Fulton Academy of Virtual Excellence

Fulton Academy of Virtual Excellence in Atlanta, GA, is a virtual school within the highly-rated Fulton County district, serving 393 students in grades 2 through 12 with a favorable student-teacher ratio of 11.2:1 and a significant per-student spending of $20,869.

This school presents a mixed academic picture. Its middle school English Language Arts (ELA) program is a standout, with 7th graders scoring 67.6% proficient in 2024-2025, well above the state average of 40.7%. However, high school performance is a major concern, with End-of-Course exam proficiency rates in American Literature (35.6%), Algebra I (41.4%), and Biology (33.8%) all falling below state averages. The school also faces a critical challenge with its graduation rate, which at 67.8% is far lower than the district's 91.9% and is coupled with a high dropout rate of 5.6%. This contrasts sharply with nearby Atlanta Classical Academy, which boasts a 97.2% graduation rate and significantly higher test scores, though it is a selective, in-person charter school.

Despite being a virtual school, chronic absenteeism is a persistent issue, with a rate of 20.9% that is higher than the state average. This highlights a core challenge of the virtual model: student engagement. When compared to other alternative schools, FAVE serves a less acute population than therapeutic schools like Devereux Ackerman Academy or Hillside Conant School, which have 0% graduation rates. Yet, it is generally outperformed by Northwest Classical Academy, another virtual school with a similar economic profile but better test scores and a much lower chronic absenteeism rate of 8.6%. This suggests that the virtual model itself, rather than student demographics, may be a primary driver of FAVE's challenges, particularly in retaining and graduating high school students.