Education in Florida is being transformed. This at first might read like a buzz phrase from a politician or a public relations firm. But that italicized line is neither political speak nor a catchy slogan. It’s reality — concise and factual — from Robin Winder ’92, chief academic officer for Florida Virtual School (FLVS). She wants this to be understood, free of bias, because so many misconceptions about virtual education were formed when the technology was rudimentary and parents opted into it as a last resort.

“The current trend underscores a powerful movement,” says Winder, a UCF social science education alum. “Families are actively seeking learning environments that align with their values, schedules and children’s unique needs — and FLVS is playing a vital role in this transformation.”

Before looking at the supporting data, take a closer look at Winder’s career. She hasn’t always been a champion of digital learning. Before she gave the concept much thought, she was using her UCF training to teach world geography in traditional public school classrooms. She moved into an administrative role to have a broader impact on students and teachers in those same settings. A job with FLVS, first as an instructor, came along in 2003 and stirred up a deeply rooted desire in her.

“I saw virtual education as an opportunity to build meaningful relationships in a more personalized way,” Winder says.

Relationships. It isn’t the answer you might expect regarding online school. But ask Winder about the growth of FLVS and she prefers to focus on that — individual relationships — rather than a bullet-pointed list of statistics. The numbers cannot be overlooked, though, as Winder says: “The success has been remarkable.”

  • When FLVS launched as a pilot program in 1997, there were 77 students and five courses. For the 2024-25 school year, FLVS served approximately 230,000 students in hundreds of courses across the state.
  • In 2011, FLVS launched a full-time public school. Florida Virtual High School now has a 92.6% graduation rate, placing it among the top 10 non-lab school districts in Florida.
  • This past school year, 1,250 students graduated from FLVS Full Time. More than 20% of them earned summa cum laude honors.
  • The range of classes continues to grow, from Driver’s Education and Guitar I to Advanced Placement and career courses in fields like artificial intelligence (AI), agriculture and cybersecurity.
  • FLVS has become so widely recognized that it launched FlexPoint, an entity to support schools in all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
  • Today, for the first time in Florida’s history, more than half of all K-12 students are enrolled in an educational option of choice (1,794,697 students out of 3.5 million), with FLVS among the most popular options.

While Winder has been a force in driving these numbers, the numbers don’t drive her. There’s something more that made her say “yes” to virtual learning when few people understood it. Something that motivated her to learn leading-edge technology while also using it to teach one student at a time. Something that made her eager to take on additional titles and responsibilities and hours. And something that makes her say this from the depths of her heart:

“This is work that matters, and that’s what makes it worth it.”

Perhaps it isn’t pure coincidence that the transformation of FLVS aligns almost perfectly with Winder’s own transformational path. Go back to 2003, to that time when virtual learning was in its infancy. Winder comes to this fork in the road. Her classroom and administrative credentials are growing. She’s making an impact. And yet she decides to take a turn directly into the ethereal world.

“I chose to make the leap because I genuinely believed virtual learning could be the future of education.”

“The technology was limited. The instructional models were still evolving. But what I saw then, and what has driven our work ever since, was the need for flexible student-centered learning experiences.”

Confident as she was back then, Winder could not have foreseen the year 2025. At that time, she drew her confidence and her purpose from looking back to examples that had been set for her, examples that inspired her to one day lead a transformation.

Educators know how the most fruitful seeds of learning are planted: At home and at a young age. This is certainly true for Winder’s upbringing in Jacksonville, where her dad coached youth sports and her fondest memories are of weekends “in a house full of laughter.” It formed the first building block in her concept of optimum education.

“My parents worked hard, but they always made time for family, which shaped the values I carry with me today.”

High school teachers provided another building block by bringing joy and authenticity into classes.

“They held us to high standards, but in a way that felt encouraging rather than intimidating.”

Then, during her first class at UCF, a professor who had been an elementary school teacher shared a story that Winder vividly remembers 35 years later.

“Each year before school started, she would ride her bike to visit her students at home,” she says. “She didn’t just talk about the importance of relationships. She lived it out. Her example helped me understand that great teaching starts with genuine connection.”

The blocks continued to stack. In her first teaching job, Winder took note of administrators who fostered a supportive environment that felt like family. With her approach to education shaped — one person, one relationship at a time — she agreed to be a history instructor for ninth through 12th graders through FLVS.

“My first set of welcome calls with families was such a natural and impactful way to begin the teaching relationship,” she says. “I was hooked. I knew virtual education would give me the chance to support students in ways that weren’t always possible in a traditional classroom.”

During that first year with FLVS, she had a student who was a professional athlete and needed one-on-one instruction to meet graduation requirements. Winder would connect as late as 10 p.m. to accommodate his demanding schedule.

“He went on to accomplish great things and continued to check in with me for years,” Winder says. “It was a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we truly tailor education to fit the student. Math lessons, for example, can include football statistics for a student who loves the sport, or if a student enjoys baking, figuring out the amount of flour needed to make a cake. Now, with AI, we can learn a student’s interests before they start class, which increases the likelihood that they’ll thrive.”

Winder’s passion for reaching each student personally, no matter where they are, is a big reason she was chosen to lead the effort to build from the ground up the first unified school district for the more than 2,300 students in the care of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. In its first year, 226 of those students in the Florida Scholars Program (FSA) earned diplomas, another example of the FLVS’s transformative potential.

“Education restores hope,” Winder says. “The success of FSA reflects what can happen when we reimagine education for students in any situation.”

To Winder, school has never been defined by a building, and virtual education has never simply been about convenience or digitizing lessons. It’s about maximizing innovation to make education more agile, more individually focused and more powerful. Where it once was a last resort, it is now, for many families, a first choice.

“The heart of why we do what we do has never changed,” Winder says. “Ensure every student has access to high-quality education and unlock their lifelong potential. For that, we’re proud to be at the forefront of transformation.”