It is already time to begin thinking about requesting high school courses for next school year. Can PCVA serve as a full time, asynchronous instructional setting for your student? Does your high school student need flexibility with a few courses to make sure there is not a conflict with AP coursework, Band, the Pickens County Career and Technology Center, Theatre, Art, or other specialized coursework?
PCVA is here to help. This PCVA Planning Sheet may help you get started.
Current SDPC students complete this course request form by logging in through Launchpad. FORM LINK
Students new to SDPC for the 26-27 school year need to make an appointment to see their school counselor at the high school where they will enroll. The school counselor will assist the student in completing the course request application.
Here is important information that all students need to know before completing the application for course requests.
IMPORTANT: Once you complete your application, your high school must approve if you can take these courses. Your counselor or administrator will review your requests and approve or deny PCVA based on your grades, attendance, graduation requirements, and present/past performance in virtual learning. If you have questions, you need to see your high school counselor.
VERY IMPORTANT: You must have a VirtualSC.org student account set up before requesting courses. You need to know your username for the VirtualSC.org dashboard. Please do not create a new account. If you cannot remember your account information, see your school counselor. That person can look up your information and provide it. Again, DO NOT create a new account if you already have one.
See instructions here for creating account: NEW VSC STUDENT ACCOUNT
The following are expectations for PCVA High School Students:
Having a primary and at least 1 backup source for high-speed Internet
Working on each course assigned for at least 1 hour per school day
Submitting at least two assignments for grading by Friday at 3 PM of each week just to stay enrolled
Communicating with the teacher by the method the teacher instructs students to use
Attending any live sessions or viewing the recordings of the live sessions
Attending an in-person orientation or a recorded orientation
Reading your email or messages within the VirtualSC dashboard at least 2x a day
PARENTS - must read their email daily, too
Keeping PCVA informed of any changes in your contact information for the student or the parent
Completing the course
Following the pacing guide
Understanding that attendance is based on submitting work, not logging on
Understanding you can be dropped from a course for not submitting work for 10 days
Completing course exams and state end of course tests in-person at Liberty High School (testing site for high school) on the designated dates
If you want to review what a course is, use THIS LINK or ask a current PCVA teacher.
All parents and students should read the Pickens County Virtual Academy Program Guide carefully before committing to take PCVA courses.
A course must have at least 6 or more requests to make. We recommend that students take 2 or more courses each semester. We find that students have more success in PCVA when they are taking at least 2 courses in the same term.
Students must be logged in to their SDPC account through Launchpad to access this application.
We look forward to serving you through Pickens County Virtual Academy during the 2026-2027 school year. Contact Lori Gwinn, SDPC Director of Virtual Programs, with questions. You may reach her by email at LoriGwinn@pickens.k12.sc.us or by phone at 864-397-3310, Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4 PM.