California Virtual Academy @ Los Angeles School

We've been in CAVA for years now. We absolutely love it. There has a been a problem with my youngest not being able to read as fast as others at this age (grade 2), we are going to really accelerate over the summer with library materials and incentives. Everything else has been outstanding and we hope to continue in this environment for as long as possible.
--Submitted by a parent

I like the curriculum and the online model. Unfortunately, though, CAVA represents itself as a college preparatory high school even though the majority of its high school courses are not on the University of California's a-g list of accepted courses. That means that kids graduating from CAVA will not likely be accepted at any UC (or Cal State) College.
--Submitted by a parent

I LOVE CAVA!!! My son's school closed down at the end of last year, and I was going to be forced (due to availability) to send him to a school I didn't want to. A fellow Mom told me about K12 and the rest is history. The flexibility is fabulous, the curriculum is SO much better, and the mastery-based lessons are great. My son doesn't get bored, he can ask as many questions as occur to him, he loves his teachers, and I know how his day went. He gets P.E. credit for Ballet and Karate (he's not a sports fan) that he was taking anyway, and he can tailor his projects to his interests (and MY standards, not some dumbed-down PC revised version of education!) It's not for everyone, of course, but nothing is, and if you have an only child (like I do) you will probably want to find extra social events and activities to keep your child from getting lonely (I'm going to sign my son up for Cub Scouts.) But the rest more than makes up for a little research into local fun! And I LOVE that we can sleep in every day and save our bus money for fun...usually educational, too!...trips on our own. I'll probably send him back to traditional school for high school...unless he meets a CAVA girl first! =o)
--Submitted by a parent

We can not say enough great things about CAVA/K12. I wish i would have put my older 2 kids in it when they needed the one on one help, our 'home teacher' is awesome, if we have any questions, she's there. I've been able to see the damage that PUSD has done to my child and make positive adjustments. So sad that it has to come to this, and feel terrible for those who don't have the option of homeschooling due to work, but we are blessed to have such a wonderful community of parents/teachers who know and care about our children.
--Submitted by a parent

My only regret is that I didn't put my oldest son in K12 sooner. He had several miserable years at LAUSD with abusive and unfair teachers. We have had tons of support when we need it from the K12 teachers and staff. The free materials are of the highest quality and the content is vast. I like that I can vary our schedule. We can do just Science one day and just math the next. It is very flexible to adapt to individual student's needs and learning styles. I now have 4 students enrolled in K12.
--Submitted by a parent

What can be better than giving your child the one-on-one attention he or she needs? What can be better than discovering first hand their strengths and weaknesses as they learn? Schooling through CAVA can save a child suffering in traditional schools, where some children fall through the cracks. They support special needs with outside therapy and there are outside events and extra curricular activities offered regularly. The online and offline curriculum is fantastic. We have found our son has a passion for History and Science and our daughter, a confidence with Mathematics. Rather than being bullied at school on the playground, with monitors unwilling to take a moment to teach morals, your child can have lunch with friends like himself after a rec center nature class, because you finally have the freedom to design the day.
--Submitted by a parent

This ia an amazing program! We are so happy to be a part of this school. Our family actually had good experiences with traditional schooling socially but our son was always so far ahead of the available course offereings, he was growing bored with the process. Because CAVA is mastery based, he is able to work at an acelerated pace and is doing VERY well! Although we did not plan to homeschool, we are having such a great experience that we have decided to enroll our daughter when she starts kindergarten next year...BRAVO!
--Submitted by a parent

CAVA@Los Angeles is the best! Our child is only in kindergarten and within 3 months of starting the program she learned how to read independently. She was bored when attending a traditional school. She was not being challenged. Now with CAVA, she gets to choose what subjects to study in any given order. She is more confident and she attends all the field trips. We have a great teacher that we can contact whenever we need help. CAVA is a great choice for homeschooling!
--Submitted by a parent

My son was dealing with depression and wouldn't get up to go to school! I found CAVA and it was a blessing! Even though he didn't do all of his work, he got through to the next grade because of the compassionate teachers that guided us along the way. CAVA has an excellent program...if I can do it anyone can! THANK YOU CAVA!
--Submitted by a parent

Both of my sons attend this school and are enjoying the most enriching, complete learning experience of their life. They are in middle school. One has a learning disability (high functioning autism) and one does not. I believe the curriculum seems so 'advanced' only because many of our brick and mortar schools today are able to teach so little with the existing state of funding and relatively short daily schedules. In addition, while the API score for this schools is admittedly low, I believe that is a reflection of the widely disparate motivational level of homeschooling families in general with respect to standardized testing. My sons earn very high scores on state standardized tests, but our family is very focused on the goal of higher education, so we spend time --using CAVA's wide variety of test prep resources--making sure that they are prepared to take their tests,
--Submitted by a parent