Angel Smith is a talented Texarkana teenager with aspirations of dancing professionally.
She practices dance 45 hours a week leaving no time for traditional high school. So Angel attends an online high school with other students from around the state of Texas.
“She spends about 45 hours a week practicing gymnastics and dance,” said Bryan Smith, Angel’s father. Maintaining her schedule would not be possible without Grapevine-Colleyville’s iUniversity Prep, a tuition-free state- accredited virtual learning school.
Angel said she hopes to become a professional dancer because she would rather be doing something that she loves then doing a job she doesn’t like.
iUniversity Prep is one of only four virtual public schools in the state offering elementary, middle and high school curriculum, and the Smith family chose iUniversity Prep, in part, to ensure Angel would have continuity through middle and high school.
On August 24, Angel began her second year at iUniversity Prep, and the high school freshman credits her teachers as one of the school’s biggest assets. “iUniversity Prep teachers really care about my extracurricular activities, and they understand my goals. They make a real difference,” Angel explained.
According to Kaye Rogers, Ph.D., Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Director of Virtual Education, about 350 students are currently enrolled in iUniversity Prep, “We anticipate our enrollment will continue to increase throughout the school year. Our growth stems from the value iUniversity Prep brings families who desire a rigorous choice, and want a college prep education from a recognized school district.” In 2014, the Texas Education Agency rated iUniversity Prep as one of the highest performing public virtual schools in the state.
iUniversity Prep students can attend class, take tests and complete work from any location as long as they have access to a mobile device and an Internet connection, and enrollment for fall 2015 is still open.
