Virtual Schools

Empower students to reach their highest potential with full-time, flexible online learning solutions.

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Virtual Schools

Reimagine learning  

Academic leaders recognize that full-time online K-12 schools are an important public school option. Online public schools create opportunities for underserved populations, provide personalized instruction, and offer greater flexibility in a safe learning environment. Administrators, charter boards, and authorizers who partner with Pearson can offer a trusted, proven academic program to students in their district, region, or state.

Students are at the center of everything we do. We believe in the power of learning and have seen students transform in our online environment. With more than 20 years of experience in online education, we can help you build a full-time online school that will fuel your students' academic success.

“E-learning can be life-changing or even lifesaving.”

— Full-time online learning student

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How it works

As an academic leader faced with the new realities of online learning, your biggest challenge (and opportunity) is building a flexible and engaging K-12 virtual program that fits your school, district, region, or state.

By choosing the solution that works best for you: from full-service schools with teachers provided to pick-and-choose courses and consultative services, you can meet the diverse needs of your students. A Pearson partnership provides the know-how, experience, and time-tested tools to achieve online learning success.

Explore virtual learning partnership options

Full-service Connections Academy schools

Bring Connections Academy to your state or region. Full-time online school gives you a turnkey solution that you can deploy with the expertise of Pearson as your partner. Connections Academy schools include the curriculum, teachers, and powerful learning platform, and all the required services to run a complex K-12 public school. Also included: enrollment services, administration, clubs, field trips, state testing, board support, counseling services, and more.

Learn more about Connections Academy schools

Customizable district partnerships

Our the district partnership option lets you deliver full-time or part-time online learning to your academic community using our learning management systems, K-12 courses designed for a virtual environment, optional teaching services, training, and support.

Your teachers can provide student instruction with Pearson’s support and training, or you can choose to use Pearson-provided, credentialed teachers. Whether it's a “virtual school in a box” or a supported courseware program, your Pearson district partnership helps you do virtual learning right. Your students will have the curriculum to meet their learning needs. Your staff will get the support they need. And you'll have a dedicated partner by your side.

Learn more about district partnership options

Benefits

Take the lead and shape the future

A full-time online school presents an opportunity for you to deliver innovative, flexible learning to your students. Leverage our time-tested platform, content, and services to expand enrollment and choices for your district, region, or state.

Broaden opportunities

Provide award-winning, engaging curriculum taught by expert teachers, in a student-centered learning platform.

Become a district of choice

Meet students’ and families’ diverse needs and expand choices for learning.

Get A–Z solutions and support

Leverage our 20+ years of experience in online education to turn your digital concepts into reality with full support.

Our program delivers hundreds of courses and electives, including honors and Advanced Placement® (AP®) courses, and the latest instructional tools so you can easily offer personalized learning and prepare your students for the rigors of higher education. Additionally, we provide certified online teachers who are experts in their fields of instruction and online learning.

A new research study provides evidence that Connections Academy students can attain the same level of achievement as that achieved at traditional brick-and-mortar schools when accounting for mobility. Overall findings show that students in Connections Academy schools statistically outperform cohorts in other online schools in terms of the percentage scoring proficient in reading on state assessments.

"Both of my children love Connections Academy. My son has made wonderful improvements, not only academically but also with his confidence. My daughter loves the challenge she gets from Connections Academy."

— Connections Academy Parent

Online school is the right choice for many families and students whose needs may be better met outside of a brick-and-mortar setting. An online school program can help extend awareness of your district, encourage homeschool and private school families to return to your district, expand your course catalog, address teacher shortages, and ultimately become a district of choice among families — increasing enrollment, and offering better educational opportunities for students.

With our turnkey program, we’ll help you build a comprehensive digital learning solution. We provide online courses and curriculum, instructional services, program management, professional development, and everything in between. You provide the dedication to your students’ needs, knowing what they need to succeed. 

Students, teachers, parents, and staff have 24/7 access to an extensive searchable online help system and online training resources. “Online” doesn’t mean “on your own,” — we’ll be there every step of the way to answer questions and support your program. 

“I think our students are performing better by just the fact that we can see how they are doing on any given lesson. [We can] reinforce the right factors and provide immediate feedback on work relating to any concept or standard that might not be heading in the correct direction. The platform allows us to catch any issues very quickly. A lot of our colleagues in the classroom are interested in what we do. They wish we could do that in the classroom!”

