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Aiden Douglas works on his spelling with his mom, Jamie Douglas, at his desk in his room. Aiden, along with his brother and sisters are home-schooled solely online through California Virtual Academies. //Daniel Dreifuss/Staff

A postcard sitting in the mailbox, addressed to a former resident, piqued Jamie Douglas interest a decade ago.

California Virtual Academies, a tuition-free online K-12 public school, was just getting off the ground the postcard announced.

Douglas decided to keep tabs on the program and see how many families took advantage of the one-on-one attention, the 21st century learning tools and the advanced curriculum.

When she moved to Pismo Beach from Ventura a year and a half ago, Douglas had already enrolled two of her four children into the academies, commonly called CAVA, with a main office in Simi Valley.

I was really looking forward to it, Douglas said last week, recalling the years she waited for now 8-year-old Aiden and 7-year-old Corbin to be of school age. There are so many choices. I didnt have to worry about writing my own curriculum.

Douglas is joining a growing number of families, locally and across the nation, who turn to online learning instead of the traditional brick and mortar public school setting.

CAVA has grown from 250 students when it opened in 2002 to about 13,500 today.

More recently, the school has added 1,500 or 2,000 students each year, said Katrina Abston, CAVA senior head of school.

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Locals enjoy online K-12 education option