I am looking at an online class option to resolve a scheduling conflict for my son, a HS sophomore. Our district is in the process of transitioning to Florida Virtual School for online classes. Since it’s so new (my son’s counselor is getting trained today on the new program) we have no information on quality, or difficulty, or how the program works, or anything else. He would be taking Algebra 2 or possibly a science class, at the honors level.
Do any parents out there have experience with this program? We’d love some idea of what we would be getting into before taking this option. Thanks!
My daughter took two classes on Florida Virtual. Your counselor will have little to do with it except apply it to his transcript. The school doesn’t answer any questions about the courses, doesn’t have anything to do with solving problems, can’t change the grades.
She took the health class which was fine. She had to get a CRP certification, keep a log of activities, do some online units. She finished it in about 8 weeks. It was easy.
She also took French class. It was awful. The first semester her teacher was in NY and would call at all times of the day and night (she couldn’t talk to the teacher during the school day). The teacher accused her of cheating because she looked up a French verb in a dictionary or online or something. It was stupid and the teacher backed off, admitting that sometimes students knew information from other sources. Daughter didn’t finish during the school year (she was a transfer student and there weren’t many weeks left) so in June the Virtual office offered a chance to finish in a shortened period, a different teacher took over, and daughter liked her better. The teacher she had for the next semester was located in Florida and he was nicer and a little easier to work with. She still delayed doing the work and ended up not finishing the full second year.
Other kids took classes more successfully than mine, but I did know others who also struggled with getting units done on time.
My homeschoolers have done a number of FLVS courses . . . it’s a mixed bag. You can get lucky and get a straightforward teacher and class, or you can get a real pain-in-the-butt situation.
It’s been a couple years for us, but if I remember correctly FLVS does not get paid by the state or school district until your student finishes the class. So you get a great deal of pressure to stay on or ahead of ‘pace.’ The “any time, any place, any pace” tagline is not exactly accurate. You may get calls constantly at weird times. We joked about getting chased by bill collectors, er, FLVS teachers.
I’ve also read that FLVS teachers are overburdened, and sometimes unhappy. Don’t know how true that is.
We had a miserable experience in Spanish - the teachers turned over at least twice during one school year.
That being said, we had a couple of very good teachers too (one was in math). My older son had a nice Latin teacher.
If your student is self-disciplined and pretty good at reading - you will probably be OK.
I’m not a huge fan of FLVS but I do appreciate having the option.
Thank you for your comments @SouthFloridaMom9 and @twoinanddone. Very helpful.
How are the FLVS classes as far as being easy to understand what is required and what order and timeline things need to be turned in? Is it fairly easy to work ahead? This was our biggest struggle in previous online classes.
We’ve done online classes (required PE and computer classes) with the previous provider in our district and they were not awesome. This kid just finished one and it took constant attention, and a course extension to get him through but he did successfully finish. I couldn’t contact the teacher (and I tried a few times) but she would answer him by email. I think we are fairly safe with a math class and the straightforward material if the user interface is reasonable and he doesn’t get frustrated just trying to follow that. He does read well and is good at math. I just don’t think there will be another way to fit everything in, between graduation requirements, college prep necessities, and the three performing arts classes that keep him excited about going to school every day.
To me the timeline and pace chart seemed very straightforward and clear. That part we did like. If we wanted to work ahead (though my kids never seemed to do that LOL) the only problem (that I can think of) would be the “discussion based assessments”, a/k/a DBAs, required for each module.
From a friend, I heard about a kid who would finish an entire course in 2 weeks (still not sure how this kid did that with DBAs, though you could work ahead of the DBAs now that I think about it). FLVS later instituted a minimum stay requirement (don’t think that applied to driver’s ed though).
Our other gripe about FLVS was the silly busy work. They are a little top-heavy in that area, imho.
If the teacher doesn’t have 400+ students, then they are fairly reasonable to reach. The only major problem we had was in Spanish.
ETA: OP, hopefully they still have the grace period where you can drop the course within a certain time frame (a week perhaps?) if you sense that it’s not a good fit. It’s similar to the drop/add week in college.
My son left HS after junior year. He couldn’t be a graduate without English 4. He took the virtual class with a young teacher across state. It worked out well, and he finished a semester class in 3 weeks. I think it depends on the teacher. There are also classes for students who are home schooled. They meet virtually at a set time, and a class of 3-4 meet with the teacher.
My son decided to take two FLVS classes over the summer because IB had so restricted his schedule that there were some classes he was unable to take during the year. One is working out great. His Calc BC class is terrific. No problems whatsoever.
His AP Bio class was a nightmare. Even starting in June, the teacher wanted a very rigorous schedule kept with no exceptions. Even though he was doing quite well in the class, the coursework was kicking his behind over the summer so I knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up once school started. The teacher seemed very confused when my son dropped at the end of the trial period but heck I was confused about what had happened to the “any pace” notion - especially when the exam wasn’t until May. Not at all a knock to the specific teacher - he was really great, but the lack of flexibility forced the drop in my son’s case.
My niece lives in a remote area with very few public school offerings and has done most of her high school work at FLVS without issue. She has been very happy with it.
So I guess FLVS is kind of like any school. There are some great teachers. Some not so great teacher. Some teachers that play by their own rules. And it may all be completely relative to what you are used to.
Thanks @SouthFloridaMom9 and @delilahxc
I’ll have to ask about add/drop. Although if he dropped the class, he would have to take it somewhere else and our options would be more limited.
The biggest trouble I see at the moment is that the district will not have things up and running with FLVS untill October or November. He needs four years of math to graduate and waiting that long to start could put him short a class for graduation if it doesn’t work out. The current online option still exists but does not offer honors classes.
I did find a sample math class lesson online for FLVS. I’ll have my son try that and see if he thinks the format will work for him, and we will go from there.
OP, are you in Florida? I’m thinking you’re not if your district isn’t up and running with FLVS yet.
Could he dual enroll his junior or senior year? A 3 credit hour class in college, for a semester, can count as an entire unit or credit in high school (i.e. both semesters of the high school year).
That’s just another idea for you - don’t know if it’s possible or advisable for your particular situation.
My oldest took Algebra 2 through FLVS a few years ago. He went on to ace Pre-Calc and Calc BC at his brick and mortar school. So, I would say if your son is strong in math to begin with, he will do fine. I found the quality acceptable, and prefer virtual in some respects - mainly that it allows a student to work on a particular area until he “gets it” (provided they stay on pace). In a physical class, the teacher will just keep going forward with the material. I like virtual learning a lot, but I don’t think it is appropriate for certain classes, like foreign language learning.
However, some teachers are very strict about how they want their students to stay on pace. They have metrics that they are responsible for (on pace, adequate progress, parental contacts, etc.). Some haven’t figured out the best way to meet those requirements. I have learned how to communicate my distaste for over-zealous contacts.
@SouthFloridaMom9 no we are not in Florida. I asked his counselor about taking a community college class to satisfy the requirement. The district offers dual enrollment for a few classes, but not for Algebra 2. If he takes a college class on his own (not through the dual enrollment program) it can’t be added onto his high school transcript and won’t count for the four years of math graduation requirement. Frustrating. It’s math. If he learns the material, gets a grade, moves to the next level, it really should be acceptable. But I don’t make the rules.
Very helpful, @3boystogo – My son might actually do better with higher expectations to remain on pace. Lol. I don’t like to nag and prefer the teacher do it, but maybe not to excess. He’s strong in math so that’s not the worry. He’s more likely to hate the format and rebel against that.