The reasons families choose to enroll in virtual schools are varied.
"I always tell people I have 300 and some kids and 300 reasons why they are here," said Michelle Mueller, WCA principal.
"A lot of reasons are religious. Families want to know exactly what their child receives for an education. Something new I'm hearing is safety, with everything in the news."
About 50 percent of WCA's 390 pupils come from families who would otherwise home school privately.
Their parents want accountability, curriculum and a certified teacher, said Mueller. Her students take all the state standardized tests kids in traditional public schools take.
Connie Radtke, eSchool online learning program leader, said teens choosing online courses include traveling athletes and models, kids with cancer and kids who have been expelled.
Some take courses not available at their school, or have a class scheduling conflict.
They retake a class online to improve their grade, or just want the online experience.
Part-time virtual school student Devon Lehr, 17, of Grand Chute, is a full-time student at Appleton West High School, where she is a junior. She has supplemented her public-school education with virtual school since freshman summer when she signed up for health, her first online course. Personal financial management, creative writing and a world history honors class followed.
At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Lehr opened her laptop at home and checked that day's assignment for an online bioethics course she takes through Appleton eSchool.
"There are people from all over the world in my class," she said, "so it's really exciting."
Lehr, who plans a career in broadcasting, chose to take online courses so she could fit
other classes into her schedule.
Lehr said she loves everything about taking courses online.
"You can do it in the car, on the couch, at school. It's so flexible and all you need is time and a computer."
With virtual schools operating in 42 states, it seems like a safe bet that we'll all have students accustomed to distance learning in our classrooms very soon if we don't already. Within the next decade, we'll have students in our law school classrooms who have incorporated distance learning into their traditional education for as long as they've been in school.
Colleges already have sophisticated offerings in distance learning, and many state bar associations offer online CLE courses. To remain relevant to Millennials -- who are being encouraged to select schools based on "fit" rather than on ranking and reputation -- law schools should increase their distance learning options.
Some law schools already use distance learning; at this point, though, distance learning offerings are often largely faculty-specific, meaning that if the one person who's tech-savvy enough to offer distance learning leaves, there go the law school's distance learning opportunities. Of course, as Xer faculty become a larger segment of law school faculties, and as Millennial faculty begin filtering in (within the next 5 years or so), the ability to offer effective online courses will expand. Law schools should also consider mining those international summer abroad program relationships to offer cross-cultural, international opportunities for all students, not just those who can afford the time and money for a summer abroad. Online courses seem like they would appeal to law school administrators, always looking for a way to offer more with fewer resources.
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