How It Works
How Online Elementary School Works
Who can attend?
The West Virginia Virtual Academy (WVVA) elementary school program serves students in grades K–5 who reside in the state of West Virginia.*
What are the costs?
Because WVVA is part of the public school system, it’s tuition-free. We provide West Virginia-certified teachers and instructional materials.** Our enrollment consultants can help address your technology and computer questions and needs.
What’s my role as a parent?
As a parent, you (or another responsible adult you choose) serve as your child’s Learning Coach. You’ll work with your child’s teacher to help record student attendance, monitor mastery of online lessons and assessments, and review student work.
Parent/Learning Coach involvement is vital to your child’s success, especially at the elementary level. The typical Learning Coach time commitment in grades K–5 is 4–6 hours a day. The first 4–8 weeks can be intensive, as your family settles into a routine. But West Virginia Virtual Academy provides a dedicated support system to our families, so you don’t have to do it alone.
Grades K–2
Grades K–2: Parent/Learning Coach daily involvement is critical and approximately 30-40 percent of this time is online.
Grades 3–5
Students begin to have increased independence, but parent/Learning Coach involvement is essential for about 70–80 percent of school time and approximately 50-60 percent of this time is spent online.
What will my child study?
Coursework is a mix of online and hands-on work, which caters to a wide variety of learning styles. Unit and course assessments are built in to each subject, and easy-to-use online planning and progress tools keep you and your student on track.
K–5th graders take courses in the core subjects listed below. Beginning in grade 3, they also take a self-guided elective course in music or a world language.
ENGLISH / LANGUAGE ARTS
MATH
SCIENCE
HISTORY
ART
Working with Your Teacher
Teachers provide individual and small group assistance via online synchronous sessions called “Class Connects.” Students are expected to attend all required Class Connects and meet with their teacher to receive course assistance, tutoring, and instruction. Class Connects vary by grade level and are scheduled by your teacher.
Mastering Lessons
In the elementary grades, students are required to show mastery of each lesson by achieving 80 percent or better on all lesson assessments. If your child is having difficulty mastering a lesson, let their homeroom teacher know as soon as possible. Teachers offer many support sessions to help students learn new concepts.
State Testing
WVVA students must comply with all West Virginia-mandated testing requirements.
*West Virginia Virtual Academy currently enrolls students in grades K–11 for the 2023–2024 school year. One additional grade level will be added with each subsequent year until the school is fully operational for grades K–12.
**Course materials vary by course. Please check with West Virginia Virtual Academy staff to see what offline course materials are provided.