Lori Phillips Leads Utah Virtual Academy Middle School

Lori Phillips leads the middle school at Utah Virtual Academy, where about 500 students from across the state in grades 6 through 8 sign on each morning for a full day of live instruction, class discussion, and coursework. She picked that age group on purpose. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade is where school gets hardest for many kids, and that is the part of the job she likes most.

“I love middle school. It's such a unique age. They're quirky, curious, and right in the middle of figuring out who they are. They're not kids anymore, but they're not quite adults yet either. I love the opportunity to work with middle school students every day.”

Lori Phillips, UTVA Middle School Principal

Phillips has nine grandchildren, and she came to teaching while her own kids were small. She joined UTVA in 2018 to teach second grade, after about ten years with Washington County School District teaching elementary and secondary students and coaching teachers. At UTVA she moved from the classroom into instructional coaching, then administration, then K-8 vice principal, then middle school principal in 2020. She also helped split the combined K-8 program into two schools.

“Since 2018, we've continued to grow and improve both the school and the classroom experience. We look closely at what our students need and keep building from there. Our goal is for them to get the most targeted instruction possible while they're with us.”

Lori Phillips

New families always ask what an online class looks like. At UTVA, students attend live classes with their teachers and classmates every day. Cameras and microphones are on. Students write on a shared whiteboard, ask questions out loud, and talk with each other.

“Anything I did in a traditional classroom, we're able to do in our virtual setting. We just have to think about it a little differently. We get to know our students just as well as we would in person.”

Lori Phillips

UTVA is a statewide online public charter school, enrolling students from rural towns and dense suburbs alike. Counting part-time students from the Statewide Online Education Program, the middle school serves 500 to 600. Some need a flexible schedule. Some arrive because the last school did not fit.

“There's a reason that they're here, and we get to serve them and teach them. Teaching here is a privilege.”

Lori Phillips

In a virtual classroom, a teacher can't simply walk over and stand beside a struggling student the way they can in person, so Phillips and her staff work hard to build strong relationships with their students. That relationship is the foundation for deeper learning.

One student shows what that effort can look like. Phillips taught him in second grade, her first year at UTVA, back when he kept his camera off entirely. Slowly, he started showing just the top of his forehead. By middle school, he was fully engaged, camera on, talking openly with his teachers. Today, he's a UTVA sophomore.

“I attribute it not just to what I did with him in second grade, but to what the whole staff did by making him feel accepted and involved. His mom told me a traditional school was not a fit for him, and he's blossomed and come out of his shell here.”

Lori Phillips

Lynx Time, a block from 8:00 to 8:30, opens every school day before core classes. Students work on social and emotional skills, practice habits that carry them through the day, and get real time together.

“Middle school can come with real social and emotional challenges for kids. We want our school to be a safe space, a place where they can keep learning and growing, whatever they might be facing outside the classroom.”

Lori Phillips

Phillips thinks deeply about how Utah's core standards, which every public school in the state teaches including UTVA, can best prepare students for the world they'll graduate into.

“When I was in school, the things I needed to learn and know were very different from what these students need to know.”

Lori Phillips

Artificial intelligence sits right at the center of that gap. At UTVA, teachers are clear with middle schoolers about when AI can help, when it shouldn't be used, and how to treat it as a thought partner rather than a shortcut. When a teacher suspects it's been misused, the response is a conversation, not an accusation.

“AI is here, and it's not going away. We want our students to understand that just because they found something online, or an AI tool told them something, that doesn't automatically make it true. They still have to own their learning, because in the end, they're the ones who have to think critically about information they are given.”

Lori Phillips

Phillips says she regularly hears from families who felt traditional school wasn't the right fit for their child, and are searching for something different.

“Our school is a great option for those looking for something different, with a little more flexibility. I really can't wait to see what the future holds for them, and for UTVA.”

Lori Phillips

To learn more, visit utahvirtualacademy.org or contact LuAnn Charles, Student Services Administrator, at (801) 688-2104 or lucharles@utahvirtual.org.