As schools in Colorado and across the U.S. worked to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, many school districts were forced to adopt online learning options to deal with erratic school closings, student and staff quarantines, and a host of other unforeseen problems.

The Pikes Peak region’s largest districts had offered limited access to virtual learning for years, but they expanded their platforms in response to the pandemic, and some smaller districts have established their own online schools.

As the U.S. emerged from the pandemic, many families discovered a preference for the online model, and enrollment in online schools began to increase.

According to data from the Colorado Department of Education, student enrollment in online schools and programs increased to 31,389 students in the 2023-2024 academic year. That represents less than 4% of total student enrollment but online school has become an integral offering in many Colorado districts.

Several districts in the Colorado Springs area, including Harrison District 2, Widefield District 3, Districts 11 and 20, and Peyton District 23-JT have developed online learning academies.

Emily Ray, principal of Spark Online Academy in District 11, said virtual instruction can be an attractive option for a number of reasons.

“They could be academically ahead, or behind, or they have social anxiety and aren’t comfortable around other students,” Ray said. “Some of them play sports where it’s not feasible to be in class for seven hours a day. Some of their families travel, and their schedules don’t work well within a traditional learning environment.”

Spark Online Academy, which currently enrolls about 200 students, is one of 47 multi-district online schools across Colorado, according to the CDE. Multi-district online schools can accept students from across the state, regardless of their home district, as long as they have official Colorado residency.

“A lot of our families enjoy the flexibility of online learning,” Ray said. “We’ve had students attend from Hawaii. We had a student attend from Iraq. As long as they have Colorado residency, they can attend from just about anywhere.”

While in-person learning helps develop social skills in ways that online instruction cannot, there are several advantages to virtual schooling, experts say. It teaches time management, develops technical skills, offers an independent learning pace, and provides students with a comfortable learning environment.

“Students who prefer self-paced learning have a tendency to thrive in online schools,” Ray said.

“Kids are capable of more than we sometimes give them credit for. I feel like many kids are told what to think and what to do, without being given more opportunities to think and learn for themselves. Online schooling gives them the chance to try things out, to sometimes fail, and learn from that failure to move forward with confidence.”