Virtus Academy of South Carolina (VASC) is a free public charter school founded in 2018 and authorized by the Charter Institute at Erskine. In the 2024–2025 school year, we served students from the Pee Dee communities of Florence, Darlington, and surrounding areas. Since our founding, we have continued to grow by adding a grade level each year. In 2024–2025, we served students in grades 5K through 11th and look forward to graduating our first senior class in the 2025–2026 school year.
Virtus Academy operates under the motto Consectatio Excellentiae—We are pursuing excellence! In pursuit of this goal, we emphasize student-centered learning through project-based experiences, community service opportunities, and leadership development. To strengthen instructional quality, our staff engaged in rigorous professional development focused on literacy and mathematics instruction and strategies to enhance students’ acquisition of content knowledge. These efforts will continue into the next school year.
VASC is committed to helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. We provide authentic, engaging, and rigorous learning experiences aligned with South Carolina Academic Standards and Performance Indicators. Our holistic approach to education supports the development of each student’s full potential.
In 2024–2025, new initiatives included a career fair for middle and high school students, a college fair for high school students, a school-wide Veterans Day breakfast honoring service members within our Virtus community, and multiple Family Engagement Nights that invited parents to participate in hands-on learning activities alongside their children. We also recognized student achievement and growth in ELA and Math through MAP assessments at midyear.
We monitor student success and areas for growth through whole group instruction, small groups, push-in and pull-out interventions, and acceleration groups. These strategies will continue in 2025–2026, as they have resulted in meaningful individual growth for many students—even if that growth is not always reflected in a change of performance levels, particularly when significant deficits existed.
In response to feedback and internal review, we made adjustments to our academic schedule in 2024–2025 to ensure equitable instructional time across classrooms and integrated special education services outside of students’ core academic blocks. The 2025–2026 schedule will be further refined to meet student needs more precisely. Next year, we will fully implement Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, beginning with Health Science (Sports Medicine) and Education & Training pathways.
Teachers participated in frequent professional development sessions to analyze data and align instructional strategies with student needs. These meetings fostered a collaborative learning environment and enabled teachers to grow together as a team. Common formative assessments guided our conversations and instructional planning. These practices will continue and deepen in 2025–2026. With a new administrative team in place, instruction will be departmentalized, and curriculum and assessments will be vertically aligned across grade levels. For the first time, Virtus Academy will operate as a true professional learning community.
VASC also offers a range of extracurricular opportunities, including athletics, clubs, and student leadership activities. Sports offered in 2024–2025 included basketball, volleyball, soccer (elementary through high school), cross country/ track and field and cheerleading. Students participated in school-wide programs such as morning announcements and beautification projects. Interest-based clubs like Garden Club and Drama Club enriched the student experience. Additionally, as part of our instructional day, we had two on-site field trips where students in all grades were able to experience a theater group bring history to life.
In 2025–2026, we will join the South Carolina High School League, expanding organized athletics for students in grades 7–12. Younger students will participate in after-school enrichment clubs that meet four times per quarter on Friday afternoons. Planned clubs include Chess, Art, Lego, Garden, PEARLS, Boys in Blue, American Sign Language, Yearbook and Sports Play.
Our students demonstrated a strong commitment to community service in 2024–2025, contributing nearly three tons of food to Harvest Hope Food Bank and donating two truckloads of pet supplies to a local shelter. High School students in BETA club or enrolled in our Dual Enrollment program also completed 20 hours of community service each. For 2025–2026, planned service initiatives include a sock, mitten, and coat drive, as well as our annual canned food drive. Additionally, we are proud to have been accepted into the “Help 4 Kids” weekend meal program, which will support students in need throughout the year.
At Virtus Academy of South Carolina, we will continue to pursue excellence in all we do—for our students, our staff, and our community.
