(WXIA) -- Georgia Connections Academy, a free statewide virtual K-12 school, will begin accepting applications for the 2015-16 school year next month.

Enrollment opens Mar. 3. The school can support 4,000 students; spaces are limited and families are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

A free parent information session will be held Tuesday, Mar. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Hampton Inn Atlanta-Perimeter Center, which is located at 769 Hammond Drive in Sandy Springs. Teachers and currently enrolled families will answer questions and go over the school's curriculum at the session.

For more information about Georgia Connections Academy, visit connectionsacademy.com.

(WXIA) -- More than 100 public schools in three metro Atlanta counties will benefit from Chevron's Fuel Your School program.

Through the campaign, Chevron contributes $1 from every gasoline purchase of eight gallons or more to participating schools. Fuel Your School generated $391,146 for 131 schools in Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton counties.

Many of the projects that are granted funds from the program are part of STEM curriculums. For example, students at Grady High School in Atlanta received a data-gathering device to use in their physics courses.

Chevron said nearly 40,000 students are impacted by the money generated through Fuel Your School.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- DeKalb County School District Superintendent Michael Thurmond has been named to Georgia Trend magazine's latest list of the 100 Most Influential Georgians.

Thurmond has served as superintendent since February 2013. He is the only public schools superintendent to receive the honor.

His recognition in the magazine says:

The former commissioner of labor inherited a mess when he took over leadership of the third-largest school system in Georgia (100,000 students, 14,000 employees and a $1.2 billion budget). He stabilized the troubled district, built a $30 million surplus, improved student achievement and increased graduation rates. Along the way, he has enhanced the reputation as a leader and public education advocate.