instructor

teacher

paraprofessional

high school teacher

english teacher

Florida Virtual School

There is no clear direction from management; constantly changing objectives for teachers.

IL's and Leads are no out for themselves. Was not like that when I began. 

Expected to make at least 30 outgoing calls a day (min) as well as answer the incoming. Although we have 24 hours to return, "best practice" has turned into same day. 48 hours to grade is insane when you are an English teacher and half the curriculum is writing assignments. No time to individualize feedback and balance that expectation. 

My integrity was challenged each day. Should I log this text as a call so it can count for my data? I spoke to the parent, should I mark a student and parent call? I should be more concerned with finding ways to help my students in online tutoring sessions or live lessons; however, teaching is NOT what you do here. 

Highly Effective teaching (4 years) means nothing if your data and calls are not the average. DO NOT have an "off" year - your personal life does not matter; but we should always consider the student's personal lives (which is right, but there should be a balance of understanding). I was constantly compared to my team. I was still in HE range, but thought to be an outlier. 

No diversity on my team. My manager had never been a FLVS teacher and had no concept of what it takes to do my job daily.I had a micromanaging IL who was more concerned with me being on SKYPE IM from 8 - 8 and how many hours I spent in a faulty system that was being phased out - "that's how I know you are working." That makes no sense. I can talk to families and know where their child stands without looking in a system. That's called knowing the child. Again, not valued.

I was without a proper manager for 1.5 years and did fantastic. Even evaluated by an IL who I had never met from a totally different department. HE - but the last 2 years were with someone who put fear into employees in a passive aggressive manner. 

The annual conference is a HUGE waste of money. HUGE. It racks up points for teaching certificates but I rare learned anything that I could apply to my daily work life. 

It was great to help students who needed FLVS - there are students and families I truly loved and valued. I was able to make a difference and create a positive education experience where there previously wasn't one. That is what I cared about. The concept of FLVS is wonderful, but the new CEO and upper management do not care one bit about their employees, despite what their mandated weekly emails say. You'd think after 22 years, they would understand the formula for success is through their retention of great educators. 

I am thankful for the experience and some of the people I met. I had planned on evolving with the school, but that isn't my path. This job is perfect for new graduates, retirees who like tech and have no family, or single people and individuals without children.

I was a paraprofessional in the new system for DJJ, so my experiences were abnormal to what is typically known for Florida virtual. As they usually are a virtual school with teachers online for students. 

In the facilities we faced a lot of challenges and problems as the start of the launch for the new program to help the youth, introducing a new curriculum and learning the education challenges in the youth of our nations most vulnerable. 

A typical day was preparing for meetings with the education information provided by our in facility teachers, we had multiple meetings a day with case managers and treatment, we had to assess and learn student behaviors and if they had any troubles, as well as help in classrooms of there were youth with IEPs. 
Due to the nature of our youth we struggled a lot with motivation, so this job will require someone who is strongly motivated and not easily discouraged. 
These youth are not used to support, and it is our job to help show them they can be better, not just in school but in themselves. 

I feel like there was some disconnect with the difficulty that working with these youth can be from other parts of Florida virtual, and the sensitivity that online presence can be. There is clear security issues we faced and dealt with as a team as part of an organization. If I could offer any suggestions it's to make our curriculum more paper based for everyone. Especially those more at risk youth. 

As a paraprofessional we dealt with a lot of complaints from the actual facility, and it can become hard, your team within Florida virtual will be a major asset in helping you stay motivated. My team where I was, was probably one of the best I could ask for, completely supportive, understanding, and offer advice and help when needed. I feel as though I made lifelong connections there. 

The pay for us paras is on the low end, I do hope they increase this in time but it still wasn't bad considering public school options. 

Honestly, it was one of the best places I have worked as of this far into my life, and it is a standard for my workplaces in the future. If you can handle the pressure day to day, then it's a good job to have. There is room for growth for the teachers and others in the education field. 

The work life balance and care for employees mental health should be a standard in workplaces, never had I had a boss care so much for my wellbeing. I wish her all the best and the rest of my team I had. 



I loved my job. I loved working with the students and helping them be successful. It's so much better than the classroom in that you don't have to deal with disciplines, sleeping kids, attitudes, rolling eyes & so much more that were distractions to teaching. 

