Subject Areas

Virtual Options

Bentonville Schools offers virtual class options to District residents including (1) HS Online blended learning, (2) NWACC Online, distance learning for college credit and (3) Virtual School which is 100% online for students who may travel often, are unable to attend school on the local campus or who may have medical needs in the home requiring less interaction in the community. Virtual School is a small school environment that cannot offer every course in our full catalog. Courses are scheduled based on a critical mass of student requests.

Students may choose their classes and their educational setting (traditional “blended” school day enrollment on campus versus 100% online Virtual School), but they are expected to commit to their decision for a full school year as staffing decisions are made based on that decision declared from February – May in the course selection process. Students enrolling from outside the District may make their initial choice at the point of enrollment at any time in the school year. Students encountering disciplinary proceedings or medical needs in the middle of the year may obtain a principal’s approval for mid-year placement from one District model to the other. See more at BentonvilleK12.org > Menu > Schools > Bentonville Schools Virtual.

Bentonville Schools provides online course options to give students control of time, place, path and/or pace of their learning. Courses that are available online are listed individually in Home Access Center (HAC) during the course selection process. All online course models are monitored for student success and students may be returned to traditional classroom instruction if they are not succeeding in the online environment.

Online course curriculum providers are utilized for some of our Virtual School courses. Other Virtual School courses are defined by the Arkansas Department of Education Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (ADE DESE) as “home grown” when our curriculum is used in its entirety without the support of another online curriculum provider.

Courses are taught and managed by Bentonville Schools’ teachers. Teachers may require attendance in-person on campus during the regular class period for tests, labs, some course activities or when a student is not succeeding. Most class periods for the HS Online model do not involve a face-to-face meeting and students may be at home, off campus or in the designated cyber cafe. Class periods for the Virtual School 100% online model have much less dependence on face-to-face meetings of the entire class at one time but still provide teacher-student interaction.

NWACC Online Early College Experience (ECE) is a partnership between NWACC and high schools to allow students to progress toward a college degree. ECE offers a rigorous and rewarding course of study. Students in Early College Experience can take transferable college core curriculum courses while still in high school. This program provides for a reduced college tuition. Courses taken on their campus outside of this agreement may be at full tuition costs. See also Concurrent Enrollment for additional details about enrollment with NWACC. Note: various fees and tuition apply.

All online instructional delivery models will be monitored by teachers, administrators and counselors to ensure student success. Interventions may include re-assigning a student to a traditional classroom experience with daily teacher interaction. Any related college course refunds will be subject to rules in the college course catalog.

In High School Online courses (those embedded in the schedule of a student who is not a full-time Virtual School student, students are required to attend the first two weeks of classes, on campus, during their assigned class time. There will be additional days for group work and assessments when your attendance will be required in class. An absence on a required attendance period will affect a student’s exemption status and overall attendance record. If your grade falls at or below a 70%, you are required to attend class on campus during each assigned class period until your grade is above 70%. If your grade continues to fall below 70% for several weeks, you will be required to attend a conference with your teacher, a parent and an administrator to discuss the possibility of removal from the course.