When people hear “virtual school”, some think of a transitional period in education—like when the pandemic was keeping kids out of class and in their homes. But for the K-12 Georgia Cyber Academy, virtual learning isn’t something improvised out of an emergency situation—it's an intentional approach to learning they’ve spent almost two decades perfecting.
As Head of Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Deirdre Daniels shoulders a remarkable responsibility: designing high-impact lessons for nearly 11,000 students each year—each with a unique story. From teen theater protégés and young parents, to homeschooled learners and students from transient backgrounds, Georgia Cyber Academy (GCA) serves a truly diverse community. But whether students are rooted in one place or frequently on the move, GCA’s learning model prioritizes the learner over the location—delivering education that adapts to their lives, not the other way around.
By emphasizing realistic, interactive instruction and the value of academic challenge, this virtual school is redefining what online education can be—and proving that success can stand on large scales.
Instruction That’s Ahead of the Curve
“Virtual learning didn’t start during Covid,” Dr. Daniels explains. That distinction is what sets Georgia Cyber Academy apart: its instructional model was designed for virtual learning long before the world was forced to adapt—making it resilient in the face of global disruption.
All around the world, and especially in the U.S., students and educators alike were unprepared for the drastic change from in-person routines to online learning. This shift was more of a leap across a chasm than a stretch outside comfort zones—leading to heightened absenteeism and learning gaps that put many kids a full year behind math, reading, and science benchmarks.
That wasn’t the case at GCA. In fact, in the years following Covid, Georgia Cyber Academy students posted the highest test scores in the state—two years in a row—surpassing even pre-pandemic statewide averages.
While consistency of instruction kept students’ academic performance up, Dr. Daniels credits the school’s success to more than circumstances: it’s about choosing resources that connect subject matter to the broader world, showing students that learning is more than memorization—it’s inquiry, critical thinking, and experimentation.
“Pitsco Smart Science (PSS) has been a staple of our curriculum because, unlike many virtual tools, it weaves real-world variables and constraints into each lesson,” Dr. Daniels explains. “That way, students grasp the scientific context behind everyday phenomena—like why a plant thrives or shrivels.”
When students can observe mistakes and their real consequences, they move beyond passive learning. They begin to think and act like scientists—discovering that understanding why something happens can be just as powerful as knowing what happens.
Learning the Hard Way
These lessons aren’t just a workaround—they’re a gateway. At Georgia Cyber Academy, where 81% of students live at or below the poverty line, virtual science isn’t a compromise. It’s an equalizer. With Pitsco Smart Science (PSS), students don’t need physical lab benches, microscopes, or reagent kits to do real science. The experiments live online, but the learning is real world.
Even in lean budget years, Dr. Daniels refuses to cut corners on Smart Science. Its value isn’t just in what it provides—but in what it demands. “When students say something is hard,” she says with a smile, “that’s when I know the resource is doing its job.”
Challenge, after all, isn’t a barrier—it’s a launchpad. By requiring students to wrestle with data, process complex information, and explain their reasoning, the program cultivates a growth mindset. And that mindset is foundational—not just for academic achievement, but for lifelong learning.
“Teachers sometimes worry when they see questions in paragraph form,” Dr. Daniels adds, referring to the structure of Smart Science assessments. “They think it’s too much for students. But that format? It mirrors the SATs. It should feel rigorous—that’s the point.”
And beyond the tests, there’s reality: in the real world, data doesn’t show up in clean charts with color-coded highlights. It’s messy. It has to be interpreted. That’s exactly what PSS trains students to do. From exploring bacterial growth to modeling chemical reactions, students aren’t just watching science happen—they’re making sense of it.
The labs are just the beginning. The real cognitive lift comes after, as students organize their findings, sift through what they observed, and answer dense, open-ended questions that force them to slow down and think deeply. It’s this post-lab reflection that transforms information into insight—keeping students curious, sharp, and always learning.
Bringing Depth to Virtual Science
When it comes to science, kids don’t just want to learn it—they want to do it. Science isn’t something to be passively absorbed; it’s meant to be experienced—explored with all the senses, tested through action, and processed by a curious mind. Dr. Daniels sees firsthand the impact active participation makes through the way her students engage with the PSS labs.
In the Bacteria Growth lab, for instance, eighth graders get their virtual hands dirty while studying microorganisms in a health science context. It’s the perfect combination of gross and fascinating—turning the invisible into something tangible. By watching bacteria grow and thrive in unclean environments, students grasp the importance of hygiene in a visceral way. They don’t just learn about germs; they see them in action, making homes of human bodies. It’s the kind of lesson that sticks. “They love the novelty of the nastiness,” Dr. Daniels says, “but what really grabs them is how their observations translate into real-world understanding.”
This is the essence of what makes science so powerful: it’s not a subject to memorize, it’s a world to explore. Passive learning—whether through lectures or videos—falls short of capturing that energy. When students simply sit and absorb, they miss the tactile nature of discovery. But tools like Smart Science change that, inviting students to ideate, model, construct, and test from anywhere.
By having students lead their own investigations, PSS fosters independence and sparks a love for experimentation. Whether it’s a high schooler delving into chemical reactions or a younger student exploring plant biology, Smart Science not only makes lessons accessible, but thrilling.
From Science to Success
In the virtual classroom, science can’t just be a subject on a screen—it needs to be dimensional, interactive, and incorporate real-world variables. At the Georgia Cyber Academy, science isn’t just a lesson—it’s an experience that’s both immersive and replicable.
With tools like Pitsco Smart Science, thousands of students are stepping into the shoes of botanists, engineers, medical scientists, and more, engaging in labs that stimulate both imagination and intellectual growth. For these students, what began as a simple learning opportunity has evolved into achievement that’s defying expectations—and removing limitations.