Free Online Public Schools for Pennsylvania Students, K-12

Students residing in Pennsylvania can take online public school courses for free. Schools included in this article met the following qualifications: they have classes available completely online, they offer services to state residents, and they are government-funded. Presented here is a list of some no-cost online schools serving elementary and high school students in Pennsylvania as of May 2017. 

Pennsylvania students in grades 6 to 12 can attend 21CCCS, which provides a rigorous and personalized curriculum, highly qualified instructional staff and a supportive educational community. Using PSSA scores, Keystone Exam scores, PSAT participation, SAT scores and other academic performance measures, 21CCCS regularly outperforms other Pennsylvania cyber schools. 21CCCS holds the highest score of any cyber charter on the College Ready Benchmark, which includes the SAT and ACT scores of 12th-grade students. 21CCCS has also been ranked in the top 5 to 10 percent of high schools in Pennsylvania for SAT scores. The school provides students with a flexible, individualized learning environment. Asynchronous learning offers students 24/7 course access and a 56-hour-per-week window where they can work one on one with PA certified, highly qualified teachers.

Agora Cyber Charter School’s mission and commitment are to provide an “innovative, intense academic program that inspires and educates students to achieve the highest levels of academic knowledge and skills and develop proficiency in the design and use of new computer technologies and scientific research.” The school partners with families and the community to ensure that every student’s Individualized Learning Plan is not only met but exceeded. Agora Cyber Charter School’s nine core values, which shape and define the school’s climate and culture, are empowerment, innovation, respect, compassion, integrity, personalization, teamwork, courage, and responsibility.

Reach Cyber courses are offered throughout the year—during the fall, spring and summer sessions. As a result, this online high school provides Pennsylvania school students with three flexible graduation pacing options. In the Standard Pace option, students take a full course load in fall and spring. For the Year-Round Pace options, students take fewer classes than usual in fall and spring, but they also attend school in summer. Accelerated Pace students attend full-time year round, leading to early graduation. The school uses a secure education management system on which parents and students can locate necessary documents, communicate with teachers, find daily lessons and more.

SusQ-Cyber Charter School uses a blended curriculum, with content from a variety of providers. In synchronous online classrooms, students participate along with other students and the teacher in real time. As a fully staffed public high school, SusQ-Cyber has a Guidance Department, Student Health Services, and a Special Education Department. The school’s technical support staff, among other tasks, keeps up with all the gear that students receive: an Apple computer, as well as an iPad for 11th- and 12th-grade students, any necessary software; a personal internet hot spot; a printer and ink; and calculators.