Lower Savannah Education and Business Alliance (LSEBA)

Virtual Academy

The Lower Savannah Education and Business Alliance (LSEBA) Virtual Academy provides rigorous, standards-based online courses for high school and adult education students, expanding educational access and opportunities.

Virtual Academy was launched Summer 2006 to bring together all of the education technology tools and offerings of the Alliance partners: Orangeburg Consolidated School Districts 3, 4, and 5; Calhoun County School District; Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College (OCtech), and other service area business and education partners. Initially identified as the OCEBA Virtual Academy to represent the affiliated school districts and business/industry partners, the name has changed to reflect the growth and expansion of the Alliance.

Administered through LSEBA and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College via its service area school districts, Virtual Academy has received assistance from the State Department of Education; the South Carolina State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education’s Pathways Initiative; and other South Carolina Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA) related funding sources, including Tech Prep.

Currently, the LSEBA Virtual Academy offers accessible, flexible, and equitable K-14 educational opportunities. Virtual Academy provides online high school courses for initial credit, credit recovery through the Alliance school districts, college credit (OCtech) and dual enrollment opportunities. Adult Education GED and diploma programs and exam preparation are also provided.

The Virtual Academy serves to further the goals of our alliance.


Alliance Goals are to:

• promote increased student achievement
• increase number of students entering postsecondary institutions and the workplace
• establish viable alternatives for at-risk students across institutional levels, decreasing percentage of students entering postsecondary institutions in need of remediation
• align and integrate academic and career-related courses, reorganizing curriculum around clusters of study
• expand dual enrollment/credit opportunities
• foster seamless K-16 and workplace transitions
• form linkages with education, business and industry to share tools and resources, to provide access to job professionals, and to increase work-based opportunities (i.e., internships, job shadowing, mentoring, and apprenticeships)
• respond to the challenges of the changing workplace by assisting in the implementation of state and national mandates that impact workforce preparation
• serve as a regional forum for the sharing of ideas, concerns, and labor market information which influences decisions made by service area schools, businesses, and industry
• serve as a vehicle for cooperative consultation and collaboration among educators, parents, employers, and service organizations
• create a sustainable partnership that drives planning and implementation, allowing multiple funding sources to be blended to cultivate continuity