REVIEW OF Ontario Virtual School BY student, Preet Birdi

(5) Student Experience

Ontario Virtual School has been an amazing experience. There is not one thing that I would change about it. I was so used to traditional schooling however, when I started at OVS I encountered helpful and supportive teachers, an easily approachable system and staff, and work that was at the right level where it challenged me but made me successful. Everything on OVS is easy- from accessing your work to asking help if anything goes wrong. The structure of the work is great. One thing I wish I knew about the school is the teachers require 24 hours to email you back and 48 hours for work to be marked however my teacher was quicker than that.

(5) School Leadership

The leadership at Ontario Virtual School is great. There aren't guidance counselors or headmasters but there are teachers along with the staff. The teachers are extremely supportive of the course work along with other things you may want to talk to them about. They encourage you to do the very best. Although the school is completely online, the setting is very respectable and professional (for example through emails). This definitely has an impact on the students as they are exposed to professionalism this way that they pick up alongside other learning as well.

(5) Teaching

At OVS, their teaching method is very efficient. For example, in grade 12 Kinesiology, all the course content was in the form of a PowerPoint. One thing I really like about this format was how the content wasn't only verbiage but there were videos incorporated within. Additionally, instead of simply studying and learning the content, we applied the information to real-life situations which made learning more impactful whereas in traditional school I wasn't previously exposed to them. This also prepares us for university as we had to stay self-motivated and productive to be successful which is exactly what we have to do in post-graduate life.

(5) Academics

The course is just right in my opinion. OVS allows you to finish your work on your own time and at your own speed. This is very beneficial for slow-learners who feel like they are behind in traditional school as teachers race through the content. Additionally, the course content is highly structured as everything is easily accessible and easy to hand in. You can always go back to the content if you forget something or need more emphasis on a certain concept whereas in a traditional school as soon as you understand one thing, the teacher is way ahead of your teaching. Finally, teachers in traditional schools follow their own syllabus and schedule but at OVS you can make your own.

(5) School Life

Since OVS is an online school, there is no tour available. However, I would give an online tour of the website which would be the student's classroom. To begin with, the website is very easy to use and follow. One gets the gist of it within the first day of use. At the very beginning of the course, there are short videos demonstrating how the website works which you can always reference back to if you forget something. There is also a section of frequently asked questions which is also very helpful as they cover many things related to OVS. There is also a built-in chat center where you can also ask a staff member for help or guidance. Additionally, you can always contact OVS by calling them.

(5) Admissions

The admission process to enroll in OVS is based online and is really easy. There is a list of courses for grades throughout 9-12 along with their course codes to avoid confusion. You can add multiple courses to your cart and checkout with different methods of payment online. Then OVS will ask you to submit the pre-requisites for the courses you chose along with a transcript. Once that is submitted, there is a list of the course(s) you have chosen. To make the enrollment smooth, there is a mini-tutorial showing how things work, how to access content, how to submit assignments, how to contact the teacher. All your questions are answered. If the student has a question, the kind and amazing staff are always there to help you.