KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The first day of school is always exciting, even if you’re a student with Missouri Virtual Academy opening up your laptop and logging on.
“Pay attention to the class because a lot of it is going to be recorded and you’re going to get points for it,” said Ruben Tillotson, 3rd grade student with Missouri Virtual Academy.
Ruben Tillotson shared his advice for students who may have had their first day of virtual learning. Nearly a year and a half later after enrolling in MOVA, he said his teachers make learning fun.
“I learn from them because my teachers are actually teaching me something. They are communicating with me like any other person would, by talking, but online,” Tillotson said.
Ruben’s father, Eric, pulled Ruben out of his brick-and-mortar school after challenges erupted due to the pandemic.
“We ran into an issue at the beginning of last year at that start of the pandemic, where the school was in catch-up mode, where the schools are trying to catch everybody up, and certain students, like Ruben, who weren’t falling behind were getting ignored,” Eric Tillotson said.
Taking the same steps to protect her family, Jennifer Logan also pulled her daughter Makayla from a brick-and-mortar school after one of her four children became immunocompromised.
“I just thought it was going to be the worst year of my life, and I’m not going to lie, I cried,” said Makayla Mazza, a junior with the Missouri Virtual Academy.
Missouri Virtual Academy has 700 students enrolled for the 2021-2022 school year, and school leaders said they understand the politics surrounding mask mandates inside most traditional schools.
Head of School Steve Richards said MOVA prides itself on making sure the school year will not be interrupted
“We are school as usual, we are not interrupted. A year and a half ago when school shut down, our MOVA students had class the very next day. They were able to participate in a full learning program the very next day,” Steve Richards said.
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