Challenge

Elite swimmer Grace Wey struggled to balance the traditional schedule at her local high school with the rigorous demands of competitive swimming. Grace and her parents decided that she needed to switch to a school that could give her the flexibility to train while getting a good education.

Solution

After a lot of research and trying another private online high school, the Wey family decided that earning a high school diploma at Apex Learning Virtual School was the best fit for Grace’s senior year. “Since I could go at my own pace and take a few days off for swimming, it helped me focus on swimming more when I had swim meets and more on school when I just had practice.”

Result

While attending ALVS, Grace was able to get faster and improve her national ranking from 260 to 130. As a result, she earned a spot on the No. 9 ranked Texas A&M women’s swim team. Grace learned how to manage her study time and take more control of her learning—skills she would need for college-level academics.

Flexible School Schedule with ALVS

Grace wanted to attend public school because of the social activities, but with her swimming, it was too exhausting. She had practice from 5:00-6:45 a.m. in the morning before heading straight to school and didn’t get home until 8:00 at night. “She couldn’t eat enough because they wouldn’t let her eat in the classroom. She swims four hours a day and needed to eat a lot of calories, so being able to eat throughout the day was really important for her, “ said Karen Wey, Grace’s mom.

With ALVS, Grace had far less stress and a more manageable schedule that allowed her to take a nap after her morning practice before doing school work. She learned to work independently and stay organized. “Once I figured out online high school, I realized that there was a lot of wasted time when I wasn’t doing much in public school. There was more direct learning in my online classes and less busy work,” she said.

Prepared for College Academics and NCAA Eligible

Grace’s parents were impressed with the rigor and comprehensiveness of ALVS Courses, as well as how the material was presented in different ways, such as video and read-aloud, to help reinforce instruction. Grace even learned to like math. “In my public school math classes, they taught me how to do the problem. At ALVS, I got more information about why I was learning it. It was more interesting,” she said.

The school counselor at ALVS made sure her transcript was accurate even though she had attended several other schools before coming to ALVS, and that she on track to meet NCAA eligibility requirements. ALVS allowed Grace to take control of her own learning and go at her own pace. She was able to graduate early, giving her a much-needed (and well-deserved) break before heading off to Texas A&M.