Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
Like families navigating the challenges and obstacles presented during the COVID-19 pandemic, Susan Boyer and her husband had questions about the state of public education six years ago when the pandemic swept the globe.
Boyer, after leaving her job as a “brick-and-moter principal” near Seattle and moving to Yelm pre-pandemic, stumbled across WAVA during a time-period where she desired a job that’s more local. Eventually, Boyer was hired by WAVA and now serves as the organization’s executive director.
“I thought that it was a pretty amazing opportunity,” Boyer said. “I had three young kids at the time, and being an administrator in a school is a big commitment. With the move, it fit me and allowed me to continue the work I did and loved — while also supporting my family during that transition.”
She noted that WAVA serves as a fully online, kindergarten through 12th grade public school as part of the Omak School District.
“It’s a public school. It doesn’t cost parents any money,” Boyer said. “Using the State of Washington’s parent choice mechanism, families can choose to opt their students out of the local school district and into WAVA. WAVA is a statewide alternative learning program and it’s been present in Washington state since 2005.”
She described WAVA as a well established school, and specified that this isn’t home schooling but rather public education from home.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to online school for school districts across Washington state, Boyer and her family made the decision to shift from the local school system to the online WAVA program.
She said that the chaotic time period for everyone brought a lot of unexpected changes to her family.
“During that time, I made the decision with my husband to move my kids to WAVA, from the local school district, to help support them and my family during that time when things were chaotic and different,” Boyer said. “It’s very well adjusted to what kids need and their developmental needs. Anybody who lives in Washington state is able to join WAVA. All you have to do is have a Washington state address and be living in Washington state, and you can choice out of your school district and into WAVA.”
Additionally, teachers hired by WAVA are certificated Washington state teachers. Boyer said the learning model supports student learning, teaches online lessons and has live classes for kindergarteners through 12th graders to virtually attend.
Boyer acknowledged that WAVA doesn’t expect students to sit on a computer in a Zoom meeting all day — much like what students experienced in 2020 and 2021.
“That’s one of the reasons why during COVID my kids switched from the local schools to WAVA,” Boyer said. “Developmentally, kids shouldn’t be on a computer all day long. WAVA provides a very good balance of book work, online work and then synchronous work with a teacher. Many components of the day make up the student’s school, but it’s not just sitting in front of a computer on a Zoom meeting and talking to a teacher all day.”
All four of Boyer’s children attend WAVA and have a variety of virtual classroom times. She said her children will attend class two to three times per day, depending on the day of the week.
Boyer noted the scheduling rigor also varies depending on student age. She pointed out her youngest daughter goes to class for 30 to 40 minutes at a time, while her eldest son will be in the classroom for up to an hour at a time.
She described WAVA programming as rich and diverse, while featuring a wide assortment of programming for students to participate in. Notably, the academy runs a competitive e-sports team for seventh through 12th grade students — and Boyer noted several club participants have been recruited by colleges to game collegiately.
Other clubs like art, baking and music are also popular amongst WAVA students, according to Boyer.
“It’s not just ‘Hey, we’re going to teach your students how to read and write and do science.’ It’s a very rich educational environment, where kids can be involved and make friends,” she said. “We have outings that are arranged in local areas so kids can go on field trips. Right now, we have a bunch of pumpkin patch meetups scheduled for our kindergarten and first grade kids. It’s more than just an online school. It’s a community that exists around the state of Washington.”
Since her children enrolled in WAVA several years back, Boyer said she’s found the online format allows her kids to personalize their class schedule and what they’re learning virtually.
“They still have to learn the things that are required by the state of Washington at every grade,” Boyer said. “I’ll use my oldest son for an example, who’s an 11th grader. He is a learner. He loves learning, but school wasn’t really about learning. It was about following directions and getting his work done. Being at WAVA has allowed him to get his work done, do his school learning, go to class, but when he’s not in class and doing his work, he gets to focus on the things he’s really interested in.”
She added that her son has been getting big into wood-working on their 15-acre property, and has been teaching himself how to craft bow and arrows. Boyer doesn’t believe her child would be able to express that side of his creativity in a traditional classroom model.
“That’s something that is a great example of just allowing kids the time and space to find out what they’re passionate about. I think that’s one of the things WAVA does well,” Boyer said.
“Another thing I’ll say is one of my kids struggles with learning. WAVA allowed her to not feel judged or put on the spot. When kids start to become an age when their peers matter, being able to access things in the way she needed to access them to support her learning with her reading disability, that really impacts kids. Being at WAVA means that she can access things that she needs to access.”
