Instead of swapping summer vacation stories with friends in school hallways when public school begins Aug. 23, students from Amarillo enrolled in virtual learning programs will tackle classes with peers in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. They will e-mail and chat with teachers from across the state.

Since free online schools came into existence a few years ago, more and more Texas students are enrolling in classes administered online.

The Texas Virtual School Network provides courses to high school students who sit in a brick-and-mortar classroom but take a class offered by a school district miles away.

“It’s just kind of exploded,” said Jay Barrett, who oversees virtual programs for the Amarillo Independent School District.

This summer, Amarillo ISD provided online courses to 957 students, Barrett said.

The district provided three virtual courses to 680 students from more than 80 school districts, including students in Kress, Texline, San Antonio and Houston, through the virtual school network, Barrett said. About 280 Amarillo students took online courses, he said.

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