It’s back to school season – time for millions of students to start another year of reading, writing and arithmetic. It’s also time for UPS (NYSE: UPS) and online education company K12 Inc. to receive, ready and render millions of school supplies to students and educators around the globe. [Watch the Logistics of Learning video for details.]

K12, the nation’s leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs, delivers digital learning platforms and curriculum to over 70 public and private schools and more than 2,000 school districts in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. With the help of UPS, each year the company sends kits to thousands of students and staff, customized with everything they need to complete their lessons -- from textbooks and laptops to science lab supplies like gravel, sand and soil.

From August to Labor Day – K12’s peak distribution season – the number of kits sent to students spikes from about 400 a day to 13,000 kits per day. By the end of the school year, the volume of school supplies soars to:

1.2 million books

500,000 customized kits

114,000 laptops

77,000 printers

“The size and scale of our warehousing, fulfillment and returns network allows us to meet the spikes in volume for customers like K12 have,” said David Quintilio, senior vice president, UPS Global Logistics. Last year, UPS Global Logistics processed 6,000 different types of items for K12, totaling nearly 10 million individual pieces. “We’re always preparing for peak – balancing the dynamic needs of all our customers.”

At the end of the school year, UPS helps K12 do it all over again by processing about 4 million returned items so they can be recycled, refurbished and reused for the next school year. UPS reverse logistics helps companies like K12 better manage and re-integrate returns for reduced waste and increased profits.

“Online learning opens up a world of opportunity, virtually eliminating the boundaries of traditional classrooms and meeting students at their point of need,” said James Rhyu, K12’s Chief Financial Officer and President of Product and Technology. “As more students turn to online education, K12 is committed to giving them the tools they need to succeed.”

More than 1 million students have attended public school at home with K12 since 1999.