate unit iu23 provides the school with a wide variety of services like specialized education for disabled students and hearing background checks for employees state mandated recognizing and reporting child abuse training speech and visual disability services and criminal background check processing for prospective employees and professional development for staff and faculty . according to the national center for education statistics in 2013 the school reported an enrollment of 2 721 pupils in grades kindergarten through 12th with 1 503 pupils eligible for a federal free or reduced price lunch due to the family meeting the federal poverty level . in 2013 the school employed 81 teachers yielding a student teacher ratio of 33 1 . 16 contents 1 background 2 governance 3 funding 4 graduation rate 5 academics 5.1 2015 school performance profile 5.2 2014 school performance profile 5.3 2013 school performance profile 5.4 ayp history 5.5 11th grade pssa results 5.6 sixth seventh eighth grade pssas 5.7 third fourth fifth grade pssas 5.8 sat scores 6 extracurriculars 7 references 8 external links background edit pavcs was approved by the pennsylvania department of education pde in 2001 and then renewed in 2005 for an additional five years . 17 the charter will be up for renewal by the pennsylvania department of education in 2016 . 18 initially serving kindergarten through 2nd grade 14 as of 2015 update it serves kindergarten through 12th grade . governance edit originally chartered by norristown area school district 19 the pennsylvania department of education pde now serves as pavcs charter authorizer and monitors pavcs compliance with the stipulations of its charter . 20 21 the pa virtual is funded by state tax dollars and governed by pennsylvania public school charter school cyber charter school and applicable local state and federal laws . the school s initial charter was from september 2001 to june 30 2006 22 was granted by the norristown school district . 22 23 the charter was then renewed for a period of five years from july 1 2006 to june 30 2011 . 19 since the renewal of the school s charter in 2006 24 the pde serves as the school s charter authorizer monitoring pa virtual s compliance with the stipulations of its charter . the school s current charter is for a period of five years from july 1 2011 to june 30 2016 . 25 26 pa virtual has a board of trustees bot which provides oversight for pa virtual and acts in trust for the tax payers of the commonwealth of pennsylvania . the role of the board of trustees is to develop policies to ensure the school operates in compliance with applicable local state and federal laws ; set goals for and monitor student achievement ; provide fiduciary oversight of the school s administration and accounting of public funds ; administer and monitor all contracts . board meetings are open to the public and members of the pa virtual community are encouraged to attend . 27 28 funding edit the school is funded by the state and federal government through grants like title i finding . in 2007 the pennsylvania state legislature passed a bill that caps the amount of money paid to cyber charter schools based on an average of such schools that achieved academic standards in 2006 2007 . 13 15 29 both sides of the controversy have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying for or against passage . 15 the pennsylvania state education association psea retains about six lobbyists each making between 90 000 and 160 000 a year while school choice proponents have spent 250 000 lobbying against the bill . 15 a spokesman for pavcs said if we re not funded properly and you take away our teachers we re not going to be able to operate . 13 graduation rate edit in 2015 pennsylvania virtual charter school reported a graduation rate of 77.21 % . 30 2014 72.98 % 31 2013 72.94 % 32 2012 66.22 % 33 academics edit 2015 school performance profile edit pennsylvania virtual charter school achieved 64.6 out of 100 . reflects 9th through 11th grade on grade level reading mathematics writing and science achievement on the state pssas and keystone exams . in reading literature 76.7 % were on grade level . in algebra i 55.50 % showed on grade level mathematics skills . in biology just 52.41 % showed on grade level science understanding . 34 reading percent on grade level 8th 46 % 35 7th 54 % 6th 63 % 5th 44 % 4th 50 % 3rd 47 % math percent on grade level 8th 17 % includes some pupils taking algebra i 7th 23 % 6th 30 % 5th 18 % 4th 34 % 3rd 20 % science percent on grade level 8th 53 % 4th 70 % 2014 school performance profile edit pennsylvania virtual charter school achieved 63.4 out of 100 . reflects on grade level reading mathematics and science achievement . in reading literature 67 % were on grade level . in algebra 1 mathematics 57 % showed on grade level skills . in biology science 66.9 % demonstrated on grade level science understanding at the end of the course . 