BUT, the IL (principal) you are assigned makes or breaks you. The IL seemed to change the rules weekly. Lists of students came from the IL twice a week requiring copies of the documentation entered for each student on the list. It seemed as if we were working in the past instead of the present or future. These lists were tedious and time-consuming and, frankly, why an I copying what is already available for the IL to view? Then another list of students was requested by the lead teacher. For this list, you had to go into the documentation to see if the  required amount of contacts had been made within the timeframe established and another program to see when the last work was submitted. If all fit the requirements, the info needed to be copied & submitted so the lead teacher could take measures to  encourage the student to submit work. This all made doing the most important part of the job...weekly contacts with the student, very difficult to accomplish.

I worked from 7am to 11pm most days. I took Friday evening through Sunday afternoon off in order to fit in "my life". Three days before my scheduled spring break vacation (when most of my students would be on break too), my IL gave me instructions to get caught up on some calls before I left on vacation. I ended up working most days of my vacation, even though I had company. I received little help from my lead teacher and none from anyone else. Oh, there are plenty of written statements "if you need anything let me know" or "I'm here to help", but not from this team. Other teams had ILs that jumped in to help without being asked. 

I think the compiling of data became more important to the IL than the teaching of kids. I know I did a great job with the kids...I've got emails from parents and students to remind me of that. I also had an amazing completion rate, but if they want to terminate you, they will always find a way. 

When applying for reemployment benefits(formerly "unemployment"),  the question came up as to why I was terminated. Fighting? Stealing? Drugs? DUI? No, nothing like that...I didn't make enough monthly calls. 





I love the positive atmosphere of FLVS however I found the workload constant and overwhelming. My family hated that the house had to be quite all the time because the phone was a never ending symphony of sound. When I started there were no vacations. Typically I took a week off in the summer but that was it. For the past two years they have offered a winter break. During all breaks students continue to work so either you work during your vacation (to prevent an avalanche) or you return to an unbearable amount of work when you return. However you slice it, there are no "real" vacations. Work/life balance is tough at FLVS.

I had great bosses and co-workers however I reached a point where I didn't feel like I was really teaching anymore but trying to reach a quota of student completions by nagging kids on the phone, by email and text to turn in work. We were all required to run live web conferencing sessions to compensate for the lack of teacher interaction that many were longing for beyond just the voice on the other end of the phone. I loved these but they were not a requirement for students so few attended.

For me the best parts were:

**Serving kids that could not do a regular school schedule.
**On the job tech/customer service training
**Great professional development opportunities.
**Bosses that I felt earned their positions and were kind and encouraging.

FLVS is a dream job for somebody. That somebody just wasn't me after five years of service. This seems to be a bit longer than the shelf life of most teachers here. If you can just unplug and walk away you will be fine. The typical type A personality finds this a challenge and winds up working themselves to the point of no return.

It truly depends on the schoolhouse you are in, because I have heard some stories.  Teachers are teachers everywhere, BUT, there are a lot of extraordinary teachers at FLVS that focus on students and truly want the best for them!  If you don't feel like you are getting that, call the principal at the bottom of your homepage and ask for a new one.  Be reasonable, analyze with self reflection and what is best for your student, not you, and determine if they need someone different.  It is possible they do.  Use FLVS to teach responsibility. I am a homeschool mom and an FLVS employee.  We have had MANY great teachers.  But we have also had some lazy teachers.  My schoolhouse is full of wonderful teachers who give support, are available, do visual DBAs so students feel seen and heard, teachers who reach out often and seek to offer the personalized experience that FLVS says exits.  I know it does.  My principal is very good!  She gives us support, freedom to create and teach,  growth opportunities to share best practices with our team and learn from each other.  If you want FLVS for flexibility alone, yes, you can get that.  But learning this system, time management, best practices for student engagement and keeping up with all your students is not easy!  But it's worth it, and doable!  This is my forever job.  I've taught for 23 years in public and private settings.  This by far provides more opportunity to teach one-on-one with students who are willing to engage.  Can a student go through the course with only their DBAs and phone calls for passwords? Yes, but they miss out on the engagement for help, application, clubs, live lessons, etc.  There is much to experience here, but that is the key.... experience it.  Judge FLVS after you have explored all of what it has. 

