SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Thousands more students in Central Florida will return to the classroom for their first day of school Thursday, but many families have decided to have their kids stay virtual.

Even though programs like Connect and LaunchEd are no longer in play, some have made the shift to Florida Virtual School to minimize their kids’ exposure to COVID-19.

Rylie Lewis, 11, keeps her Florida Virtual School workspace tidy, organized by subject.

She has her workflow and schedule down to a science.

“She is very motivated. She’s a self starter and very independent," her mother, Kelsey Smit, said. "So, for her it’s been the right fit."

“I can do what I want, basically, because they give me assignments, and I can get them done as long as they’re in a certain time frame," Rylie said.

Rylie can contact her teachers with any questions she has, and they’ll get back to her within 24 hours.

For mom and daughter, Florida Virtual School gets an A+ in safety.

“It kind of scares me going back to school with the virus going around because that’s just the way my mind works," said Rylie.

At first, Smit felt OK with sending her kids back to the classrooms.

“But as we reached the middle of July, my anxiety started rising because I saw those cases and the trend line rising," she said.

With that in mind, she decided to keep all of her kids home.

“I just felt that, you know, if I wouldn’t have sent my kids back to school in January of 2020, or 2021 actually, then why would I be sending them back in August of 2021 when the cases were approximately the same?" she said.

For avid ice skater, Rylie, this is her first year with FLVS, but it may not be her last.

Even after she gets her vaccine, she says, she loves the flexibility that lets her focus even more on her craft.

FLVS enrollment is open until Friday and officials are expecting around 12,300 students K-8 to enroll this year, which is roughly the same number of kids who enrolled last year.​