Before high school teacher Kimberly Rugh got down to business at the start of a recent school week, she joked with her students about how she'd had to clean cake out of the corners of her house after her 2-year-old son's birthday party. This friendly combination of chitchat took place not in front of a blackboard but in an, E-mail message that Rugh sent to the 145 students she's teaching at the Florida Virtual School, one of the nation's leading online high schools. The school's motto is 'any time, any place, any path, any pace.' Florida's E-school attracts many students who need flexible scheduling, from young tennis stars and young musicians to brothers Tobias and Tyler Heeb, who take turns working on the computer while helping out. with their family's clam-farming business on Pine Island, off Florida's southwest coast. Home-schoolers also are well represented. Most students live in Florida, but 55 hail from West Virginia, where a severe teacher shortage makes it hard for many students to take advanced classes. Seven kids from Texas and four from Shanghai round out the student body. The great majority of Florida Virtual Schoolers—80 percent—are enrolled in regular Florida public or private high schools. Some are busy overachievers. Others are retaking classes they barely passed the first time. The school's biggest challenge is making sure that students aren't left to sink or swim on their own. After the school experienced a disappointing course completion rate of just 50 percent in its early years,Executive Director Julie Young made a priority out of what she calls 'relationship-building,' asking teachers to stay in frequent E-mail and phone contact with their students. That personal touch has helped. The completion rate is now 80 percent. Critics of online classes say that while they may have a limited place, they are a poor substitute for the face-to-face contact and socialization that take place in brick-and-mortar classrooms. Despite opportunities for online chats, some virtual students say they'd prefer to have more interaction with their peers. Students and parents are quick to acknowledge that virtual schooling isn't for everyone. 'If your child's not focused and motivated, I can only imagine it would be a nightmare,' says Patricia Haygood of Orlando, whose two daughters are thriving at the Florida school. For those who have what it takes, however, virtual learning fills an important niche. 'I can work at my own pace, on my own time,' says Hackney. 'It's the ultimate in student responsibility.' Kimberly Rugh Talked about her son's birthday party ______ .