07/15/2026
A Little Local Lore
Wickenburg Virtual Academy is not new to our community but it has been awhile since we have shared ourselves with you. So, while you are enjoying some lazy summer days, we thought we’d offer you a local lore to read.
Around 2010, Superintendent Dr. Carlson, Wickenburg Alternative School Principal, Rose Garcia (the John Wayne of this story) and her staff started to see a change in the student population of the “alt school” students currently being served. There were more and more kids who wanted a non-traditional learning environment--one that had individualization in the coursework, flexibility in the time spent on schoolwork, and some personal attention from staff. Our team knew we had the tools (an innovative mindset and a digital curriculum) to become a different kind of school to meet the needs of these kids in our community. So, in 2013, after 3 years of online teaching training, technology training, and lots of paperwork, we applied to the Arizona Department of Education to become an AOI (Arizona Online Instruction) school and we were approved. Wickenburg Virtual Academy was born and the “alt school” was laid to rest (RIP, ol’ friend).
With this new status, we became a fully online school that met the state department’s requirements to be able to service students in grades 7-12 all over the Grand Canyon State, not just our community. We were blazing new trails with this type of educational option, making us unique in Wickenburg and around the state.
Not only did we offer education in a new way, we put our own brand on it by making a place (our own home on the range) where our virtual kids could students come in and get help from their teachers as well as connect with their peers AND they could be part of the local schools’ sports and extra-curricular activities, a win-win for kids!
While we were doing something different and new in public education, what we didn’t change was our approach to helping students. No matter where they were doing school, our students still had a “home” with us. Kids knew that being part of WVA meant they had teachers and staff members that knew them personally and were invested in helping them in their educational journey.
In 2020, when the pandemic hit, Wickenburg Virtual Academy was fully prepared to serve students in our district, as well any student in the state, with a vetted curriculum and an online platform that we had been using for our students for years. We didn’t need to create anything new or “build the plane as we flew it” because distance learning was our specialty-we considered ourselves “old timers” at the online learning thing.
As the world shifted after the pandemic, more students returned to in-person learning, which is probably the best educational option for most students because not all students are made for online learning. However, we knew that WVA would still have a place in this community and our state as a valuable educational option for students because our community didn’t change and we still met the educational needs of families looking for a non-traditional option. Based on the number of “micro-schools” and online learning options that have popped up post-pandemic, it is safe to say that what we started over thirteen years ago was just what was needed in the educational world.
Even though we have changed some things over the years and expanded our territory (i.e. we have expanded to 2 labs for students–one in Wickenburg and one in Buckeye), we have stayed true to our original school model:
⭐️deliver a solid curriculum
⭐️give flexibility to families
⭐️create a supportive learning environment
⭐️offer the opportunity to be part of school sports and activities
⭐️provide a place to connect with others
This is what Wickenburg Virtual Academy is about and the lore we want people to know about us.
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If you want to learn more about Wickenburg Virtual Academy or become part of our school, check out our website
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