The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 17% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Madison County Virtual Academy
Madison County Virtual Academy was an alternative school in Richmond, Kentucky, and it is now closed. It served a multi-grade range and operated as a virtual program within the Madison County public school system. Because it has closed, the relevant question for a parent today is not whether to enroll a child here, but rather what this school reveals about the district's past approach to alternative and online education, and whether a similar option exists elsewhere in the county. The school's data is limited and fragmentary, which is typical for a small alternative setting that no longer operates.
Richmond, where the school was based, is a university town and the county seat of Madison County. It is home to Eastern Kentucky University, which gives the city a mix of student population and permanent residents. The city functions as a regional commercial center and has seen steady growth over recent decades. The school was part of the Madison County Public School System, which covers the entire county including Richmond. Publicly reported information about significant recent changes to the district was not found, so the broader context of how the district has evolved since this school closed is not available from the data at hand.
State assessment results are sparse for this school, which is common for an alternative virtual program with small enrollment. For most grade levels and subjects, the data is suppressed, meaning too few students were tested to report a reliable figure without risking identification. In the one grade where results were reported, grade 7, the share of students scoring proficient or above on state reading and math assessments was low. On the math assessment in that grade, about one in six students reached the proficient level. On the reading assessment, about one in four did. In both cases, the number of students tested was small, so these figures come with wide uncertainty. Participation rates for those tests were high, above nine in ten, so the results represent nearly all students in that grade at the school. A parent looking at this data would see that academic attainment, as measured by state tests, was low in the one grade with reportable numbers, but also that the student population was small and likely had needs that led them to an alternative virtual setting.
The school was classified as an alternative school, which typically means it served students who were not succeeding in a traditional classroom environment for a variety of reasons. As a virtual academy, it delivered instruction online. This combination of alternative and virtual suggests the school was designed for a specific population of students who needed a different structure. Because the school is closed, the data available does not include enrollment counts, demographic breakdowns, or information on special education or English learner populations. Those gaps are expected for a closed school.
For a parent or resident today, Madison County Virtual Academy represents a past option for alternative virtual schooling within the district. The district itself continues to serve Richmond and the surrounding county with a range of schools. If a family is looking for a similar virtual or alternative program now, they would need to contact the district directly to learn what current options exist. The housing market in Richmond, based on available data, shows home values and rents that are above the state average, a pattern consistent with a growing university town. The national economic context shows mortgage rates near their recent range and a national unemployment rate that is moderate, but those are broad conditions and not specific to this school or district. Because the school has closed, the most concrete takeaway for a parent is that this particular virtual academy no longer enrolls students, and any inquiry about virtual or alternative education in Madison County should go to the district's central office.
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