Ohio Virtual Academy

the best school ever.

Truly impressed with this school! While the amount of work was almost overwhelming at the beginning, we have established a rhythm and are flying through it now. Compared to our local school, the curriculum is several years ahead of any grade level! Our 4th grader is doing algebra, some geometry, vectors, etc...

Don't let the commercials fool you. Not all teachers are licensed through Ohio Department of Education. The administrators are not licensed, but that is what K12 prefers. Licensed administrators wouldn't put up with the K12 model. It is all about the money. K12 gets millions and most teachers below 40K. Being a teacher at OHVA is hard but the students are wonderful. Many students fall between the cracks and then others who have met their grad requirements are forced to take additional courses so K12 can GWT more $.

0 stars. What 9-year-old is doing 3 hours of language arts. 2 hours of math. And this is every day. Thanks for making my granddaughter hate school.

After reading some of these reviews, I had to add my opinion. First, I want to say I have an older son who went all the way through typical public school. So, I have the experience with both virtual and in classroom school systems. Both obviously have pros and cons. My daughter was having problems in typical public school, and we were forced to look into other options. She started OHVA at the start of second grade (she is now going into 11th grade). Best educational decision I ever made. Now, even though most teachers have been wonderful, we have had a few that just weren't. The curriculum can be very overwhelming at times (it's much faster with a lot more work) than most public schools. If you are a parent of an elementary student that believes your student can really succeed without the help from you doing school this way, you are most likely wrong. This is a public school where parents are involved with their kids learning. Have there been times I have gotten frustrated because of an assignment, a teacher or a way they do things. Absolutely!! it's just like regular school, you have a problem with somebody and can't work it out, take it to the next person up. If you have a child with special needs, they will help you. However, sometimes you will have to make judgement calls and let the teacher know how you adjusted an assignment. They will work with you. The only cons I would give are not allowing the kids to actually participate by talking in the so called clubs. More access to communication between the students would be nice. They do communicate before class, but not all kids attend the live class connects.

We are in our 8th year with OHVA and moving on with them until our daughter graduates in high school. Our daughter has a very positive view of studying and school and that in itself proves that we have not failed in choosing OHVA to be a part of her educational foundation. We like the curriculum and the balance of online and offline classes that ensure the students' steady pace in their learning. My daughter loves every teacher that she encounters each year. The staff and teachers are just a phone call or email away and have been a big support to us. It's important for parents to do their part to ensure their student's success. We are happy to see that OHVA is open to make progress as new and innovative ways of learning come up; they promote learning and good values that can help us instill a balanced outlook in life for our child. What's more amazing is, they provide all these for free!

This school is terrible. They never respond to calls or emails. The curriculum is a lot of busy work that is impossible to complete. Nothing is aligned to the state tests. This corporation is robbing Ohio's public school system.

I feel like one star is too high for this school. I submitted documentation to Ohio Virtual Academy to withdraw 2 of my students on August 19, 2019. I am transferring my students to Ohio Connections Academy. It is September 23, 2019 and OCA has yet to receive the required prior years student grades and state test scores for my students. OCA cannot complete enrollment without this documentation. I contacted the school and was told the records should have been automatically sent to OCA when they were withdrawn. I resubmitted the request with a form from OCA in fax and email form to OHVA. They still have not responded to the request to have their records transferred.

OHVA is a great school with amazing teachers who are always willing to help. There are many clubs in OHVA, so there are a lot of extracurricular activities to choose from. Email, live classes, and office hours make it easy to get in touch with the teacher if you need assistance with something.

OHVA HS believes that students should have an easy time at math. Therefore, they routinely issue the same subject materials for outgoing 8th grade students and incoming 9th grade students. It doesn't happen for every course, but if it happens for just one, it is too many. Exposing children to typical learning materials for their grade level isn't something that OHVA gets, so if you''re considering enrolling your child, be sure to ask questions about placement before you end up with a big surprise. Not all courses have physical textbooks, so beware. If you don't need them, great, but if you travel withouth computer access or if your child needs to hold what she or she is reading, you may find yourself disappointed in science, for instance. Some veteran parents who have used the program for a number of years will staunchly defend OHVA's less-then-desirable practices. Take their advice with a grain of salt as many have no clue what how a high school curriculum should progress simply, because they''ve never experienced or researched anything else. You may find that OHVA is OK for K-6, but not beyond. Do your research and don't be pulled in by the hard sell and advertisements.

The actual teacher/student ratio is more like 60 or more students to one teacher for elementary grades and 120 for high school. Many times even elementary teachers have over 100 students it they are taking over the workload of teachers on temporary leave, etc. It really is a business and they want your money.