With the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School 2010-2011 school year still in its first days we decided to reach out to our community and find out what they looked forward to most this school year. We kept the subject simple and only asked about academic subjects. We were interested to find out where our students and families were prepared to jump back in with both feet.  More than 800 eager members of our community responded to our informal poll and shared the subject they were looking forward to most.

Not surprisingly the core subjects came out on top, with Science narrowly taking first place with 22.87 percent of the votes from History with 22.51 percent. These responses show that our students and families are eager to get started with another successful school year.

The top five responses to the One Simple Questions Survey of "What subject are you looking foward to most?" are:

1. Science, 22.87%
2. History, 22.51%
3. Math, 17.03%
4. Reading, 12.53%
5. English, 8.64%

It is hard to believe that the 2010-2011 school year is hear already. We are sure you are all saying to yourselves, “Where did the summer go?” For those of you returning to the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School, welcome back to what we know will be another stimulating year for you and your child/children.

For those of you just joining the PAVCS family, we are happy you have chosen to join the most comprehensive virtual school program in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We are sure that everyone will have a productive, fun-filled, learning-rich year in 2010-2011, the 10th year of excellence for Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School.

We are happy that you have joined us on this journey and hope that you will be as enriched and enlightened as we know your children will be!

Thank you for becoming a member of the caring, connected, collaborative learning community known as PAVCS.

Good luck to you and yours this school year as we celebrate “Ten Years of Excellence, Innovation and Partnership in Education.”

Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School seventh grader Anna Hallett has an interesting hobby, she works with alpacas. Her work with the fuzzy, lama-like animals with the 4-H club and the Painted Spring Farm Alpacas and Fiber Store resulted in a recent mention in the York Dispatch. The article highlighted the hard work she puts in during the summer working with alpaca "Sea Splash," and even features a picture of  her and the alpaca prior to the program.

If the link to the York Dispatch article is not working, you can click on this icon to see a screen capture of the article.

Dear Graduates of the Class of 2010,

Congratulations on reaching this momentous milestone in your life. The class of 2010 is a beautiful tapestry comprised of many talented and unique threads. The members of your class hail from a wide array of socio-economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Yet, in the midst of your diversity and individuality, you are united by the common bonds of hard work, perseverance and commitment to your goals. These common qualities brought you to this celebration of the completion of your compulsory education. Today, I along with all the partners in your education, your parents, family, school staff and friends, gather to honor and commend you for your attainment of this significant achievement in your life.

As your days at PAVCS come to a close, and your journey into adulthood commences, the poem My Wishes for You by Sandra Sturtz Hauss, written to her son when he graduated, captures my hopes for each of you in the days and years ahead as you travel your journey through life.

May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand.
May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism.
Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there,
even when you feel most alone.
May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile
be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them. May the teachings of those you admire become part of you, so that you may call upon them. Remember, those whose lives you have touched and who have touched yours are always a part of you, even if the encounters were less than you would have wished. It is the content of the encounter that is more important than its form.
May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value
on the goodness in your heart. Find time in each day to see beauty and love in the world around you.
Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard you may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.
May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent on another’s judgment of your accomplishments.
May you always feel loved.

In closing, thank you for your many contributions to PAVCS. We hope your life has been enriched by your time at our school. Now, as you go out into the world and begin the next phase of your life --- I encourage you to make a difference, hold to your values, always do your best, never stop learning and most of all treat others the way you want to be treated. All the best and many successes in the future!

Twenty four Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School students recently performed skits related to subjects such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes, and good eating practices that reinforced  the programs and subjects emphasized at the Summer SLAM (Science Language Arts & Math) Tutoring program.

The closing ceremony, held at Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School in Philadelphia, also featured the awarding of performance certificates and words of encouragement from PAVCS Chief Executive Officer Joanne Jones Barnett. The skits and performance also gave the students the opportunity to show their parents how hard they worked in the program and the benefits that were received.

The Summer SLAM program is a summer enrichment program dedicated to minimizing academic gaps so students can reach their fullest academic and social potential through extended services and face-to-face interactions.