Illinois Virtual School is a non-profit organization, and we do not have resources to offer financial assistance. If enrolling due to COVID-19, you may consider checking with your local school to see if they have ESSER funds they can use to support your remote learning needs.

IVS encourages families to consult with their student’s counselor to verify that the local school will accept the courses they complete at IVS for academic credit and grade progression prior to enrolling with IVS. If yes, upon completing an IVS course, we will provide you with a final grade completion report. When you re-enroll your student, you will share this report with your student’s local school registrar so the IVS courses will become part of your student’s official academic record.

If you need to change your school association to home school or another institution, please submit a ticket at our Help Center asking to make the change. We will respond by changing the association or we will discuss further if needed.

At any given time, IVS serves thousands of students from hundreds of different schools with each student needing to access their course at a different time. For this reason, we do not provide or require students to attend “live” instruction.

Courses are asynchronous which means we do not require students to login at a specific time or attend a “Zoom” lecture at a specific time. Students choose when they log in and how they allocate their time in the course based on a pacing guide we provide. Teachers are available for 1:1 phone calls, instant chats, or video conferencing by appointment. All teachers respond to student questions within 24 hours and provide assignment feedback within 72 hours. Although teachers may hold virtual office hours, these will be optional for students with some exceptions depending on the course enrolled such as World Language.

IVS averages a 96% course success rate. We define this as the total percentage of students who earn final grades above 60%. 

Yes. You are welcome to send us a copy of your student’s current course transcript and we will help determine with you which courses your student needs. You may submit a ticket through our Help Center to make this request.

If your child is enrolling with IVS as a temporary solution due to COVID-19, we encourage families to consult their local school for guidance and academic course selection with IVS prior to enrolling with us.

There is only one voluntary ISBE Form related to homeschooling. However, the Illinois State Board of Education recommends that you notify your child’s current school, preferably in writing, that you are withdrawing them to homeschool or enroll in an online school. Your child’s school may have a withdrawal form that needs to be signed.

You may also choose to write a letter to the school stating your intent to homeschool, but this is not mandatory. The key point is to make sure your child’s current school knows they will not be showing up for class so that they are not reported missing or truant. You may begin homeschooling after you have enrolled your child with IVS and have withdrawn your child from their current school. There are no other forms, licenses, approvals, etc. that are required.

Yes, but there are several things parents should know. Public school districts are under no obligation to order and administer AP exams for home-schooled students. However, some public schools may still be willing to administer the exam. It is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to reach out to nearby AP Coordinators to find a school willing to administer the test. College Board’s description of homeschooled students are those who regularly and exclusively learn through a designated homeschool; this does not apply to students whose classes at their public or private school are being offered remotely due to the pandemic.