For some, virtual schooling is a way to supplement regular schooling. For others, virtual schooling is a way of home schooling.

In “Home Schooling Goes Mainstream,” an article from the Winter 2009 issue of Ed Next, Milton Gaither wrote that parents of school-aged kids who are involved in sports or arts programs requiring rigorous training were coming to embrace home schooling. The virtual version of home schooling has great appeal for junior tennis players, who often compete in tournaments around the globe while still in their teens.

In a new video on the Ed Next website, three junior tennis players talk about attending a virtual high school: Mallory Burdette (now a freshman at Stanford University), Jarmere Jenkins (now a freshman at the University of Virginia), and Sloane Stephens (now a junior at Florida Virtual School)*.  (Stephens was interviewed just days after defeating Venus Williams in a World Team Tennis match.)

*“Florida’s Online Option,” an article in the Summer 2009 issue of Ed Next by Bill Tucker, took a close look at Florida Virtual School (FLVS). As the article explained, most of its students attend brick-and-mortar schools and take FLVS courses in addition to their traditional classes, but some attend FLVS full time.