HISD’s Virtual School offers students alternatives to traditional classroom courses

Whether a student is trying to recover high school credits or get ahead with Advanced Placement classes, HISD’s own Virtual School Department offers a wide range of highly interactive online tuition-based courses for grades 9 through 12.

"It is the purpose and mission of HISD’s Virtual School to give the students alternative resources by which they can successfully pursue their educational goals," said HISD’s Manager of Digital Curriculum Jeanine Wilson.

The Virtual School Department offers more than 50 different AP courses for students interested in preparing for the AP exam and potentially earning college credit. The course fees range from $200 to $250 through the Virtual School Department. If the students earn AP college credit, they could end up saving thousands of dollars in tuition.

"This unique program allows students from any school in HISD and any part of the world to complete courses online with the approval of their school guidance counselors," said Wilson. "The HISD Virtual School Department functions as a program that allows students to take courses online for original credit or credit recovery to fulfill credits towards high school graduation."

These online courses are available all throughout the year. During the 2011-2012 academic year, the Virtual School Department had over an 80 percent passing rate and their completion rate has more than doubled since 2010.

This program is available to all HISD students in grades 9 – 12, as well as for students from other districts including home-schooled students. To register to take online courses through this program, call the Virtual School at 713-556-7295.