How Online Learning Works

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 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 to 6 hours a day. The initial 4 to 8 weeks can be intensive as your family settles into a routine. 4K is a half-day (3 to 4 hour) program.

Parent/Learning Coach daily involvement is critical, and approximately 10–15% of this time is online.

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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. Beginning in grade 3, they also take a self-guided music or world language elective course.

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ENGLISH / LANGUAGE ARTS

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MATH

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SCIENCE

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HISTORY

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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 the meet and greets at the beginning of the year with their learner
Attend the PALs sessions hosted by teachers
Communicate the importance of schooling with their learner
Communicate with the teacher about their learner’s needs
Engage in PALS and the Learning Partnership activities

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 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.

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 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

FastBridge

K–5 students must take FastBridge literacy and/or math assessments as WIVA’s district-approved growth measure. Homeroom teachers will provide specific assessment/testing windows that involve administering the FastBridge three times a year (fall, winter, and spring). These assessments are integral to shaping teacher instruction on a more personalized level for students in order to meet our goal of one year’s academic growth in one year’s time for each learner.

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.