Colorado Virtual Academy (Cova)

Awesome! You get out of it what you put into it, just like life. If you do the work, it is hard not to excel. Teachers always willing to help. Just like every school, I'm sure there are going to be a few bad apples.
--Submitted by a parent

We love this school! We have tons of help from the teacher and she is always available. I have been able to talk to the administration about several issues and they have been super responsive. We will be attending next year!
--Submitted by a parent

This school is horrible!!!!!!! No support at all they throw you in and it's sink or swim. If your child falls behind they don't offer you any help. There are way better schools out there. If you enroll your child here you will regret it.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is a nightmare they are disorganized. When you ask the teachers for help they act like it is a difficult task. Heaven forbid you child need special ed. No matter how much work my child does his % never go up. When I asked why haven't they offered us any resources they replied " I don't know what kind of resources you are asking for?" Hello shouldn't a school administrator know when a child is falling behind due to a learning disability. This school make me SICK they should be shut down.

We have been in COVA nearly four years. It is much deteriorated the past year. It has been an ongoing nightmare of 1) teachers violating COVA handbook grading policies to penalize students. Both of my students had teachers doing this, there is no accountability for teachers and retaliation for students requesting the handbook be followed, uncaring teachers, incompetent and narcissistic principal who bumbled the CSAP testing in 2010 which made them null and void (By the way the CSAP taken in March 2010 the results have still not been sent out) Young incompetent guidance counselors for high school, pass the buck attittude of teachers and principals, workload is overwhelming. Kids will definitely be made to feel uncared about, Both of my kids were honors and advanced students when they entered COVA. Now, both are behind and hate school.definitely not good for gifted students.School makes parents do all documentation of gifted-talented. COVA will not even send for records form previous school. You will have to fight, fight, fight. It was a good elementary school option but bad for middle and high school. Foreign language program is a joke. Parent involvement is greatly discouraged.
--Submitted by a parent

The one thing I have noticed is that COVA is having to be very reactionary to the State of Colorado's scrutiny and position towards charter schools. This has resulted in a mix of issues, some positive and some negative. . Its easy to get caught up in the humdrum and negative when change is occurring, but sometimes it takes a step back perspective to appreciate the system versus alternatives, even with its faults. Things to consider: This is hands on by the Parent - as a learning coach there is a significant time commitment The curriculum is easily 1 year ahead of our local brick & mortar. It will be difficult. You will find great teachers and okay teachers, its up to you to develop those relationships and make sure your getting the most of the education COVA is an alternative, it gives kids who are being held back a chance to excel and for special needs it helps invoke an environment that provides fundamentals and a positive learning experience. COVA is not a babysitter, it requires lots of parental interaction COVA is not perfect, K12 is a great curriculum but there are aspects that we groan over. As a parent I can extend teachings and *have* a say in what they are learning.
--Submitted by a parent

High school--bad teachers, worse curriculum. Ambiguous test questions on computer graded tests. On quizzes, your student can see the computer mistakes and you can request the teacher correct the grading. But you cannot see unit test questions, so you don't get to find out what was graded inaccurately, nor challenge bad questions/computer grading. "Teacher graded questions" on the unit tests are also a nightmare, especially Biology where you can never find out what you were graded wrong on from the teacher. Too much homework, not enough real education, very low-level Freshman algebra--equivalent to middle-school pre-algebra of the 1980s. I have found pro-global warming, pro-communist ideology taught (i.e., Geography class teaches command economies are more equal and fair than free market economies). In the mandatory "Reaching Your Academic Potential" class for freshman an exercise lets you click on certain academic choices for an example student, so you may direct his academic choices and see the results. When he dropped out of college to play in a band he became a rock star. When he pursued sports in college, he was injured and only became a low-paid high school sports coach.
--Submitted by a parent

I fully agree with everything that was posted by the parent who has been doing k12 for the past 5 years with COVA and CAVA. This is my 4th year with COVA and the change between this year and the past three years is like night and day. They are completely disorganized. The k12 curriculum on its own is quite challenging, which is why I enjoy it. My kids are both in the Barton Reading Program for Dyslexia, however, and our support staff has been completely taken away. We have enjoyed wonderful support the past 3 years, and this year due to "restructuring" they are unable to provide the one teacher we had to support that program. Very unhappy this year with COVA.
--Submitted by a parent

I have been doing K12 for 5 years now, 2 with COVA and 3 with CAVA. I have in the past greatly enjoyed both schools. This year, however, they are extremely disorganized, teachers keep changing on us, books have not been shipped on time, they made us change our daughter's math class telling us it was no longer a supported class, and there are a lot of class connects, face to face meetings, and study island requirements. As a mother of 3 it is very difficult to keep up with the children, their different schedules and all the demands being placed on them this year. I still love the K12 cirriculum and would recommend it, I just am having trouble with the demands upon the Learning Coach and the students this year by COVA.
--Submitted by a parent

We had our son go through 6th thru 9th grades.When it came to the ninth grade things changed. My son did all the lessons every day an passed the daily quizes, the same as he did the previous 3 years, but for unknown reasons the teachers failed him in most of the classes an he got a C in History an a D in Physcial Science. He made up the classes he didn't pass in summer school at Aurora Central High an was admitted for the next year for 10th grade every year he had a 4.0 grade average he graduates this Monday the 16th of May because Cova failed him he was just 1.7 fro m getting the high honors awards.We constantly were telling the teacher at Cova that he is doing the work an passing the Art, Math,an English classes it was like talking to a brick wall.We are so glad we had him go to a regular school. Cova was a grave mistake.
--Submitted by a parent