Colorado Virtual Academy Middle School

Colorado Virtual Academy Middle School is a virtual/online middle school in Byers, Colorado, serving 170 students in grades 7 and 8 under the Byers School District No. 32J. It is one of three online middle school options housed within this small district, alongside Astravo Online Academy Middle School and Colorado Online Middle School, though CVA is the smallest of the three. The district ranks in the 26th percentile statewide, and CVA itself ranks in the 17th percentile among Colorado middle schools.

Where CVA truly stands out is attendance and retention. The school reports just 7.3% chronic absenteeism, far below the state average of 28.4% and the rates at nearby Bennett Middle School (30.8%) and Hemphill Middle School (33.6%). CVA has also reported zero dropouts in recent years. Academically, CVA outperforms its virtual siblings in most subjects: 24% of its students are proficient in English Language Arts, compared to 17% at Colorado Online and 12.8% at Astravo. In math, CVA's 14.9% proficiency is more than double Colorado Online's 6.4% and more than four times Astravo's 3.4%. Notably, CVA's 8th grade ELA proficiency of 26.1% is the highest among all comparable schools in the region.

However, CVA still faces significant academic challenges. Proficiency rates remain well below state averages of 44.7% in ELA, 37.3% in math, and 35.4% in science. The school also has a very high student-to-teacher ratio of 36:1, compared to 21.7:1 at Bennett and 15.7:1 at Hemphill, which raises questions about individualized support. In short, CVA appears to be the strongest academic option among the local virtual schools, but like the entire district, it continues to struggle in bringing students to grade-level proficiency.