Elementary School
Who can attend?
The Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA) elementary program serves students in grades 4K–5 who reside in Wisconsin. To be eligible for kindergarten, children must be 5 years old by September 1 of the current year. 4K students must be 4 by September 1.
What are the costs?
Because WIVA is a public charter school program, it’s tuition-free. WIVA provides Wisconsin-licensed teachers and all instructional materials for the program. However, students and families will be responsible for providing some consumable materials (such as printer ink and paper).
What’s my role as a parent?
As a parent, you (or another responsible adult you designate) serve as your child’s Learning Coach. In this role, you partner closely with your child’s teacher to support daily learning. Responsibilities include ensuring your child logs in each day, understands expectations, and has a consistent, quiet workspace. You also help create a positive learning environment by supporting your child as a learning partner—this may involve reading aloud together, serving as a “turn and talk” partner, problem-solving, providing necessary materials, assisting with technology, and maintaining ongoing communication with teachers.
Parent/Learning Coach involvement is essential to student success, especially at the elementary level. In grades K–5, the typical daily time commitment is 4–6 hours, with the first 4–8 weeks often requiring additional time as your family establishes routines. The 4K program is a half-day commitment, averaging 3–4 hours per day. On average, 10–15% of Learning Coach time is spent online, with the remainder devoted to offline learning activities and support.
What will my child study?
Coursework is a mix of online and hands-on work, catering to a wide variety of learning styles. Unit and course assessments are built into 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. Students may also take a self-guided music or a Spanish course if they wish.
ENGLISH / LANGUAGE ARTS
MATH
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
ART
ACE! Attend, Communicate, Engage
When a student enrolls at WIVA Elementary School, the learning coach is committed to being a partner with us in the education of their learner. Unlike a brick-and-mortar school, our learners need their learning coach present in the home engaging both online and offline in school.
Please review our ACE Expectations. In addition to our ACE Expectations, we expect our learning coaches at WIVA Elementary School to:
Attend live classes with your student
Communicate the importance of schooling with their learner
Engage in the lessons with your student
Mastering Lessons
In the elementary grades, students are required to show mastery of each lesson by achieving 80% or better on all lesson assessments. If your child has difficulty mastering a lesson, let their homeroom teacher know as soon as possible. Teachers offer many support sessions to help students gain mastery.
Working With Your Teacher
Teachers support students through individual and small group assistance in live sessions called Class Connects.
- Direct Instruction Program: Students are expected to attend all required Class Connect sessions as part of their learning experience.
- FLEX Program: Students are not required to attend live classes; however, each student is assigned a dedicated teacher who offers optional live help sessions for additional support.
Attendance
Attendance is logged Monday through Friday, but academic progress can be achieved during the weekends as well. K–5 students are expected to spend approximately 4 to 7 hours on schoolwork per school day.
- 4K: Estimate approximately 3 to 4 hours of productive schoolwork including play time and hands on learning four days per week
- Grades K–2: Estimate approximately 3 to 5 hours of productive schoolwork five days per week
- Grades 3–5: Estimate approximately 4 to 6 hours of effective schoolwork five days per week
- Although there are no live classes on Wednesdays, students may have asynchronous lessons to complete.
- 4K: Estimate approximately 3 to 4 hours of productive schoolwork five days per week
- Grades K–2: Estimate approximately 4 to 5 hours of productive schoolwork five days per week
Grades 3–5: Estimate approximately 5 to 7 hours of effective schoolwork five days per week
Assessments
Students in grades 4K–5 are required to participate in both local and state assessments.
- Math: FastBridge is our district-approved local growth measure.
- Literacy: Aimsweb+ is the state-required literacy assessment.
Homeroom teachers will share specific testing windows, and students will take the assessment three times a year—fall, winter, and spring.
These assessments play a vital role in guiding instruction and ensuring personalized learning. Our goal is for every student to make at least one year of academic growth each school year.
State Testing
WIVA students must comply with all Wisconsin-mandated testing requirements. Check Testing Information for a list of tests and the grades in which they are given, as well as the schedule on which they’ll be administered.
Testing Notifications
You’ll receive testing and assessment information from advisors and teachers throughout the school year. Please contact Data & Assessment Coordinator Jenny Bock at jbock@wivcs.org or 608.838.9482 extension 7750 if you have any questions.