Initial Entry Requirements
Student eligibility requirements for FLVS Full Time are determined by the State of Florida. Before enrolling, review the following eligibility requirements carefully to determine if your student is eligible to participate in grades 6-8. Click here to review the statute eligibility requirements in more detail.
Age Limitations
FLVS will enroll students through age 19. Students must complete their senior year before age 21, so enrollment into middle school would be based on regular progression enabling successfully graduating high school prior to turning age 21. Exceptional education students who have not earned a standard diploma remain eligible for educational services through the end of the school year in which they become twenty-two years old. (IDEA.97-300.121(a))
Required Documents
A copy of one of the following documents must be provided to verify your legal residence. If you do not have any of these documents, please contact the Enrollment Team to discuss acceptable alternatives.
• Gas, electric, or water bill from the last 60 days that includes your name and service address
• Mortgage statement or lease agreement
FLVS does also request the student’s social security number to ensure unique identification. Please note that some agencies, for example Florida Bright Futures, require this number to apply for scholarships.
FLVS uses all possible safeguards to ensure this number is secure, including encryption in our database and masking to only display the last 4 digits.
Prior Public Schooling Limitations None
Other Documentation
You may need to provide additional documentation if any of the following circumstances apply:
• Student Number Identifier, Florida: If your child previously attended a FL public school, we are required to use the same number for our state data reporting.
• Custody order: If your legal guardianship is determined by a court order, please submit a copy of the order.
• Official Transcripts/STS: We require all applicants to supply official transcripts with state testing score during the enrollment process. It is exceptionally helpful to ensure that students receive the personalized learning that our program offers.
• Gifted evaluation: If you are requesting enrollment in a course that is ahead of or behind the student's age-based grade level or you are requesting placement in a Talented course, a placement counselor will contact you to request a report card and/or state test scores.
• IEP or 504 plan: For students with an IEP or a 504 plan, providing a copy of the current plan and Educational/Psychological Assessment Report will speed the student's proper course placement.
• Military orders: If you are enrolling your student under the exception for children of U.S. Armed Forces, you will need to provide copies of your orders.
• Free/Reduced Lunch application: Even though a virtual student does not require meals at school, FLVS Full Time receives additional funding based on the % of students enrolled who qualify for the Free/Reduced lunch program. Please be sure to complete the application and return it so FLVS can benefit from the programs in place.
School Attendance
FLVS students must complete the required 25 hours per week (recommended 900 hours per year). FLVS teachers will monitor and review attendance records on a weekly basis. Learning Coaches document student attendance in the Learning Management System (LMS); the school verifies that the attendance records are accurate.
Truancy
FLVS FT defines truancy as 15 unexcused days in 90-days or 10 consecutive unexcused days, with or without the knowledge or consent of the student's parent or guardian, and who is subject to compulsory school attendance.
In order to maximize student learning, regular attendance is imperative. The FLVS Full Time program offers a great deal of flexibility about how many hours students spend each day on school work and on what days of the week they complete that work. Due to this flexibility, FLVS Full Time program has zero tolerance for truancy and students who are considered “truant” will be dis-enrolled from the Florida Virtual School Full Time public program. Learning Coaches are held legally responsible for ensuring that their students are fully participating in school.
Placement of In-State Transfer Students
Students who were part of the Florida public school program last year are eligible to transfer to FLVS Full Time Public per the eligibility requirements stated above. Students may enroll after the start of the school year or semester up until the point that enrollment is closed. The actual date on which
enrollment closes is determined annually at the discretion of the school. Families enrolling mid-year are subject to all the same enrollment requirements as families that enroll prior to the start of the school year or semester.
Grade placement is based on the careful evaluation of each pupil’s achievement in terms of his/her appropriate instructional goals. The basis for making the determination is affected by many inputs including: progress tests, daily observation, classroom assignments, standardized tests, student products and all other objective data available. The primary responsibility for determining each pupil’s level of performance and ability to function academically, socially, and emotionally at each level is that of the classroom teacher, subject to the review and approval of the Principal. No student may be assigned to a grade level based solely on age or other factors that constitute social promotion.
