How to Use the K12 Platform: A Guide for Students and Families

We keep children’s schoolwork organized, engaging, and visible to you as a parent in our interactive online learning platform called the Online School. The K12 platform is your one-stop-shop for online learning and this guide is designed to help parents and students get set up.

What is the K12 platform?

The Online School (sometimes known as the OLS) is designed for students and their families. The features and resources available through the K12 platform help keep learning on track and the items you need accessible at a glance.

In the K12 platform, your student can:

• Access their live classes
• Review their weekly schedule
• Submit assignments
• Work with classmates

And you as a parent can:

• Check your student’s progress
• Contact teachers with questions
• See calendars and deadlines
• Get important school announcements  

The K12 platform has features that support each student’s learning journey, whether they’re working through assignments independently, collaborating with classmates on a project, or getting more one-to-one assistance from their Learning Coach (that’s what we at K12 call your role as a parent).

Read on for a more detailed K12 platform guide for families.

Your K12 Platform Account Setup

When you enroll at a K12-powered school, you’ll get an email from [email protected] about setting up your Online School accounts. You’ll set up one for yourself (as the parent) first, and that will help you complete your student registration. After that, you’ll set up a separate Online School account for your student.

Creating your accounts only requires some basic information and shouldn’t take long. Once you’re in, you can take your time exploring all the different features and resources. If you have more questions about setting up your accounts, you can reach out to help.k12.com for in-depth assistance or visit our FAQ page.

Account Types and Access Levels

One of the largest benefits of online school is being able to take classes and assignments on the go. With the K12 online platform, school is organized all in one place for students, plus parents have extra visibility into what their kids are learning and how they’re doing in classes.

Student accounts let children view and access their classes and assignments, communicate with teachers and classmates in monitored virtual environments, and even collect award badges for completing skills activities.

Parent accounts let you into your child’s learning. You can track their progress in each class, view their grades, reach out to teachers for extra support, and more. The Online School is also where you can see shipping and tracking information for your child’s educational materials that get sent out at the beginning of the school year.

There are slightly different versions of the K12 online learning platform for students in grades K–5 and then students in grades 6–12. The platform for younger students is designed for more direct engagement of parents since we know children require more attention to work through their classes and assignments at this age. The platform for older students is designed with more independent learners in mind, even though parents still have the same visibility.

Navigating Key Features of the K12 Platform

K12’s Online Learning School platform has a bunch of features for all you need at your fingertips.

Some of the features include:

• Daily or weekly view class schedules
• Easy to find messages for quick communication
• Announcements from the school and teachers
• Built in literacy tools to support all reading levels

Each class also has its own page with course details, required reading, age-appropriate resources, progress, grades, and discussion groups.

You can also learn more about how online learning works in general with K12.

K12 Platform Dashboard Overview

The K12 platform dashboard organizes everything you need in the Online School — making what you use most, easy to find and access. Here’s a quick guide to the K12 platform dashboard and how to use it.

On the top left of your dashboard, you’ll find quick notifications for new messages, your account information, and a full set of easy-to-find learning resources, including the:

• K12 online library with more than 15,000 titles and growing every day
• K12 Zone online community where students can virtually hang out
• Quick link to live classes
• Tallo platform for older students ready to start exploring careers

The navigation menu on the left of your dashboard links to your student’s schedules, classes, and school announcements. Going into the schedule section lays out everything you need to know about your child’s classes in a daily or weekly view option. The classes section has the details and materials for each individual course.

Virtual Classrooms

Students enrolled at K12-powered schools attend live online classes led by certified teachers. The teachers receive specialized training for instruction in virtual classrooms. Many of the teachers have experience in both traditional brick-and-mortar and online schools.

Online classes with K12 are sometimes called “Class Connects” and they are often scheduled for a set time of day. Many online school families use these scheduled live classes as anchors to plan out the rest of their weekly activities. If classes are missed for medical appointments or other commitments, they are recorded so students can still view and catch up on the information.

The Online School provides a platform to view live classes, ask the teacher questions, work in small breakout groups, see assignment schedules to work ahead if desired, and view progress and grades. Students log in to their Online School to see their daily or weekly schedule and can enter each live Class Connect session by simply clicking on the class block in that schedule.

All your student’s classes are organized in one place with the K12 Online School platform. Each class has its own section that teachers fill with:

• Assignment details and deadlines
• Extra resources for understanding
• Links to peer discussion groups
• Progress tracking tools
• A grade book
• Special announcements

Parent Resources and Tools

With K12, students and families aren’t experiencing online learning alone. Teachers and school counselors are available for class or content-specific questions and general support to help students succeed.

For more technical or specific questions about how to use the K12 platform, our Help Center is ready to assist. Visit help.k12.com for customer support related to the K12 online learning platform.

Parents also have access to a Learning Coach Community where they can connect with other families, at their child’s school and nationally, who are also navigating online school.

Tips for Success on the K12 Platform

Stay organized with the Online School platform. Going over schedules and making plans is a great way to help your child start practicing time management skills.

• Check your child’s schedule of classes and assignments daily during the week
• Review the future week’s activities with your child to get prepared for what’s coming next
• Regularly view your child’s progress and grades so there’s time to make any needed adjustments

Not sure where to start or have your hands full with other family schedule components? We’ve got you covered. The K12 platform also includes suggested guides, planners, and task lists to help busy families.

FAQs for the K12 Platform

Some of the most common questions about the K12 learning platform are:

• How do I create the K12 platform account?
• How do I make changes to my account?
• My student has been accepted. Now what?

For answers to these and more, you can visit the K12 FAQ page. You can also contact customer support for technical issues such as password resets and troubleshooting at help.k12.com. We’re here to help!