REVIEW OF Ontario Virtual School BY student, Jordynn Scott

(5) Student Experience

Overall, my experience with the Ontario Virtual School (OVS) has been very positive. The best part about OVS is the flexibility. OVS allows me to work on my own time and at my own pace. When I'm comfortable moving forward, I can speed up. When I'm struggling with something, I can slow down and take my time without being pressured to move faster. This creates a healthy engagement with students, facilitating learning for those who are busy—like athletes similar to myself—to engage and move forward in a way that feels healthiest for us. Something I wish I knew before is how independent it is. This is both the best part and the most challenging aspect, as it requires a level of self-motivation and discipline to ensure proper engagement. One thing I would change about OVS would be to have a little more structure or optional live check-in opportunities for those who need a little bit more guidance. However, the independence and flexibility of OVS truly allow for a wonderful, personalized learning experience.

(5) School Leadership

Yes, I definitely respect the school leaders and staff at Ontario Virtual School. My experience with my teacher has been especially positive. She always responded quickly whenever I had questions, and she explained things clearly. Even though it’s an online school, I never felt like I was on my own. That kind of support made a big difference and helped me stay confident in the course. I think the teachers, including mine, do a great job of being available and helpful, which isn’t always the case in virtual learning environments. Overall, I’ve really appreciated how professional and responsive the teachers are. They are always ready to help students, and I appreciate that.

(5) Teaching

Since this was an online school, I did not feel like the teachers were asking for too much of me, considering they do not know me. After each test I received, my teacher always left positive feedback on things that I could improve. She also gave me important things to change for my next tests so that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes. The expectations are clear, and the course is laid out in a way that is easy to understand. This course taught me how to learn independently and stay motivated. It also taught me to take ownership over my education, as I was working on my own time. That kind of success helps prepare students for a positive future, especially post-secondary, where doing your school work is dependent on you.

(4) Academics

I’d say the work at OVS was mostly just right, but some parts were challenging. There were a few units that were harder than others, mainly depending on how the lessons were laid out. Sometimes, I had to go over certain sections more than once to fully understand the concept. But that is also the benefit of being able to learn at your own pace—being able to take the time needed to understand. Overall though, the course was manageable, and I do think it will be useful later on in life because it helped me develop new skills like time management and self-discipline. Learning how to stay organized and keep yourself on track is something that will be helpful post-secondary and in life in general. So even when some lessons were tricky, it was still worth it in the end.

(5) School Life

Considering Ontario Virtual School is online, giving a tour is a little different than usual. If I had to give a tour, I would start off by showing the main dashboard. It is very organized, showing your marks, assignments, lessons, and even emails from your teacher. I’d share that it is very easy to navigate and not overwhelming to figure out like other online courses I’ve done. I would then show how the lessons are laid out with the videos, practice questions, and quizzes. I’d share that you can log in at any time, as you can have a flexible schedule. I’d also share that the teachers are very responsive and nice, which makes a big difference for the online learning platform. This platform is great.

(5) Admissions

The amazing thing about OVS is that there isn’t really any admissions process. Signing up was very simple and straightforward. You choose the course(s) you want, register online, and there you go. There aren’t any interviews or long applications, which made things easy. My advice for anyone taking the course is to manage your time wisely. Because you do not have someone telling you to do your work every day, it’s important to stay on top of it so you don’t get behind.