Why an E-Learning Program?

An e-learning program will allow your district to cost-effectively serve more types of students without adding physical infrastructure and other costs.

K¹² is the leading provider of curriculum and services to e-learning programs and public virtual schools across the country. A K¹² program features the best components of a traditional classroom setting—a strong curriculum, certified teachers, involved parents, and high accountability—in a program that's individualized to fit the needs of each student.

Our program combines high-end digital media, beautiful, well-written books, and engaging, hands-on materials. We also accommodate a variety of learning styles, while allowing students to work both online and off in an educational setting that goes beyond the classroom.

A quality e-learning program must meet the same accountability standards of any public school: state content standards and objectives, state-testing, and fiscal accountability requirements. Teachers are state-certified and have access to ongoing professional development, so they can perform at their best. A K¹² e-learning program offers districts all of this, and a suite of services to make the implementation of that program seamless and pain-free.

The Complete K¹² Solution

K¹² collaborates with school districts to launch programs that work, delivering flexible options for educators and turnkey solutions to engage young minds.

From offering consulting services, to addressing students with special education needs, and even repairing loaned computers, K¹² supports districts every step of the way. Best of all, the e-learning programs using the K¹² curriculum are consistently among the highest performing in their states.

As part of the complete K¹² solution, you get:

The K¹² Online School (OLS)—a web-based learning management system for online lesson content, lesson scheduling, progress reporting, assessments, and communication.

The K¹² Student Administration Management System (SAMS)—a hosted student information system that's integrated with the OLS. This system maintains the students' cumulative files and can be used for school reporting, grading, transcripts, class/teacher scheduling, progress evaluations, student enrollment, and course placement.

The K¹² Curriculum—the leading, e-learning program for kindergarten through high school, offering over 11,000 content-rich lessons. The curriculum was created using decades of cognitive science research on how young minds really learn.

The courses make intelligent use of technology to increase learning effectiveness. Printed books and materials are included for each course, bringing the best elements of the classroom into the e-learning environment. And K¹² also ships over 100 pounds of dirt, paint, musical instruments, and much more, so kids can get their hands—and minds—engaged in learning.

Sample lessons and a complete scope and sequence are accessible through www.educators.k12.com.

Professional Development—Teacher and Administrator training for operating an e-learning program. K¹² will work with your district to create a customized program that gives your staff the additional skills and knowledge necessary to manage the virtual student body.

The K¹² Launch Program—helps our partners launch smoothly—and meet their timeline. K¹² uses a combination of onsite and virtual support to provide templates and subject matter expertise. You also get operating manual and implementation guide templates and project management support. Our partners get a robust program from day one.

The K¹² Student Outreach and Communication Program—raises awareness of your program in your community. With this support, districts are able to meet their enrollment target goals of the program, allowing for effective planning and budgeting.

Getting Started

K¹² will work with your district to launch a program in as little as 90 days. We've brought together the right partnerships, academic program, and leaders in education to help you create an e-learning program that works.

With programs in 14 states serving more than 25,000 students, K¹² is the leading provider of curriculum and school services for e-learning programs across the nation. More importantly, we've successfully implemented programs across the country that exceed state educational requirements, and we can customize a plan for your district.

Click on the chart below to see an approximate timeline of launch activities:

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some immediate benefits to starting a K¹² E-Learning Program?

• Add a distance-learning education option to your district's service offering
• Increase student enrollment
• Provide a wider variety of course offerings without driving cost and physical infrastructure
• Serve gifted students through an accelerated, self-paced curriculum
• Serve students who cannot attend brick-and-mortar schools
• Help students develop 21st century skills

What costs are associated with running a K¹² E-Learning Program?

K¹² will create a customized program that can operate within your budget. Districts can take advantage of their existing resources (current teaching staff, administrators, district finance office, IT office, and curriculum team) to operate efficiently.

How quickly can we start an e-learning program?

Typically, it takes between three to four months for a program to become operational and accept student enrollment. This time period can be collapsed if necessary.

Does the K¹² curriculum align to my state's standards?

Yes. For documentation showing alignment to your state standards, please visit educators.k12.com.

Who teaches the students?

Daily lessons are delivered by a public school teacher who's employed by the district or school. Together, they work with the student and the student's parent, relative, or academic coach who serves as a teacher's aide. Some programs also assign a small number of virtual students to an existing classroom teacher, while others hire additional teachers to teach virtual school students.

How do districts measure students' progress?

Teachers are responsible for monitoring and measuring student progress. We've added tools to the OLS to make this process simple. Via the OLS, teachers can view students' work and monitor progress for each course and class. Administrators can view student progress at the student, classroom, teacher, and school level. Students must also participate in all mandatory state testing.

How can I contact K¹² with questions?

Call 1-866-903-5126 to speak with a K¹² e-learning program manager, or fill out the form above to have one contact you. You can also visit us on the web at educators.k12.com to learn more about what K¹² can offer you and your school district.

We Exceed Expectations —
Just Ask Gary Lewis.

The Lawrence Public School District of Lawrence, Kansas was looking for a virtual school to serve the distance education needs of families in the state. In April 2004 the school board voted to create a new virtual K-8 school: the Lawrence Virtual School (LVS).

Gary Lewis was appointed School Principal and was charged with taking one year to build the school and write a curriculum that could serve 30 third-through fifth-grade students during the 2005-2006 school year.

During this time Mr. Lewis met his full-time contractual duties as Director of Professional Development in a neighboring district. And in the course of his independent research on virtual schools and curricular options, he contacted K¹².

"I chose K¹² because they were able to provide a ready-to-use virtual curriculum that exceeded my state's content standards as well as an integrated student data tracking system to manage the program. I also saw K¹² as the experienced leader in virtual schooling, so I knew I would be able to take advantage of their strategies and best practices for virtual school implementation and management."

K¹² began providing its curriculum to LVS' students in the fall of 2004. In June, the contract was complete and the district and K¹² began working on student outreach and communication plans, staffing plans, and student/parent support plans. Lawrence Public Schools sent out a statewide press release on behalf of LVS, and developed a school website. An introductory letter was also sent to families. With support from K¹², LVS followed up with a series of free parent information sessions throughout the summer. The principal also enlisted the consultative services of K¹² to help answer parent questions, assist with student placement, and conduct parent orientations and training.

Due to the quality and versatility of the K¹² curriculum and the availability of K¹² administrative consultation services, LVS kicked off the 2004-2005 school year with more than 165 enrolled students—far exceeding their initial projections. The school board was pleased because this new influx of students helped stem the declining enrollment within the district.

K¹² supported LVS throughout the school year with family support, student data tracking systems, staff management, budgeting, professional development, virtual teacher training and evaluation, logistical support, policies and procedures, and administrative training.

The following school year, LVS enrolled 350 students. That number doubled to 700 for the 2006-2007 school year.

At the root of the program's success was the District's determined vision to enter the virtual school world, and Mr. Lewis' ability to launch a statewide school in such a short period of time. LVS was staffed early with a capable, technologically savvy, and ambitious principal who, when paired with the experts at K¹², was able to create a successful program that met the needs of students, teachers, and the school district.