Placement of Out-of-State Transfer Students
The Florida ruling around state uniform processes for transfer of Middle Grade Students states that:
(1) Grades earned and offered for acceptance shall be based on official transcripts and shall be accepted at face value subject to validation if required by the receiving school’s
accreditation. If validation of the official transcript is deemed necessary, or if the student does not possess an official transcript or is a home education student, successful completion of courses shall be validated through performance during the first grading period as outlined in subsection (2) of this rule.
(2) Validation of courses shall be based on performance in classes at the receiving school. A student transferring into a school shall be placed at the appropriate sequential course level and should be passing each required course at the end of the first grading period. Students who do not meet this requirement shall have courses validated using the Alternative Validation Procedure, as outlined in subsection (3) of this rule.
(3) Alternative Validation Procedure. If validation based on performance as described above is not satisfactory, then any one of the following alternatives identified in the district student progression plan shall be used for validation purposes as determined by the teacher, principal, and parent:
a. Portfolio evaluation by the superintendent or designee;
b. Demonstrated performance in courses taken at other public or private accredited schools;
c. Demonstrated proficiencies on nationally-normed standardized subject area assessments;
d. Demonstrated proficiencies on the FCAT; or
e. Written review of the criteria utilized for a given subject provided by the former school.
Students must be provided at least ninety (90) days from date of transfer to prepare for assessments outlined in paragraphs (3)(c) and (d) of this rule if required. (6A-1.09942)
S. 1008.22 Statewide Assessment Program – Middle School
The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) measures a student's content knowledge and skills in reading, writing, science, and mathematics. The content knowledge and skills assessed by the FCAT must be aligned to the core curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. FCAT Reading and FCAT Mathematics shall be administered annually to all students in grades 6-8. FCAT Writing and FCAT Science shall be administered at least once at the elementary, middle, and high school levels except, beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, the administration of the FCAT Science at the high school level shall be discontinued.
Middle grades students enrolled in Algebra I or geometry must take the statewide, standardized EOC assessment for those courses and are not required to take the corresponding grade-level FCAT.
End of Course Assessments (EOC)
EOC assessments must be rigorous, statewide, standardized, and developed or approved by the Florida Department of Education. The content knowledge and skills assessed by EOC assessments must be aligned to the core curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
Students enrolled in an Algebra 1, geometry, or Biology 1 course or an equivalent high school course with a statewide, standardized EOC assessment are required to take the corresponding End of Course Assessment. Note these are high school level courses. Students taking a high school course in grades 6-8 may “bank” the credit towards high school graduation requirements and use that course in lieu of a middle grade math course.
Students in the FLVS Full Time Public school must take all statewide assessments. They must be
administered (by law) at the student’s zoned school of residence or at a location mutually agreed upon by the zoned district and FLVS. Every FLVS Full Time public school student is responsible for determining when FCAT and End of Course assessment tests will be administered in their district of residence and completing those tests. FLVS will notify each district of students requiring testing to ensure that adequate resources are available. Student scores on the FCAT tests are reported back to FLVS Full Time and represent a significant portion of the FLVS Full Time school grade. They are also used to determine student progression options.
Section 1008.22, F.S. states that testing is mandatory for all students in attendance at a Florida public school, therefore the only way a student would not participate is if the student is absent during the entire testing window. If this occurs, the student may be placed in remediation the following school year, and other consequences (such as retention) could result.
Students who score a level 4 or level 5 on FCAT Math Grade 7 will be strongly encouraged to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Algebra 1 does have an End of Course Assessment that a student must pass to earn a standard diploma. Middle School students who take and pass the Algebra 1 EOC are allowed to bank the credit for high school and the passing score is used to meet the graduation requirement.
Civics End of Course Assessment
Civics is a course offered to middle grades students. Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, each student’s performance on the statewide, standardized EOC assessment in civics education constitutes 30 percent of the student’s final course grade.
S. 1003.4156 General Requirements for Middle Grades Promotion
In order for a student to be promoted to high school from a school that includes middle grades 6, 7, and 8, the student must successfully complete the following academic courses:
Academic Courses
The chart below represents the required courses to progress from middle school to high school.
Subject Area