Sometimes the traditional school structure just doesn’t work. For students who are professional entertainers or athletes, are homebound for physical reasons, are having trouble in traditional school settings or are simply looking for a home school with credentialed teachers, an alternative learning experience can be a better fit.

Since 2004 Connections Academy, a virtual public school, has been serving students in five counties—Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Kern—from a base in the Capistrano Unified School District, which administers the program. It has grown from a few hundred kids to 1,300 and has gone from a K-8 to a K-12 school.

On Wednesday, the school celebrated the grand opening of its new, expanded teaching center in Aliso Viejo with a ribbon cutting and reception. The new Capistrano Connections Academy learning center, at 26800 Aliso Viejo Pkwy., aims to provide enhanced office space for teachers, a more conducive learning environment for enrolled students to meet with teachers and staff and a place for prospective students and families to learn more about Connections Academy.

“This is a great alternative to public and private school, with a rigorous curriculum, teachers available eight hours a day by phone and 24/7 by Web mail, clubs, message boards and field trips every month to give students and their parents a sense of community,” said Jonathan Horowitz, principal of Capistrano Connections Academy. “We run every level of curriculum, from special education and English language learners to advanced-placement classes, and teacher promotions are performance-based.”

Connections Academy is a Baltimore-based private company that runs public charter schools in 23 states, and local virtual schools use the curriculum and human resources support from headquarters to enhance their offerings, Horowitz said.

“That means we can teach more than a regular school would teach—Mandarin Chinese, Latin, game theory and other classes—because we can use resources from other places,” he said.

Horowitz said Capistrano Connections Academy has 44 full-time teachers, nine part-time teachers, three administrative assistants and “no middle management.” There are personalized programs for each student, complemented by technology tools and a supportive environment, he said.

The “school without walls" in Aliso Viejo is locally sponsored and state funded. It does all the testing required by the state.

“Everything is totally free to the students as it would be in a ‘brick and mortar’ school," said Deborah Larson, assistant to the principal. “Kids perform well here, but both parents and students really have to be on board with the concept.”

For more information, call 800-382-6010 or visit ConnectionsAcademy.com.