WINDSOR – The school year isn’t even half over and already school officials are planning for next year.

Registration handbooks are out for 2008-2009 and in a presentation to the Bertie Board of Education here during last week’s regular monthly meeting, Carol Atkins outlined things that are new this year and what will be coming next year.

Atkins, the Executive Director of Educational Programs for Bertie County Schools, told the board of a new virtual classroom installed for the first time in June 2007.

The North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) is based in Raleigh and offers students statewide the opportunity to take classes online that they would not otherwise be able to take.

In the NCVPS classroom at Bertie High School, there are 20 computers in a room in which 20 students can be taking 20 different things at once.

&uot;It’s an amazing thing to see, to walk in there at any given time and know that every student can be learning something different right there in the same room,&uot; Atkins said.

Board member Emma Johnson had praise for the new online classes, but expressed discontent on another matter.

&uot;It’s exciting what’s going on at Bertie… the students are mostly well-behaved… the only thing I regret is that there is not a new high school in the plans. There’s flooding, cracking, etc. and if we can get that (a new school) going, there would be a lot of excitement in Bertie County,&uot; she stated.

According to Atkins, the school administration’s goal is to have all students registered for next year by the end of March 2008.

Board member Gloria Lee made a motion to accept the 2008-2009 Student Registration Handbook and the measure passed without objection.