Meet Klara, Keegan, Zoe, and JessieAnn

Zoe and Keegan excel academically and socially, balancing special education with time for occupational and speech therapy sessions. Klara takes math, language arts, and science taught by certified teachers like any other first grader. JessieAnn prepares for her future with honors-level courses and career prep.

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Why This Family Chose K12

Mom and Learning Coach Windy chose K12 as a consistent, high-quality alternative to the distance learning option provided by their local school. She likes that K12-powered schools employ state-certified teachers who are trained to teach online effectively. 

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Connect with support services

K12 administrators lend a sympathetic ear to concerns about disabilities like autism and ADHD. Zoe and Keegan receive confidence-building counseling and support services.

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Trade commute for quality time 

Living in the mountains, the kids lost a good portion of their day to the school bus commute. Now they have time to play soccer and participate in clubs.

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Sail ahead with advanced opportunities 

Ambitious students like JessieAnn select from a variety of honors courses, career electives, and extracurriculars to prepare for life after graduation.

Time away from the computer looks like …

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1st Grade

A Day in the Life of Klara, Keegan, and Zoe

While each child’s needs are unique, learn how first grader Klara, third grader Keegan, and fourth grader Zoe all find their groove with consistent schedules and plenty of options at their K12-powered online school. 

family Schedule

Structure, Self-Pacing, and Shared Interests

Elementary school students like Klara, Keegan, and Zoe complete a mix of teacher-led live classes and self-guided interactive online lessons. Third graders like Keegan typically take four to six subjects each semester, with maybe two to four of those requiring scheduled, live classes. 

Curriculum

Primary Subjects With Plenty of Socializing

After homeroom, Klara spends some time writing before her live math class. Then she’ll complete independent math or phonics work before language arts. On Tuesdays, her schedule includes social studies and on Thursdays, she takes science. Keegan’s schedule is similar with language arts and math in the morning, and social studies or science in the afternoon. In addition to the regular live classes, Zoe works in small language arts and math groups where she can socialize as she learns. Two days a week, she takes science.

11th Grade

A Day in the Life of JessieAnn

Independent JessieAnn takes charge of her days, challenging herself with honors-level work and completing healthcare courses for college credit. The extra time spent at home provides the life skills and encouragement she needs to continue her academic journey in college. 

family Schedule

Independent and Interested

High school students like JessieAnn typically take three to six subjects, with two or three requiring scheduled live classes. She works independently, but knows her mom is there if she has any questions. She can also reach out to her teachers via live class, email, or weekly office hours. 

CURRICULUM

Diverse Days for Dynamic Development

Depending on the day, JessieAnn starts with a Spanish or nutrition lesson. Most days, she has live classes in honors American literature, math, and history taught by state-certified teachers — and still has time for music club, math club, and the National Honor Society. She’s taking anatomy and physiology courses as part of her healthcare Career Prep program.

PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

Career and College Prep: Honing in on Healthcare

K12-powered online school is preparing JessieAnn for a future career in medicine. Through her career exploration at school, she knows she wants to work in a research lab rather than directly with patients. JessieAnn’s online school offers medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, healthcare-related career clubs, and even courses worth college credit that will allow her to graduate early.

CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES

More Time to Explore and Grow

Without a lengthy commute, JessieAnn can fit more extracurriculars into her schedule. She’s active in her school’s SkillsUSA chapter, plays acoustic guitar in Rock and Roll Academy, and worked with a few friends to create a new, student-led mental health club. She’s in two honor societies and also learns Arabic with a group of school friends. Exploring electives and simply being at home more, JessieAnn learns important life skills like money management, grocery shopping and cooking, and basic home repair.

Learning Coach

A Day in the Life of Windy

Learning Coach Windy spends four to six hours a day supporting her elementary-aged students as they grow their independence and time management skills.

COACHING SCHEDULE

Equip Yourself With Tools for Triumph

Windy spends her weekdays bouncing between her younger kids — answering questions and helping them through assignments in the same way she assisted them with homework at traditional school. She often consults with teachers, looks ahead at the weekly schedule, and checks her children’s progress in the online learning system.

