South Carroll Goes Statewide

The South Carroll County Special School District (SCCSSD) has expanded statewide. While the brick and mortar Clarksburg School still stands on 145 Clarksburg Road, the district's student base now spans throughout the state of Tennessee through two virtual school programs introduced in July 2025.

The Clarksburg Virtual Academy, which is open to students in grades six through 12, and the Clarksburg Virtual Adult High School, which is open to students aged 17 and older, offer fully asynchronous classes to students whose personal situations are incompatible with in-person schooling.

Both programs are only open to Tennessee residents and are 100 percent tuition-free. Upon admission, students will receive a laptop provided by the school.

SCCSSD Director of Schools Dr. Lisa Norris said the idea of a virtual academy had been in the works for a few years. She and the SCCSSD school board pushed the initiative in 2025 to combat changes in school funding.

With Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) funding, Tennessee schools are funded per each enrolled student.

"Last year, we cut eight positions in order to be able to balance our budget," said Norris. "And then we brought these [virtual academies] on in order to be able to help bring in more students."

As of January 15, the SCCSSD had 928 enrolled students. Of those students, only 297 attended the physical Clarksburg School. The Clarksburg Virtual Academy had 293 students, and the Clarksburg Virtual Adult High School had 338 students.

Of Clarksburg's virtual students, only 25 live in Carroll County. Large pockets of students come from Kingsport, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Nashville, Memphis, Brownsville and Jackson.

"It's really been interesting to watch," said Norris. "I kind of thought when we started, we would just receive students who didn't want to go to school. And that's not true at all."

One of the first referrals she received was a student who wanted to stay by his father's side after his father had a transplant surgery. One student gets up at 2:30 a.m. every day and does her school work until 8:30 a.m. before taking her mother to receive chemotherapy treatments. There is a sixth grade student currently enrolled who is homebound for six weeks after having brain surgery. Another student is on track to attend an Ivy League school but is in an outpatient setting for the semester.

"It amazes me sometimes when I get to talk to the parents about what the issue is," said Norris. "It's exciting to know that you are part of helping a family make the best of whatever situation they're dealing with at the time."

Some students also enroll in order to accelerate and get out of school quicker, since Clarksburg Virtual Academy offers an early graduation track.

Upon starting the program, students are put into an introductory class to get used to the asynchronous learning style. They are assigned a case manager who keeps up with their attendance and performance.

With asynchronous classes, students are essentially their own supervisors. Each course has a state-certified instructor who organizes the course, but students must have the drive to log onto virtual school and complete their daily tasks. Clarksburg Virtual Academy requires six hours of active learning per school day, at any time of the day.

While virtual classes have similar coursework to in-person classes, Norris said virtual programs focus more intently on individualized experiences.

"Our curriculum has a diagnostic component in it," said Norris. "If you work on a skill and you don't understand it, it'll go back to the skill below it and build you up and come back. It makes sure that there's a breadth of knowledge when you're learning. You master the skill before you go on. A lot of times we don't do that in a regular classroom because we're teaching to the masses."

Clarksburg Virtual Adult High School operates in the same fashion. Adults may apply to attend the asynchronous program to obtain their high school diploma. The virtual program meets them where they are, creating an individual plan of study for each student based on their high school transcript.

Clarksburg Virtual Adult High School and Clarksburg Virtual Academy had their first graduation ceremony in December 2025, honoring 10 graduates.

"I really didn't realize the impact that we had [on students] until I saw those graduates in front of me," said Norris. "One young graduate sat there and she cried the entire graduation. She came up to me afterwards and shook my hand. She had her four-month-old child with her. She said, 'Thank you so much for this opportunity.'"

Every adult who graduated in December had a post-graduation plan. Some were going to attend college or TCAT to further their education. Some received a boost in their employment because they earned their degree.

Clarksburg Virtual Adult High School is on track to become the largest adult high school in Tennessee, according to Norris.