The KVHS is an unprecedented collaboration between the Kentucky Department of Education and the Council on Postsecondary Education, and the state's major education partners whose common interest is to secure an internationally superior education for our state's citizens. Through the KVHS, every Kentuckian seeking high school level coursework is able to enroll in for-credit, enrichment or college preparatory classes taught by Kentucky certified teachers and receive credit from their local high school. Courses are delivered online to schools, homes and other places with Internet access, available anytime and anywhere--meeting the needs of students. Kentucky Virtual High School curriculum ranges from the basic to the very advanced.

What We Believe

KVHS adheres to the five basic belief statements of the Kentucky Education Reform Act:

• All children - given adequate opportunity and support - can learn, and nearly all children can learn at high levels.
  
  
• The school is the best place to make decisions about what happens in the school.
  
  
• High standards - that is, high expectations - produce high achievement.
  
  
• Results matter - we can teach for results and build accountability for results.
  
  
• Financial support for schools must be equitable.
  
  

Educational Goals

The Kentucky Virtual High School, as a program of the state s public education system, has the shared goal of helping each district reach Proficiency by 2014. Underlying that objective for statewide achievement are educational goals for all instructional programs. These goals describe the capacities and skills of high achieving students and the characteristics of successful schools. KVHS believes that online learning has a significant role in providing all students and schools with adequate opportunity to develop these capacities:

• Communication skills necessary to function in a complex and changing civilization;
  
  
• Knowledge to make economic, social, and political choices;
  
  
• Understanding of governmental processes as they affect the community, the state, and the nation;
  
  
• Sufficient self-knowledge and knowledge of their mental and physical wellness;
  
  
• Sufficient grounding in the arts to enable each student to appreciate their cultural and historical heritage;
  
  
• Sufficient preparation to choose and pursue their life's work intelligently; and
  
  
• Skills to enable them to compete favorably with students in other states.
  
  

Furthermore,

• Schools shall expect a high level of achievement of all students.
  
  
• Schools shall develop their students' ability to:
  
  
  • Use basic communication and mathematics skills for purposes and situations they will encounter throughout their lives;
    
    
  • Apply core concepts and principles from arts and humanities, English/language arts, health, mathematics, physical education, science, and social studies to situations they will encounter throughout their lives;
    
    
  • Become self-sufficient individuals;
    
    
  • Become responsible members of a family, work group, or community including demonstrating effectiveness in community service;
    
    
  • Think and solve problems in school situations and in a variety of situations they will encounter in life; and
    
    
  • Connect and integrate experiences and new knowledge from all subject matter fields with what they have previously learned and build on past learning experiences to acquire new information through various media sources.
    
    
• Schools shall increase their students' rates of school attendance.
  
  
• Schools shall reduce their students' dropout and retention rates.
  
  
• Schools shall reduce physical and mental health barriers to learning.
  
  
• Schools shall be measured on the proportion of students who make a successful transition to work, postsecondary education, and the military.