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11th Grade
Mia
Mia wants to be a surgeon, and she’s preparing for a healthcare career with support from inspiring and relatable teachers.
Meet Lily and Arianna
Lily loves science and is always searching for her next experiment. Arianna runs her own baking business and has big dreams for the future. Together, these enthusiastic sisters thrive in a flexible learning environment that gives them space to pursue their passions.
Why This Family Chose K12
Lily and Arianna’s mom and Learning Coach, Elizabeth, loves watching them learn their own way. K12-powered school offers flexibility, so fast-paced Lily can work ahead and entrepreneurial Arianna can run her business.
Learn in a flexible, positive environment
Lily and Arianna learn at home, without the typical distractions found in traditional schools. Between classes, Lily feeds ducks at the local park while Arianna whips up delicious desserts in the kitchen.
Tailor learning to your leanings
Lily and Arianna choose classes that speak to their unique interests. Lily tackles extra science assignments, while Arianna learns new business lessons every week.
Enrich your education with extracurriculars
K12 connects students with local and national clubs, activities, and events that provide added enrichment virtually and in-person. Arianna stays busy as an active Future Business Leaders of America member.
7th Grade
A Day in the Life of Lily
Lily brings her love of science with her wherever she goes — in class and beyond. K12 gives her the flexibility to do what she enjoys most, like conducting her own experiments and researching the topics she finds fascinating.
CLASSES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Experiment and Be Extra
Schoolwork for Lily is a mix of scheduled, live classes taught by state-certified online educators and self-guided offline assignments. Middle schoolers like Lily often take between five and six subjects each semester, with two to four of those requiring scheduled, live classes. Other subjects are completed via independent assignments and skills labs in K12’s interactive online learning system. If Lily gets stuck on anything, her mom and Learning Coach, Elizabeth, is there to help.
9th Grade
A Day in the Life of Arianna
Arianna’s aspirational spirit helps her aim high and achieve greatness throughout the school day. As part of K12’s Career Prep program, she takes advanced business courses, such as entrepreneurship, where she can challenge herself and apply what she learns to her own bakery business.
CLASSES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Treat Yourself With Courses Suited to Your Taste
High school students like Arianna typically take classes in three to six subjects, with two to three requiring live classes. She chooses courses that relate to her interests and prepares for future success. Career readiness course work is part of her daily schedule, too.
curriculum
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K12-powered high schools supplement core academic subjects — such as chemistry and American literature — with a wide selection of electives, including rigorous Advanced Placement® and honors courses.
Learning Coach
A Day in the Life of Elizabeth
Mom and Learning Coach Elizabeth has a big family to care for and a lot on her plate. With all course materials, including laptops, sent to her doorstep, she doesn’t have to think about school supply shopping. The tuition-free public school option provides a promising academic path for her older girls and the younger ones that follow in their footsteps.
TIME COMMITMENT
Support Your Child’s Growing Autonomy
Learning Coaches typically spend between one to three hours each day with middle and high school students like Lily and Arianna, providing guidance and encouragement when needed while supporting their growing accountability.
TEACHER SUPPORT AND COMMUNICATION
Join a Close-Knit Community Rallying Behind Your Students
Though they may live in different cities and states, Elizabeth has a close connection with her daughters’ educators. She has a relationship with the principal and all the state-certified teachers that surpasses the traditional educational experience. She leans on fellow Learning Coaches to provide support and share resources — and she is quick to do the same for others.
FAMILY SCHEDULE
Be the Cheerleader in Your Child’s Academic Life
Elizabeth helps her daughters succeed in online school by keeping track of schedules, communicating with teachers, and answering questions as they arise. In her role as Learning Coach, she watches Lily and Arianna embrace their individual interests and grow each week.
schedule
Zoom Ahead With Online and Offline Learning
When the sun comes up, Lily has breakfast with her family and helps get her two younger siblings ready for their day. She takes a live science class and walks to one of her favorite places — the duck pond — on her lunch break. She learns responsibility by helping clean up her science experiments and gets rewarded by a golf cart ride with her cousins.
schedule
Cook Up a Recipe for Success
Arianna may start her day with English class followed by math class and a small group session. Between classes, she loves whipping up sweet treats for her growing baking business. As a young entrepreneur with a big vision for her future, Arianna also enjoys connecting with her career-readiness counselor and attending weekly Future Business Leaders of America meetings.
CURRICULUM
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K12-powered high schools supplement core academic subjects — such as chemistry and American literature — with a wide selection of electives, including rigorous Advanced Placement® and honors courses.
Beyond The Classroom
Lily and Arianna enjoy spending free time with their cousins (they have 30!), feeding ducks at the park, riding golf carts, and having movie nights. K12’s flexible scheduling options give them plenty of time and space to enjoy life’s sweetest moments outside the classroom.
EXPLORATION
Real-World Adventures: For Lily, it’s Feeding Ducks
Lily loves science, and spends much of her free time doing extra assignments and experiments. She even connected science to her family’s regular trips to the duck pond near their house. Once, she heard bread wasn’t good for the ducks, so she helped her family find a better option. Now, they feed them boonworms and are clearly the duck’s favorite visitors. Lily is also thinking about joining her school’s animal club soon.
SKILLBUILDING
A Foundation for the Future: For Arianna, it’s Building a Bakery
In addition to already running her own baking business, Arianna is part of her school’s K12 Career Prep program. She prepares for continued success as an entrepreneur through flexible scheduling, business-specific courses, and mentoring from dedicated career readiness counselors. Arianna particularly loves her entrepreneurship class, which teaches her new management methods that help her better run her baking business.
SOCIAL TIME
Live, Love, Learn
Arianna participates in extracurricular activities that connect her with students who have similar interests. She attends weekly Future Business Leaders of America club meetings and baking business social media meetings — and still has time to visit the duck pond with her sister, make a post office run for her baking business, and microwave popcorn for family movie night.
Time away from the computer looks like …
Family Q&A
Elizabeth chose K12 as an alternative to seeing her daughters return home from traditional school exhausted and stressed day after day. Now they get through challenges as a close-knit family. Though online school felt like a leap of faith at first, Elizabeth finds there’s always structure and support. In the early days, she reached out to other Learning Coaches. Now new Learning Coaches reach out to her.
Other Stories You Might Find Helpful
8th Grade
Sabrina
Sabrina excels academically with a supportive class structure and Spanish-speaking staff who helped her settle in at school.
9th Grade
John
John enjoys a more focused environment with fewer distractions where he can take business courses to learn how to run an auto shop.
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.