Community
Community is central to who we are and what we aspire to create for our students and families. We believe that a school that supports student belonging and develops a sense of community is better able to support student motivation, academic achievement, and student well-being. That is why, in addition to a flexible and relevant education, students and families are provided with opportunities to interact and connect with one another both online and in-person. The SVA staff, students, parents, caregivers, and community members are all partners in creating the SVUSD Virtual Academy.
Support
While the SVA allows students and families more flexibility and independence, the SVUSD teachers and staff are always willing and ready to provide students, parents, and learning coaches the support they need to be successful. More than a traditional approach to schooling, learning at the SVUSD Virtual Academy requires a partnership between the teacher, student, and parent (learning coach).
Flexibility
One of the great benefits of learning at SVA is the flexibility it affords for families and students. At the SVUSD Virtual Academy, students are provided learning activities that are due weekly. This provides students with the opportunity to complete the activities at their own pace, place, and time while still providing the structure students need to build their skills and feel a sense of competence. Many of our students choose to use the flexibility to enroll in college courses (high school students), travel with their family, participate in internships or community based activities, or participate on club athletic teams.
Blended Learning
While curriculum is organized to maximize personalization and flexibility, students are afforded unique opportunities to work with their teachers and peers in a face to face environment to maximize student learning and engagement.
Engagement
Online learning and increased flexibility affords teachers the opportunity to personalize the curriculum by providing students with greater activity choice and instruction at the appropriate level to stretch the students' knowledge. Online learning programs combined with our teachers as coaches shifts much of the power and control of learning to the students. By giving students more ownership over the learning process, tailoring academic content to more closely match the students ability level and interest, and by providing students with frequent feedback, student motivation is enhanced.
SVUSD School
As a school within the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, our all of our teachers are highly qualified, certificated, teachers in SVUSD; there is no tuition to enroll; the curriculum is aligned with SVUSD and California standards; and the SVA curriculum approximates the pace of the curriculum with our resident schools.