TOGETHER TIME

Rally Around the Family

Though each child’s schedule of classes, therapies, and activities may be a little different, the family comes together for soccer practice at the end of each school day. JessieAnn referees to support her younger siblings. Then they all have dinner together and go around the table taking turns discussing their day. After dinner, it’s time to play their favorite hockey video game. Back when the kids attended traditional school, long bus commutes consumed all this together time.

TEACHER SUPPORT AND COMMUNICATION

Lead the Day With Confidence

Windy raves about the teachers’ excellent support and communication, especially for her younger kids. The instruction is so engaging, she can focus on keeping the kids on schedule and motivated rather than teaching the content. She appreciates the teacher guide books detailing all the lessons, sharing step-by-step tips to explain topics, and providing assignment answer sheets.

ESSENTIAL EXTRAS

Lean Into Learning

Windy has seen academic and social improvements since her children began learning with K12. Keegan uses speech-to-text tools to bring his writing up to speed, while support services have helped Zoe advance up to three grade levels in reading, writing, and math.

With online school, students have the opportunity to participate in special education classes, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and counseling while maintaining their regular class schedule and without feeling isolated from their classmates.

Another benefit of K12-powered schools is that all educational materials for Klara, Keegan, and Zoe — computers, textbooks, supplies for offline activities, and more — are provided.

Family Q&A

Online school works well for Windy’s family, especially with the advanced career and college prep opportunities for JessieAnn and the support services for Keegan and Zoe.

Question 1 of 7

How was your family’s transition to online school?

It was a little scary at first, not knowing if we made the right choice. Once we made the transition, though, it made sense and fell into place as we received our materials and got started.

Honestly, at first, it was hard because I missed my friends, basketball, and band. Once I realized that online school gave me even more options for clubs and ways to be social than I had at my old school, though, I got myself involved and made some really great friends.

Question 2 of 7

Why do you like online school?

We like online school because we have more opportunities to be together as a family. And the level of support we’ve received for Keegan and Zoe’s special learning needs has been so helpful. I’ve seen all my children’s confidence increase since being in online school.

I like challenging myself, and at online school, I get to pick the level of the classes I take. So I can take honors U.S. history and have access to more electives. Not to mention the distractions. I don’t have to deal with the issues that come with having more than 30 teenagers in the same room.

Question 3 of 7

How do you navigate school at home with your whole family?

Organization, technology, and a lot of timers. We have the electronic assistant announce all the class, snack, and break times. That helps the kids stay on track and manage their free time once their schoolwork is finished for the day.

It’s really nice to have more family time throughout the school day. We have dinners where we all ask about each other’s days, and it’s cool because we’ve already been a part of them. I can also ask my mom questions if I’m confused on anything, build a fire with my family, or play with our dogs.

Question 4 of 7

How does your family stay social doing online school?

The kids actually get to be more social now because we have more control over our schedule and don’t have to worry about the bus ride. They’re all into athletics. We’re thinking about adding in basketball. K12 also offers activities where we can go meet other online school families in our area.

Besides my friends from school and all my clubs, I met my best friend through being a soccer referee. Since my siblings play and I’m too old for the league, I figured I’d make some money and be able to support my siblings.

Question 5 of 7

Why did you choose K12-powered school in particular?

The biggest thing for me was that K12-powered schools have state-certified teachers. I wasn’t going to have to be the teacher or understand, say, trigonometry on my own. That was a big relief.

Question 6 of 7

What surprised you about online school?

The biggest surprise was the learning materials. K12 sends everything you need—every book for the full year, lesson guides, science equipment, art supplies, math manipulatives, even the computers and printers. And the quality is amazing! I was very impressed, especially having worked in the local school.

Question 7 of 7

Do you have advice for families considering online school?

Just stick with it. You have a whole community of teachers, staff, and other Learning Coaches like me who have been there and are ready to support you and your family.

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5th Grade

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9th Grade

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Learning With K12

From kindergarten to high school, K12 provides tuition-free online education that empowers students to learn in ways that work for them. Browse options in your state to find the perfect fit for your family.

These are the stories of real students attending K12-powered schools and their families. Content is a combination of direct quotes and summaries from interviews. Their stories each reflect their experiences at their respective schools. Actual experiences can vary by student and school. These pages are designed to reflect a typical day in the life of a student attending an online K12-powered school. Individual class schedules and requirements will vary by state, school, and the individual needs of each student. Course materials vary, and certain schools may not provide computers or may have specific requirements for providing equipment.