Pros ( cost ) - cons (communication)
Pros : For a cost effective home school option it's sufficient. The content I think is average. They give you all the supplies and if you need computers they will provide it.
Cons : communication and organization is poor. It came to the point that I couldn't afford to traditionally home school for my kids. I couldn't afford the entire curriculum, so in desperation I decided to try an online charter school. It was sufficient but like any public school district they very weary about kids coming into the program that have had traditional home schooling. I enrolled my children in February for the next coming year one of my children was to go into 1st grade as I completed a Kindergarten home school curriculum from Sonlight ( a well known expensive curriculum). So I thought everything was going good; about 6 weeks before school starts, I received all the 1st grade materials and schedule. However about 2 days before school starts I received in the mail , a box of Kindergarten materials. And a new schedule for kindergarten. No explanation, no phone call nothing. When trying to get in touch with someone you would get caught in phone tree hell where you can't get in touch with a live person without great frustration and time. Eventually with many phone calls and emails I get an answer that we have to have her tested which took 4 weeks to get someone to meet me at a local library to test my daughter to prove she could go to 1 st grade. Then it took another 2 weeks to make their decision if she can go 1 st grade. In the meantime she was doing Kindergarten work. Finally they make their decision that she was indeed ready for 1st grade. Which unfortunately made my daughter anxious to have to switch to a new class 6 weeks into school. I don't understand why this all of this could not have been done before school starts. This was very stressful for everyone which could have been prevented with a proper organization. Not to mention why didn't anyone discuss this with us. I am very disappointed that just many other public schools they forget to communicate with parents effectively . This was only one of my 3 kids I enrolled. I also had a similar issue with my high schooler it literally took me the entire semester to get her out of delayed classes something that should not take nearly that long. Again why couldn't they communicate with me that they were placing her in delayed classes because of IAP she had when she was in 1st grade public school. When I decided to pull her out of public school we corrected a lot with of her reading issues. But no communication came from WIVA that they were going to place her in delayed classes. We found that out on day 1 of school.
Sorry WIVA you can do better about this. It's almost like they literally don't look at this until the week school starts. It really is an awful onboarding experience.
Antwoord van K12 - Wisconsin Virtual Academy
We appreciate you sharing your experience. We're sorry to hear about the challenges you faced with communication and organization, especially regarding your children's grade placement and class scheduling. We value your feedback and would like to learn more about your experience. Please send us an email at help@k12.com.
