StrongMind Story: iSucceed Virtual Schools

About iSucceed Virtual Schools:

With a mission to provide individualized and supportive quality educational opportunities and inspire a wide range of students to succeed, iSucceed Virtual Schools have reshaped learning opportunities in Idaho. Students and families seeking a personalized, flexible, and innovative solution for their education can enroll in an accredited online school where students can study at their own pace and on their own schedule with instruction, supervision, and support from a team of highly qualified, Idaho-certified educators.

iSucceed uses technology to personalize education for students. Although full-time online school is not appropriate for every student, for many others, iSucceed Virtual Schools can be the bridge that brings them back into the public school system or enables them to graduate by:

Allowing students to advance at their own pace
Providing schedule flexibility to accommodate work or family care responsibilities
Enabling freedom of location, for those who have physical challenges
Providing connections in a one-to-one setting with certified instructors and mentors, for those who need more personalized attention

iSucceed Virtual Schools provides an excellent educational alternative for students in grades 7-12 throughout the State of Idaho who do not attend brick and mortar schools, or who may benefit from a non-traditional school setting. Reasons for attending include:

Students who work full time
Students with a child or other family responsibilities
Students with health concerns
Students who are professional athletes
Students struggling with peers and/or bullying
Students interested in early graduation
Students who have previously dropped out or been expelled from traditional school.

To serve all students who enroll, iSucceed offers a variety of programs which include credit recovery, accelerated learning, and AVID, a program that prepares students for college eligibility and success.

Partnering with StrongMind

iSucceed came to StrongMind seeking multiple solutions — a digital curriculum with a learning management system (LMS), a Student Information System (SIS), and marketing services to promote their school and recruit students.

"Part of what has helped us grow and thrive as a school is the combination of consistent marketing messaging/branding with the delivery of high quality instruction, curriculum and high communication and outreach to students/families. Having Strongmind understand our mission and vision and who we are has been key," Katie Allison, Executive Director at iSucceed Virtual Schools.

To meet the needs of iSucceed, StrongMind provides both a rigorous digital curriculum and a customized version of the Canvas LMS. Students in grades 7-12 select courses from a robust catalog that includes English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and electives that meet Idaho graduation requirements while also preparing them for whichever pathway they choose following high school.

In addition to high quality digital courses, iSucceed also needed a reliable SIS to house all school data and send reporting to the state department of education for accountability and funding purposes. To be effective, the SIS needed to be interoperable with the digital courses and LMS. StrongMind provides their managed version of PowerSchool to meet this need.

iSucceed opened in 2008 with about 200 students. With incredible flexibility for students and a rigorous digital curriculum, they needed to be able to share their story and recruit students. The StrongMind marketing team seamlessly provides community engagement services to build awareness about iSucceed and strengthen their school brand through tailored messaging and content. Over time, the school has grown to over 1,100 students and expanded into 7th and 8th grade. From the pre-pandemic school years to now, student enrollment increased by 62%.

Most online schools saw a boost in enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. But afterward, many online schools across the nation decreased in enrollment; iSucceed enrollment increased. According to Katie Allison, Executive Director at iSucceed, the continued growth is "attributed to families being exposed to the flexibility and quality of our online programs and understanding how they might work with their individual needs. We not only had good branding but also excellent word of mouth and referrals."

Students are enrolled in three classes each 8-9 week quarter. They can enroll in a fourth class with the approval of their counselor. Courses are completed 100% online, and students can work from any location with internet access at any time of the day. Students receive support from teachers during weekday “business hours.” Student/teacher and parent/teacher communication is available through email, phone, messaging, texting, and web cam chat. Weekly Study Labs are also available at locations throughout the state and provide the opportunity for students to meet in-person with a teacher.

iSucceed has created a lot of supports and structures over the years to ensure student engagement and success. One of their key supports for engagement is informing enrolled students and their parents or guardians exactly how many lessons they will need complete within a term, which leads to a specific number of lessons that must be completed each week. iSucceed tracks progress on lessons completed carefully, and students and parents receive a weekly progress update every Friday morning. Teachers implement strategic follow-up interventions with students who are not activiely engaged and progressing in their courses.

iSucceed offers in-person events, clubs, and social activities to provide a complete high school experience for students. Events are offered regionally throughout the state with school faculty. These events include weekly study labs, pizza and student gatherings, and social and holiday celebrations. A variety of student clubs are also offered, including:

Yearbook Club
National Honor Society
Book Club
Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)
Parenting Club
Falcon Times Newspaper Club
Student Council
Movie Critics Club
Art Club
Music Appreciation Club