Accredited Online School Offers Unique Opportunities to Students
MEDFORD, WI (OnFocus) – Wisconsin parents looking for an alternative to homeschooling or brick-and-mortar schools have options. Rural Virtual Academy (RVA), based in Medford, is a unique school that provides students with high-quality academics, access to sports and clubs, and the support they need to succeed – all free.
“The RVA is a Wisconsin public school with the same accreditation as your brick-and-mortar schools. The only difference is we serve families virtually,” said Athena Podolak, Director of Marketing. “Of all the big virtual schools in the state, we have our roots in Wisconsin while others are part of a nationwide chain. We’re your hometown Wisconsin kind of school.”
RVA is made up of 61 school districts from across Wisconsin, including Marshfield, Auburndale, Mosinee, Stevens Point, Loyal, Edgar, Tomah, and more. Students who don’t live in one of the 61 RVA districts can apply through open enrollment.
Families choose RVA for a variety of reasons, including schedule flexibility, curriculum control, and health reasons. Many choose RVA over homeschooling because it provides the same benefits with many additional resources and outlets. Parents have a say in their child’s education, access to live virtual classrooms, and are given an Internet stipend.
“We meet students where they are academically,” said Podolak. “We give students assessments and base their curriculum on their assessments.”
For example, if a student in third grade tested at a fifth grade reading level, they would be given a curriculum to reflect that. Additionally, students enrolled at RVA have the option to take some classes in brick-and-mortar schools.
“If a student wants to do choir, for example, that is not as easy to do virtually so they have the option to attend school in-person for the classes they choose,” said Podolak.
Curriculums can also be catered to a student’s preferred learning style.
“We offer parents curriculum choice. We have different curriculums based on the student’s learning style.
Project-based or reading-based, for example,” said Podolak. “We also offer live daily instruction. This is what makes us truly unique over other virtual schools. We don’t sit kids in front of a computer and say ‘have at it.’ They can go to their classes, have a live teacher every day. This is really unique to virtual schools. We don’t just serve digital curriculum, we have live instruction.”
Podolak added that providing social outlets for RVA students is important.
“We offer hundreds of live events for our kids to socialize. We offer those events for free for our families. Everything from waterparks to museums to fall festivals to farm tours,” she said. “We try to offer typical clubs that a high school would have. We try to give the most well-rounded education. We make sure our students are getting everything they need in order to succeed.”
More than a typical charter school, RVA is proud to offer families a rewarding alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar schools or homeschooling.
“We serve a variety of students just like any other public school but we have the ability to serve each student to their individual needs. Some of our students need more flexibility or were kids that didn’t like school before joining us. Some needed to be challenged more. Others were bullied or were medically fragile and couldn’t attend an in-person school. We even had a student last year who scored a perfect score on their ACT’s,” she said. “Our ability to serve such a diverse population of students is what we were designed for.”
“We put relationships first in the RVA. Kids might not remember what you taught them, but they’ll remember how you made them feel. We often say RVA stands for relationships, values, academics – in that order.”
To learn more about RVA, visit https://ruralvirtual.org/
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Author: News Desk
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