This job is the best one I have ever had has a teacher and professional.  The flexible setting and work from home was great for my personal situation, but many teachers cannot handle the isolation.  I highly recommend finding local FLVS staff to get together with on occasions.  The onboarding is much better than when I joined.  They use to push you out of the nest on the first day, but now ease everyone into it.  Everyone is friendly and helpful for the most part.  ILs and lead teachers are around to assist and provide guidance.  Every year we get together in Orlando to meet face-to-face, but they have scaled back the time there the past few years.  You have to be available 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday with weekends off (that was not the case until 2015).  Hardest part of the job is that most students call after school and evenings when your family is likely to be home.  Finding balance is the key to a successful career.  Getting to know the students one-on-one with the parents was awesome!  The only downside was that I had to resign since my spouse accepted a position out-of-state.  FLVS is pretty much influenced by the DOE now and has 3 ridiculous requirements for working out-of-state.  No one can meet every one of them, so you are forced to resign now even if you have outstanding reviews.  When I first started, they allowed you to work anywhere.  Highly recommend as an employer if you live in Florida.

I started with a manager that I loved, he was quickly promoted as everyone loved him.  Then I got a horrible manager, she had no virtual experience, preferred people who shared her religion as well as age and family style.  You are on the phone constantly and they stopped paying for headsets so you're on your own.  
The students are pretty cool and I'm actually impressed with how well students do in an on-line environment.  I taught AP and regular math and it was about the same for each, also surprising as I didn't find this in the classroom.  Parents were really cool too and "get it!"  Another thing that impressed me.
The management all kind of fall into the same age bracket, family (2.5 kids) structure, etc.
I was pretty happy for a while, then they kept increasing student loads, demanding revamps of curriculum but no further pay.  They have instructional leaders and some are pretty good I heard, unfortunately mine were horrible.  It was so much work to take time off so I just didn't unless I absolutely had to.
I really thought they were the future (now current) of education, I think someone else will come along that will allow for more teacher ideas and diversity and ride this wave.  Too bad, there are some really good people at this company, unfortunately, they are overlooked if they don't fit the cookie cutter mode.

FLVS is a wonderful organization that truly places the needs of the students first. Highly recommend it for students. Fantastic management with an atmosphere of open communication. The school doe not treat instructors well though. A typical work week is 40-60 hours. Because of the 24 hour contact policy for instructors if a student calls, you will work 7 days per week. Work-Life balance is very poor. FLVS comes before anything else including illness, family emergencies, etc.... The school sets a very high credit goal that all instructors must meet to receive a contract. Trying to meet this goal is very stressful. There is no job security. You can perform well one year but if you cannot meet the constantly changing requirements the next year, you will not be offered a contract. You are only as good as your performance for that specific contract year. Very stressful environment if you are an instructor. No summer vacation or Spring Break. 2 weeks of vacation time and 1 week for winter break. Students continue to work during winter break so you as an instructor come back to a mountain of grading to complete.

When I first started working at FLVS, I was so happy to feel less stressed as I had left a Title I school with an hour-long commute. The first few years I had a great manager but she was replaced by someone who was not an effective communicator. Any questions I asked about why my workload was greater than other teachers were immediately shut down. I was expected to do more work for the same pay rate every year. By the end of my five years there, I felt more like a credit card company calling to collect and pushing students through the program no matter the cost, even if online learning truly was not a good fit for the family. Very few hours per month are spent actually teaching, so mid-pandemic I left to rejoin the physical classroom and am enjoying feeling much more energized and connected with my students daily now. Classroom work is more difficult, but more liberating. What is initially advertised as job flexibility with FLVS eventually turns into feeling like you are on call for 60 hours per week. I can barely remember any students’ names from FLVS, whereas the traditional classroom is more an exercise in true community building.  

Working for FLVS is not at all "as advertised!" I worked approximately 90 hours per week teaching English 10 to 130-140 students. Students called me at all hours of the night, well past 8PM, and all weekend.  Each student submitted three assignments per week, and each assignment could be resubmitted up to three times. All assignments had to be graded within 48 hours, in addition to making (at minimum) 30 call per day with accompanying highly-detailed, required call logs, data entry of grades, sending weekly progress reports via text & emails, attending weekly team & PLC meetings, planning for & teaching two live lessons per month, and MORE! I was provided one week of training before my "mentor" left FLVS, followed by another mentor who also left two weeks after being assigned to me, leaving me without a mentor at all. After a year of being chained to my home office, working with condescending, gossipy & cliquey people, trying to manage the above mentioned issues, and countless other matters, I resigned. My family & I could not have been happier!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Instructor 21 salaries reported	$59,364 per year
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Paraprofessional 21 salaries reported	$36,500 per year
High school teacher 13 salaries reported	$53,631 per year
English teacher 4 salaries reported	$52,000 per year

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