36 37 according to the pennsylvania department of education 2 134 of 2 947 pennsylvania public schools 72 percent of pennsylvania public schools achieved an academic score of 70 or higher . 38 fifty three percent of schools statewide received lower spp scores compared with last year s while 46 percent improved . a handful were unchanged . 39 40 2013 school performance profile edit pennsylvania virtual charter school achieved 67.9 out of 100 . reflects on grade level reading mathematics writing and science achievement on the state pssas and keystone exams . in reading literature 67.88 % were on grade level . the third grade has just 69.23 % reading on grade level . in algebra 1 mathematics 59.85 % showed on grade level mathematics skills . in biology science just 55.45 % showed on grade level science understanding . in 5th and 8th grade writing 43.24 % of pupils showed on grade level writing skills . 41 according to the pennsylvania department of education 2 181 public schools less than 73 percent of pennsylvania public schools achieved an academic score of 70 or higher . pennsylvania 11th grade students no longer take the pssas . instead they now take the keystone exams at the end of the associated course . 42 ayp history edit in 2012 pennsylvania virtual charter school was in warning adequate yearly progress ayp status due to lagging student academic achievement in reading and mathematics . 43 2011 corrective action 2 first year ayp status . 44 2010 making progress corrective action 1 ayp status 45 2009 declined to corrective action 1 ayp status 46 2008 declined to school improvement level 2 ayp status 47 2007 making progress school improvement level 2 ayp status 48 2006 school improvement level 1 ayp status 49 the school s administration was required by the pennsylvania department of education to develop a school improvement plan to address the school s low student achievement . 50 2005 warning ayp status 51 2004 achieved ayp status 52 2003 achieved ayp status 53 11th grade pssa results edit pennsylvania system of school assessments commonly called pssas are no child left behind act related examinations which were administered from 2003 through 2012 in all pennsylvania public high schools . the exams were administered in the spring of each school year . the goal was for 100 % of students to be on grade level or better in reading and mathematics by the spring of 2014 . the tests focused on the state s academic standards for reading writing mathematics and science . the science exam included content in science technology ecology and the environmental studies . the mathematics exam included algebra i algebra ii geometry and trigonometry . the standards were first published in 1998 and are mandated by the pennsylvania state board of education . 54 in 2013 the commonwealth of pennsylvania changed its high school assessments to the keystone exams in algebra 1 reading literature and biology1 . the exams are given at the end of the applicable course rather than all in the spring of the student s 11th grade year . 55 11th grade reading 2012 61 % on grade level 20 % below basic . state 67 % of 11th graders are on grade level . 56 2011 65 % 17 % below basic . state 69.1 % 57 2010 67 % 20 % below basic . state 66 % 58 11th grade math 2012 33 % on grade level 44 % below basic . in pennsylvania 59 % of 11th graders are on grade level . 59 2011 39 % 42 % below basic . state 60.3 % 60 2010 42 % 42 % below basic . state 59 % 61 11th grade science 2012 37 % on grade level 13 % below basic . state 42 % of 11th graders were on grade level . 62 2011 35 % 17 % below basic . state 40 % 63 2010 29 % 20 % below basic . state 39 % sixth seventh eighth grade pssas edit sixth and seventh grades have been tested in reading and mathematics since 2006 . eighth graders are tested in reading writing mathematics and science . beginning in the spring of 2013 eighth graders who are enrolled in algebra i take the keystone exam for algebra i at the end of the course . the testing of 8th grade in reading and mathematics began in 1999 as a state initiative . 64 testing in science began in 2007 . the goal is for 100 % of students to be on grade level or better in reading and mathematics by the spring of 2014 . the tests focus on the state s academic standards for reading writing mathematics and science . 65 the standards were