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Jamir, OCVS Student: Hey, I am Jamir Jones, a fifth grader here at Orange County Virtual School. Are you ready to learn without limits like me? Welcome to Mondays with Maria.

Announcer: Presented by ADDITION Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez, OCPS Superintendent: Thank you. Jamir. Jamir is a student at Orange County Virtual School. Hi everyone. Speaking of learning without limits, today we're talking about Orange County Virtual School. The ultimate, anytime, anywhere learning. And with me today is the Principal of Orange County Virtual School, Brandi Gurley. Welcome.

Brandi Gurley, OCVS Principal: Thanks for having me.

Dr. Vazquez: It's a pleasure. So, for those watching that don't know about Orange County Virtual School, why don't you share with them what a great opportunity this is for their child?

Brandi Gurley: Most certainly. Being the proud Principal of Orange County Virtual School, I want everybody to know who we are and what we do. Orange County Virtual School is OCPS's public virtual school that serves all students across Orange County in a full-time and part-time capacity. Whether you're taking one course, two courses, or all of your courses with us, we're here to serve each and every one of them.

Dr. Vazquez: What would you want our families to know about Orange County Virtual? What makes it special or unique?

Brandi Gurley: I think the biggest thing is that we meet the families and students where they are. We're a very community-based mindset school that does everything we can to support every family or student. We're not a small school. We serve over 30,000 students in our district.

Dr. Vazquez: That's mind-boggling.

Brandi Gurley: We offer 180 courses that range from regular all the way to advanced placement, as well as dual enrollment. We have blended style models where students have an opportunity to work at home, or on campus. We have activities and clubs, and things for them to participate in to keep them active.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah. So, the virtual part of it may be deceiving because parents may think, “Oh, I'm at home on my computer,” and that virtual learning that we all experienced during the COVID years, but that's not what it is at all. You, as you said, you provide opportunities for students who may need to come in and get some additional support, whether that's coming to your actual site or at their homeschool. And did you say it's from kindergarten all the way through high school?

Brandi Gurley: Most certainly. You can graduate with an OCPS diploma with Orange County Virtual School. Yeah.

Dr. Vazquez: That's phenomenal. And one of the things that is so impressive to me is how you and your staff build that sense of community. So talk a little bit about that.

Brandi Gurley: One of the things I think we do is we make sure that we meet them where they are with support. We provide parent panels, orientations, information sessions, and we do everything that is possible to make them feel like they are part of a school or a community.

Dr. Vazquez: Now, I heard this, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, but you're going to be offering Driver's Ed virtually. <laugh>

Brandi Gurley: Most certainly. That is actually one of our most popular courses that we have. It has one of the highest enrollments in Orange County.

Dr. Vazquez: Wow, that's amazing. Well, for our families that may be interested in learning more, they want to see what the range of courses that you offer, how they go about registering, and where they should go.

Brandi Gurley: They can go to OCVS.OCPS.net to find all the information that they need about Orange County Virtual School.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah, so we want them to choose OCVS, which is Orange County Virtual School, one of OCPS's phenomenal schools.

Brandi Gurley: Got it.

Dr. Vazquez: Thank you. It's been a great conversation, and thank you for being here. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. We'll have more on our podcast. Just go to wherever you get your podcast and search for Mondays with Maria. Have a great week.

Jamir, OCVS Student: Wait before you go. Take a look at OCVS in Action.

Alexis Ferguson, OCVS Teacher: Science Club is a great opportunity for our virtual students to come on campus for in-person lab experiences that they may not get in a virtual world. So, it gives them the opportunity to come to our campus to explore topics like astronomy, biology, chemistry, and all the fun stuff. Today, we are doing a forensic science lab, and specifically, we have a crime scene analysis that we are going through, and students will be analyzing footprints, fingerprints, and blood typing.

Nalani, OCVS Student: It gives you an opportunity to not only get to engage in science in a more in-depth way, but it also allows you to meet other students. It allows you to learn about different stuff you might not have known that you liked before. It's a very versatile opportunity, and it's one of my favorite things that we offer at OCVS.

Alexis Ferguson, OCVS Teacher: I founded Science Club in 2015, and we started with only five students, and it was five students who were really excited about science, who didn't understand the virtual labs we were doing. So, we said, “Come on campus, let's do it together.” And then from there it grew where students wanted to attend field trips, they wanted on-campus experiences, they wanted to meet professionals in different careers and scientific careers. So it built from there. And now we have about 65 Science Club members and counting at our school.

Ari, OCVS Student: My favorite part of science club is talking to other kids and finding other kids who have interests that I also have.

Nalani, OCVS Student: You get a mesh of being virtual, having that comfort zone of being able to come onto campus, and getting to learn

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic. Listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at Additionfi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.OCPS.net. I'm your announcer. Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.