Meet the Hill Family

We are the Hill Family! We are Gamers, Anime Enthusiasts, and Home Bodies. I am Holly, wife, mom, and general keeper of peace. My husband is Brandon, husband, dad, and official monster scarer. Our oldest son is Kellan; he is our Sora student at the Nova Campus, teenager, and knows everything. Dominick is our middle son, his battery is never empty and runs head first into life. Vanessa is the baby of the group, but at 3 she runs the house and is spoiled rotten by everyone, including her brothers.

Our Sora journey started last spring when Kellan was struggling once again to engage in his classes at the local middle school. D’s and F’s were the norm and messages were coming home routinely expressing the need for Kellan to turn in his school work and participate in class. We tried all the typical things, we grounded him, we took away privileges, but nothing seemed to help. He was just not engaging and when I tried to work with his teachers the efforts fell short of expectation.

I knew that something needed to change. I started researching schools. I was not sure what I was looking for, but I just knew it needed to be different. Honestly, we thought of military school but we didn’t want to send him away, we wanted something more local. I was scrolling through Facebook one evening and an ad for Sora caught my eye. The ad was talking about Esports and a virtual high school. I clicked on the ad and was reading the comments and a lot of people commented on how expensive the school was. I stopped reading after that and went on with my scrolling. I knew we couldn’t afford some crazy expensive school.

I continued to look for schools, but we were not finding one that we felt Kellan would engage in. I was not willing to move him to another school for him to just not complete his work there either. Another night I was scrolling Facebook and the ad for Sora popped up again. Instead of reading comments I clicked into the website and started looking around. Right away I was intrigued. This was the ideal school set up. One where I knew he would thrive. But the thought of how much it cost held me back. I went back to Facebook and it mentioned there was a parent info session. They did not have a time that worked for me, so I messaged asking for a different day or time that worked with our schedules. Right away I received a response and was told they added a day with the time block I needed. We registered right away.

My husband and I kept what we were doing quiet. We didn’t want to get Kellan’s hopes up. Maybe we wouldn’t actually like what they had to say. Maybe we could not afford it. Maybe it was just too good to be true. We didn't know, so we went through the Parent Info Session. Sora sounded amazing. My husband looked at me and said he would have enjoyed school if he had done something like this. We wanted to know more! So I scheduled the one on one appointment and we waited. We tried to ask Kellan leading questions. Would you like to do an online school? Would you be able to be home by yourself and complete your school work? Would you engage in class if it was virtual? He wasn’t sure, and didn’t understand why we were asking. His only experience with virtual and online school had been through our public schools during the COVID lockdown and it did not go well.

The one on one session came and we asked lots of questions and learned even more about Sora. The more we learned the more we knew this is what Kellan needed. We asked about tuition and financial assistance. Our biggest concern was getting Kellan’s hopes up and then not being able to afford the school. That was our one hang up. We found out we had to have Kellan apply and his acceptance and financial aid would be awarded at the same time. We sat Kellan down and explained Sora. We saw the look of excitement in his eyes. We saw the wheels spinning. We showed him the website and walked him through the program. He was in, beyond excited. Then we gave him the bad news. We would apply, but unless he got financial assistance there was no way he would be able to attend. We just would not be able to afford it. Did he want to try anyway? The resounding yes is still ringing in my ears.

Kellan was ready to start working on his application right away. We had some crazy computer glitches where he had to write his answers two or three times due to a timeout issue and our internet. But we finally got the application completed. He had a fun time with his 60 second video and showed a side of himself we hadn’t seen in a long time. The day of his interview I don’t know who was more nervous. Me or him. I stayed home from work that day to make sure I could help if there were any technical difficulties. He went into his room for his interview and I did what every good mom does...I listened at the door...or at least I tried too...I could not hear him and finally had to go outside because I was driving myself crazy! Kellan came out of the interview pumped up and ready to start.

Now the waiting came. We knew they would tell us within a week, but that was one long week. I was so nervous. I know my son is amazing, but I was so worried for him that his past grades would affect the way Sora thought of him. We knew he needed a new start, but would Sora? My husband and I both got the email. He wasn’t home and we decided to wait until he got home to tell Kellan.

I may have teared up (make sure to read that as crying like a baby) when we told him. He jumped up and down and was beyond excited. We received enough financial assistance that we could figure out the difference. Kellan was officially a student at Sora!

All summer Kellan counted the days until his first day of school. We got him a laptop, we got school supplies. We set his desk up to make sure he had the space needed. He was ready. When his first cycle of classes came out, he was slightly bummed, because he wanted a couple specific classes. But once classes started he jumped in. He actually was enjoying math again. He was doing science in Food Science. He was researching Japan in Dream Vacations. These were not normal classes. He wasn’t in class all day!

Cycle one was an amazing introduction to Sora. Everyone was so wonderful. Questions were answered quickly, if something wasn’t functioning correctly the tech team jumped right on it. Experts were quick to help. And the style of homework and assignments was amazing. Not having something every day helped a lot. But the best part was the assignments all built toward the end goal. The final project. Kellan had a great time with his cycle one projects. In Food Science he learned to make scalloped potatoes. In Dream Vacations he created an itinerary for a dream trip to Japan. Then he also showcased his research in a series of Facebook posts showing his trip through Japan. In Math he created his own Tessellation.

We could not be happier with how well Kellan is doing. He is proud of the work he is doing. He has become more responsible, and his time management skills have improved significantly. He has yet to miss an assignment, or even be late on one. He is excited to go to class! He uses office hours to get questions answered.

Sora has been an amazing experience to Kellan and our family! We were not sure what this year would bring, but so far the positives are everywhere. I tell everyone who asks what an amazing experience and opportunity this is. But at the end of the day I see my son excited about what he has learned and done. He enjoys school again. And that is our win!