According to KJ Academy 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teacher Tonya Cioni, KJ Academy serves students and families from all walks of life and all circumstances, and families choose education at the academy for a wide variety of reasons.

As a teacher at KJ Academy, Cioni found that one reason is that the academy offers families the flexibility to spend more time together as a family — especially if one of the parents frequently travels for work.

“I know some of our families just enjoy being together all the time… so I find that for families that maybe would have chosen homeschooling, this is an option where they can still be with their children and still do the learning, but we do the heavy lifting,” Cioni said.

Additionally, Cioni suggested that many families choose KJ Academy if there is an illness in the family, whether that be the student or someone in the household. 

An online education not only prevents illnesses from coming into the household through school, but also helps those who are chronically ill perform better and miss less days of their instruction.

Students who face frequent headaches, for instance, can control their environment, allowing them to manage their symptoms while still learning.

The ability for students to control their learning environment also helps students who face mental challenges.

“We’re eliminating things like distractions for those children who are easily distracted and we’re alleviating anxiety for students who have that,” Cioni said.

Another reason Cioni said that families choose KJ Academy is for the personalized support and additional resources students receive. 

“Students that would be what we call ‘gray area students,’ that weren’t getting additional support and resources are now getting them here because of the way we do our lessons,” Cioni said.

Due to KJ Academy’s ability to cater to the needs of individual students, Cioni said they are also able to challenge students that are academically gifted but did not place into the Gifted and Talented program.

“We’re able to provide a lot more direct instruction and meet students where they are at,” Cioni said.