REVIEW OF Ontario Virtual School BY student, Shawn Capper

(4) Student Experience

My experience at Ontario Virtual School has been nothing but positive, which exceeded my expectations going into the school, especially for its low cost. Of course, being an asynchronous school has the advantages of being able to complete work at your own pace, however, you lose the typical school experience of having live lectures with a teacher, or being able to talk with and develop a meaningful connection with other students. If there was one thing that I would say could improve the student experience, it would be having the ability to have on-platform communication spaces between other students at the school. OVS is as good of a student experience as you'd get if you are an international student or absolutely have to be virtual, however, if you are a domestic student, OVS is best as a supplement to taking regular day school courses.

(5) School Leadership

All the office staff and teachers that I was able to interact with at Ontario Virtual School were wonderfully supportive. Whenever I had a question or issue they were easily reachable and responded in a timely, professional manner. It is clear that they care about students and work to create a positive culture and environment at the school. Everyone at OVS made me feel welcomed and supported during my time at the school and couldn't have been better in any way.

(5) Teaching

The teacher that I had at OVS was wonderful. She always provided feedback on my work and opened my perspective to new ideas that I hadn't thought of that could improve my work. I was given a lot more feedback than I typically received from teachers at previous schools which allowed me to take that feedback and implement it into work that I did in the future, allowing me to do better academically both at OVS, as well as in other classes. I could see that my teacher wanted me to be successful, this meant not just handing out high grades for the sake of doing so, but only when I truly earned it which made me strive to work hard.

(5) Academics

I would say that the course content at Ontario Virtual School is just right in terms of difficulty. The unit assignments and homework given are easily completable without much clarification as long as you pay attention to the lessons. It is relatively easy to be able to achieve high marks, at least in the course that I took if you are passionate about what you are studying and take the feedback that you are provided on ways to improve your work. I was able to explore a range of different perspectives on issues, and critically think to complete work. The lessons that are posted are straightforward and easy to understand which is a big part of why the work was easy enough to complete.

(3.5) School Life

Being a virtual school there isn't much of a school life at OVS. If I were to rate the platform, however, it would be a 7. The platform used to deliver lessons is intuitive and easy to use by anyone. Everything you need is laid out well on the dashboard as soon as you log in and the visual interface is modern and inviting. It is easy to navigate the OVS dashboard to find the lessons you need to complete, drop-box to submit completed assignments, and grade book to view your current grade, what you received on your assignments and the feedback and marks that your teacher provides for your work. Overall, I would say that the school life at OVS is solid, but not exceptional as it is virtual.

(5) Admissions

The admissions process at OVS was very intuitive and straightforward. Unlike most other schools where you need to go in person with an application, possibly need to do an interview, and wait weeks to know if you've been accepted, I was able to sign up on the weekend and access content immediately after registering which was amazing. This was beneficial because I wanted to be able to complete my course as soon as possible and that was possible because of OVS. The application process was simple, just a quick form that required basic information along with proof of completing the pre-requisite for the course that I was taking. There isn't really any advice to give to anyone planning on applying, because it is approachable for anyone to do so stress-free.