Seminole teacher follows family legacy into virtual classrooms

Katie Wano does not spend her day in one brick-and-mortar classroom. She teaches middle school elective courses across Seminole County Public Schools and a senior-level U.S. government class as a virtual teacher, reaching students throughout the district and meeting them in person at the virtual lab.

Her route into education began long before that schedule. Wano grew up in a household full of educators and now works in the same county system that helped shape her. She is a former Seminole County student, and both of her parents spent years at Lake Brantley High School, where her father coached football and weightlifting and her mother served as a school counselor for more than 30 years. Lake Brantley, which opened in 1972 and now serves more than 2,000 students in grades 9-12, still lists Katie Tullis Wano, a 1994 soccer graduate, in its athletic hall of fame.

Her job also shows how Seminole County Virtual School has expanded the district’s reach. SCVS says its mission is to use technology to create flexibility for time, space, access and support, and its vision is to expand educational pathways in a technology-rich world. The school is a fully accredited public school serving grades K-12, and Seminole County Public Schools says students may attend full-time or part-time. SCVS is a franchise of Florida Virtual School and uses courses created or purchased by SCVS.

Wano’s work comes as Seminole County Public Schools continues to manage a large system that includes 37 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, nine high schools, six special centers, PSI High Problem Solving Incubator High School and Seminole Virtual School. District pages list different totals depending on reporting date, including more than 59,000 students and nearly 7,000 employees on one page and more than 67,000 students and 10,000 employees on another. That scale helps explain why virtual options matter, and why the district keeps looking for educators who can fill different roles across the county.

On May 2, Seminole County Public Schools advertised an external teacher career fair, underscoring the ongoing need to recruit and keep teachers. In February, the district said it was once again ranked No. 1 in Florida for preparing high school students for college STEM majors for the 2025-26 school year. Wano’s career reflects the value of keeping educators who already know Seminole County, know its schools and know how to build relationships that can last for decades.