Apex Learning Unveils Virtual School in Houston.

Business/High Tech Editors

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2000

Partnership With 4th Largest School District in the Nation

Allows More Students to Take Courses Over the

Internet From Their Classroom or At Home

Apex Learning, Inc., a builder and operator of virtual schools, today announced its partnership with the Houston Independent School District (HISD), the fourth largest school district in the country, to provide the technology platform, teacher training, online courses, supplemental materials and support services needed to launch the Houston Virtual School at nine high schools in the district.

More than 200 students in the district have already enrolled to take Apex Learning's Advanced Placement (AP) Online Courses through the Houston Virtual School including U.S. Government and Politics, U.S. History, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, Macro and Micro Economics and Statistics. None of these AP courses were previously offered at the high schools in the district.

HISD Superintendent Rod Paige, a major driver of the virtual school initiative, facilitated the partnership to advance the school district's commitment to offer a broader array of educational curricula to more students.

"This collaboration is a key piece of our mission to offer education to more students in our district and is vital to our students' educational progress," said Paige.

"As one of the largest school districts in the nation, HISD is poised to prove to other districts in the country that the Internet is a powerful tool in education and a cost-effective solution to the district's need to provide quality instruction to a larger number of students and teachers," said Keith Oelrich, president and CEO of Apex Learning.

HISD is the latest of several education groups that have struck a partnership with Apex Learning to provide a suite of technology, support services and online courses to build a virtual school environment. In the last three weeks, Apex Learning has also signed agreements to provide online learning services to the state education departments in New Mexico, Michigan and Kentucky.

About Apex Learning

Apex Learning, a builder and operator of virtual schools, provides partner states and school districts with the infrastructure they need to cost-effectively create more learning opportunities for students and teachers via the Internet. Apex Learning provides the technology platform, complete courses and ongoing technical and administrative support for its partners' virtual schools. Apex Learning's virtual schools address states' and school districts' need to cost-effectively bring quality instruction to more students and teachers. The company's AP Online Courses are fully accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges. Apex Learning was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and is a privately-held company, with investments from Vulcan Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Edison Schools, Maveron LLC, Kaplan Ventures and Michigan State University.