From credit recovery for a failing grade to taking an advanced high school math class not offered at an eighth-grader’s middle school, the Illinois Virtual Schools & Academy, based in Lake County, offers kindergarteners through high school seniors a chance to achieve their academic goals.
Abandoned by Peoria’s public schools in 2022 when the need for virtual education significantly lessened as the state and nation came out of the coronavirus pandemic, Lake County Regional Superintendent of Schools Michael Karner believed there were still needs throughout Illinois.
With a grant of $2 million from the New School Venture Fund, Karner brought the state’s virtual school to the office of the regional superintendent in Grayslake in June of 2022. At first, it was only offered to high school students. It became full-time that winter.
“It served students who were in the hospital and would (otherwise) miss a lot of time in school,” Karner said. “Students used it for credit recovery or supplemental courses,” he added, referring to courses not offered in their district. “The grade is part of their record in their home district.”
The Illinois Virtual Schools & Academy served 6,374 students during the 2024-2025 school year, meeting a variety of full-time and part-time academic needs.
Currently available with 304 partner schools across 196 school districts in Illinois, encompassing 65 of the state’s 102 counties, Karner said the school continues to grow. A majority of the students supplement their curriculum with courses not offered in their local school.
Should a student want to take a foreign language not offered at their home school — including American Sign Language — or an advanced calculus class, Karner said they can do it through the virtual school.
“A Zip Code should not dictate what course (a student) is offered,” Karner said. “Advanced placement or some foreign languages may not be offered in some parts of the state. They’re taught by certified Illinois teachers.”
Among the Illinois Virtual Schools & Academy are athletes in sports like hockey, football or tennis who devote a great deal of time to their sports.
Michael Lubelfeld, the superintendent of North Shore School District 112 serving Highland Park and Highwood, said there are times the Illinois virtual school meets the needs of students in the district.
“The virtual school serves the unique and realistic needs of some students,” Lubelfeld said. “It’s an alternative school and alternative education for some of our kids. It offers choices that meet their needs. What works for one student may work differently for another.”
Lubelfeld said offerings at the virtual school allow families whose children were home-schooled or in private schools to return to the public schools, “because the hybrid model meets their needs.”
Nearly all of the more than 6,000 students take a course or two from the virtual school and do the rest at the public or private school in their community. Karner said about 50 students are on the full-time roster.
By the fall of 2022, the school was expanded to include middle school students and, in 2023, Karner said the virtual school was opened for a summer program for kindergartners through eighth graders. It now serves elementary, middle and high school students.
