A pair of private online schools based in Chester County that used to primarily serve a niche population has seen enrollment surge during the pandemic, writes Avi Wolfman-Arent for WHYY.

West Chester-based Laurel Springs School is considered to be the first virtual school in the nation, dating back to the 1990s. Historically, it served students with specific needs.

“Many of our students come to us for flexibility,” said head of school Megan O’Reilly Palevich. “They’re athletes. They’re actors.”

Over the past year, though, the 6,000-student school has seen its enrollment nearly double due to interest from parents dissatisfied with what their schools provided online.

Meanwhile, Fusion Academy, a nationwide network of private schools that offer one-on-one instruction, recently launched a fully virtual academy to fill the growing demand.

The school has 60 campuses across the country. This scale allows it to offer course options not available to most students, according to Kristen Coyne, head of school for Fusion’s Malvern campus.

“If our campus doesn’t have a teacher that teaches Mandarin, but maybe a Los Angeles campus does, those teachers have been able to help our kids that want to take that Mandarin class,” she said.

Read more about private online schools at WHYY here.