— Online Program Coordinator

About us

20+ years of experience in online schools

In 2001, the first Connections Academy online school was established, and in 2011, Connections Academy became part of the Pearson family. Since then, we have:

  • partnered with more than 340 districts, boards, or chartering authorities to launch online programs throughout the world
  • grown to serve more than 100,000 full-time students each year in Connections Academy partner schools
  • established 46 regional or statewide Connections Academy programs in 31 states
  • received numerous awards for our innovative technology solutions and outstanding staff and teachers

Introducing our partner leadership team

Select an individual to learn more about them.

Tom ap Simon, Managing Director
Tom ap Simon

President, Virtual Learning
Nik Osborne, General Manager, District Partnerships
Nik Osborne

Senior Vice President, Sales and Customer Success
Michelle (Shelly) Shires, Senior Vice President, Product & Portfolio Management
Michelle (Shelly) Shires

Senior Vice President, Product & Portfolio Management
Michelle (Shelly) Shires, Senior Vice President, Product & Portfolio Management
Tiffinie Irving

Vice President, Customer Success Service Delivery

Tom ap Simon

President, Virtual Learning

Tom ap Simon is President of Virtual Learning for Pearson, leading its strategic vision and management to deliver superior support/services for schools, higher education institutions, and families, notably its Connections Academy K-12 online school program. Tom joined Pearson in 2004 and prior to his current post, he served as: Managing Director of Pearson Online & Blended Learning K-12; SVP/North America; and SVP/Finance, Growth Markets, where he focused on building the business’s talent, culture, and financial discipline.

Tom ap Simon, Managing Director

Nik Osborne

Senior Vice President, Sales and Customer Success

Nik joined Pearson in 2016 to lead various strategic, operational, and sales functions in Pearson's HECW organization. In this role, Nik developed several new strategic business models, developed a strong partnership and distribution network, revitalized business operations, created customer centric pricing, and led a $200M+ sales organization. Prior to joining Pearson, Nik led strategic partnerships at McGraw-Hill Education, and served as the Chief of Staff for the VP and CIO of Indiana University. As SVP, Sales and Customer Success for Virtual Schools (K12), Nik is responsible for leading and implementing the go-to-market across the three core business channels (Partner Schools, District Partnerships, and Pearson Online Academy) in the online and blended learning space. Nik received his JD from Indiana University's Mauer School of Law and BS from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

Nik Osborne, General Manager, District Partnerships

Michelle (Shelly) Shires

Senior Vice President, Product & Portfolio Management

Michelle (Shelly) Shires is a visionary, collaborative, and innovative product leader. She has 17+ years of experience managing large, complex, and transformational product initiatives with both internal and external, geographically distributed teams in the digital product and services industry. She is a subject matter expert known for establishing and implementing top-notch full product development lifecycle and large-scale global delivery. Shelly is a strong leader who provides organizational direction, development, and coaching, and has been credited for transforming teams recognized for high performance and adaptability.

Michelle (Shelly) Shires, Senior Vice President, Product & Portfolio Management

Tiffinie Irving

Vice President, Customer Success Service Delivery

Dr. Tiffinie Irving is an academic and instructional leader. She has 23+ years of accomplishments as a teacher, principal, and school district administrator, developing educators and improving student outcomes. Tiffinie joined Pearson Virtual Schools in 2021, where she leads academic and assessment expert teams responsible for delivering a range of exceptional services to partner schools, district partnerships, and Pearson Online Academy customers. Tiffinie earned a doctorate from Wichita State University in education leadership, and she has authored and co-collaborated on numerous educational publications.

Sue Shubert, Vice President, School Services

More about online learning

We offer a wide variety of resources and events (including live webinars and webinar recordings) to help you on your virtual learning path.

Explore resources Join us at events

Partner success stories

Read our customer stories and see the impact online schools have on students, families, teachers, and communities.

Woman teaching others using a white board

District embraces online learning for families seeking alternatives

See how Wauwatosa Virtual Academy stopped students from leaving the district by creating just what they were looking for — a non-traditional path for students to graduate and achieve success.

Read their story >
Illustration of city office buildings

County meets the needs of military and rural students

Robertson County Virtual School successfully serves students from a variety of backgrounds. Discover how this district is able to maintain a 100% graduation rate and meet students’ diverse needs.

Read their story >

Student success stories

We help students develop pathways to success by building on their individual strengths and interests in an online setting that’s both safe and connected to a larger community. Our full-time online schools create lifelong learners who are prepared for future school and careers by offering:

  • outstanding curriculum
  • exceptional K–12 teachers
  • individual attention
  • parent-supported online learning
  • easy-to-use technology
  • socialization, community, and friendships
Read about some of the amazing students enrolled in different Pearson partner schools and programs

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Want to learn more about our online learning solutions? Connect with a representative to see how we can help you reimagine learning in your district, region, or state.