An email dated 2/5/11

I really feel that WIVA, Insight and iQ are very good schools. I think all three of them are graduating well educated students. They are do have differences, and those issues are what make one school better for an individual child. (I have very little experience with Connections Academy. Their curriculum is less rigorous than the other schools. They were (my information is from three years ago) very flexible in elective options, but their core curriculum was not what I was looking for. Their primary curriculum is provided through FLVS)

iQ- My personal experience with iQ is dated (4 years ago) but I have multiple friends who have children at iQa. Their biggest strength is their ability to work with your local school district. I have a friend whose daughter takes French through iQa; takes band through her local high school and she is homeschooled for her math/English/History work. iQ is incredibly flexible in that fashion and most school districts are wiling to work with them. I have another friend whose child takes history and science through iQ, and is in a traditional classroom for English and Math and electives. They use Aventa curriculum and supplement with Apex for subjects not covered by Aventa and Angel is their LMS (learner management system. That's the portal the kids log into when they first get online. It's where they can see announcements and emails from teachers.

Insight Schools of Wisconsin - They have an incredibly large number of teachers working for the school. Their student/teacher ratio is 40/1 (as opposed to WIVA where the ratio is over 100/1) This means that there is WAY more personal time spent with teachers. The teachers tend to deal with the students directly. If there are phone calls, those are made to my daughter, not to me as often happens at WIVA. The school email is MUCH more convenient than the WIVA kmail system. Teachers can be found on IM almost all times of the day or night. They use Apex curriculum for most of their classes. Angel is their LMS. The school academic counselors are very active in guiding the students and making sure the transcripts are correct and that the student gets into the right classes for their future. (in contrast, I don't think my daughter at WIVA has ever talked to the academic counselor) I do not like the principal at Insight. I'm not sure why. ... However, I don't often have to deal with him. Insight has student tutors - to help augment learning. These sessions are in place of what WIVA has for "study hall" Insight also has TONS of clubs. They have face to face social gatherings in each area of the state at least once every two months. We don't often go to them (they'd be like pizza parties, or bowling, or skiing) but they are an option. They have a prom and a graduation ceremony. My daughter at Insight has taken 12 AP level classes through Insight schools. (to date, I think WIVA only offers four) They might not always initiate the conversation about having my daughter take classes out side of the range of their catalog, but when I have made suggestions, they have always made a way for it to happen. For example, my daughter is taking AP French. That is not in their course catalog. But, Apex does offer an AP French class. So, I went to apex.com, found a listing for AP French, emailed it to Mr. Bentendorf. Insight arranged for the class, paid the fees and is providing support for that class. In other words, you can't just sit back and not be responsible for your child's education, but they are willing to partner with you in getting a good education for your child. Insight does not have a late date policy at the end of each month, so it is possible for your child to get very behind in their courses. The progress is tracked with a percentage on the LMS page. It is very visible but no "drop dead" dates other than the end of the semester. The biggest weakness is there is no course schedule outside of the gradebook. This means my daughter can't go to a single web page to determine what assignments are due within the next five days; she has to click around a bit. We make weekly schedules every Sunday night, but it takes me a good half hour to accurately determine what needs to be finished and estimate how much time it is going to take. Monthly paper progress reports are mailed to the house.

WIVA - The teachers are very much involved with the parents. I get at least two or three recorded phone messages per week from one of the teachers. They offer consistent study halls for the students to come and ask questions. But, the teachers aren't often available to answer questions outside of that study hall time. The students have to use "kmail" and cannot use their primary email accounts. This makes communication a little more awkward. The teachers have yahoo IM, but I have yet to log on to it and be able to contact a teacher. Their status is permanently marked "away". The LMS is a proprietary system from K12. In many ways, it is much more navigable than the Angel system. The only downside is the email system slurps. The curriculum is very rigid. It is probably the most demanding of the three schools. While they also use APEX courses as their foundation, K12 adds on many extras. This provides a depth to the curriculum that isn't available anywhere else. The English classes are completely formulaic. The teacher demands that each five paragraph essay must be written with exactly the same sentence structure, exactly the same reasoning pattern, etc. In other words, English is taught like math and not art. The administrative support (Justine Johnson, etc) are wonderful. Justine has bent rules to allow my daughter (with major test anxiety) to take her finals spread out over a five day period rather than the three days that were scheduled. WIVA does not have very many clubs - although I don't know how involved my daughters would be in them anyway. WIVA's biggest strength is the yahoo chat board for parents. There is nothing else like it. I tried to start one for Insight, but it didn't work. The school is set up differently and the parents aren't as engaged. But, I really really like the support the WIVA board has given me as a virtual parent.

All this having been said, you asked for my opinion, not my analysis. I have 19 years of homeschooling behind me. I would have thought that I'd prefer the WIVA idea of teachers dealing with parents and parents dealing with students. But, after 7 years of virtual schooling, I don't think I do any more. My daughters are older (my 3 sons have graduated) and I'd like them to take ownership of their education. My daughters are not conventional students. That's why we're not in a brick and mortar. My oldest daughter is VERY advanced. (she took Calculus in 7th grade) My second daughter struggles deeply with communication and yet excels in math and sciences. My third daughter is very smart, but has the attention span of a first grader. Because the teachers aren't pulling her in, she is just sliding through, learning nothing and getting A's and an occasional B. I want more electives than WiVA offers. They will not allow any independent study. Therefore, I am going to be switching and my two daughters who are currently at WiVA will be at Insight next year. There are things that I will miss (Justine, the Yahoo board, the extras that k12 adds to the lessons, a course calendar for scheduling) But, I am gaining choices of classes and a HUGE amount of teacher interaction.

Hope this helps you make the right decision for your child. Every child is different, and I'm really glad that in Wisconsin we have three very strong choices for virtual schools. If you have any other questions, please let me know if I can help. Getting your child into the right school is a really important decision.