The Paraprofessional Perspective with Kay Sheppard: Support That Scales in a Virtual School

Paraprofessionals play a vital role in supporting students, teachers, and classrooms. In a virtual school, their work must be flexible, collaborative, and responsive to student needs across multiple settings.In this episode of GCA Unmuted: Voices of Virtual Education, we’re joined by Kay Sheppard, a paraprofessional at Georgia Cyber Academy. Kay shares what her role looks like in a virtual environment and how paraprofessional support helps make personalized learning possible at scale.The conversation explores how paraprofessionals support students academically, behaviorally, and socially, how they collaborate with teachers and support teams, and how relationships are built in an online setting. Kay also reflects on the challenges and rewards of supporting multiple students and classrooms and addresses common misconceptions about student support in virtual schools.This episode is part of GCA Unmuted’s ongoing documentation of how virtual schools provide layered support systems that help students succeed.Thanks for listening to GCA Unmuted: Voices of Virtual Education, a podcast documenting how virtual school works in practice at Georgia Cyber Academy.Each episode features educators, staff, and leaders sharing real stories and systems that support teaching and learning in a virtual environment.Learn more about the podcast and explore past episodes at: https://www.georgiacyber.org/about/unmutedYou can also watch full episodes and highlights on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GCAchampions