Original Research by School Decision on Derby Virtual School
Derby Virtual School is a small online program within Derby USD that serves students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. With a total enrollment that is very small for a grade band this wide, the school offers a fully remote learning option for families in the district who want an alternative to brick-and-mortar classrooms.
The student body is entirely white, based on the reported data. Information on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available in the data we reviewed. A parent considering this school may want to ask the district directly about the demographics of the program and what specific populations it serves.
Given that this is a virtual school with a very small number of students, state testing results and a graduation rate were not available in the data we received. It is common for very small programs like this to have limited or suppressed public assessment data, so the absence of these metrics does not necessarily indicate weak performance, but a family should ask the school what academic outcomes its students achieve and how it measures progress.
Derby, the city where the school is based, is a fast-growing residential suburb of Wichita. The local economy is anchored by aircraft manufacturers like Spirit AeroSystems, Textron Aviation, and Bombardier Learjet, along with McConnell Air Force Base and a mix of local manufacturers. The city has a substantial amount of parkland, a recreation center, and a public library. Housing values in the area are roughly in line with national benchmarks, and rents have been rising.
Derby Virtual School is part of the Derby district, and we looked for recent parent-relevant changes or strategic priorities at the district level but found little publicly reported information to share.
This school fits a family that wants a public-school option but prefers a fully online learning environment, and who is comfortable enrolling in a very small program where academic data is not broadly available in public records. For a parent looking at the school, the most important thing may be to have a direct conversation with the program coordinator about curriculum, daily expectations, teacher interaction, and how the school supports students working from home.
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