Community-Driven School

Community is at the heart of all that we do here at Sora Schools. Both students and parents enjoy dynamic opportunities to connect with one another. 

In our new Sora Journal Podcast, three current Sora parents, Tina, Tiffany, and Lucia, had a conversation with Rachel Reed, Family Relationships Manager, about the many opportunities for parents to get involved at Sora. Below is a transcript of what they shared. If you prefer to listen to the conversation, check out our podcast episode here. The Parent Corner segment begins at 16:14.

Parent Corner Conversation - Community-Driven School

Rachel: Hi, and welcome to the Sora Family Corner, where parents and guardians share about our many community activities here at Sora. Today, we have Tiffany, Tina, and Lucia, three amazing Sora moms. We're excited to share about all of the amazing opportunities for our parents in our Sora community. 

Can each of you share a little bit about yourselves first, how you found Sora, what grade your child is in, and your parent leadership positions? 

Tina: Sure. My name is Tina. We found Sora through a podcast. My husband was listening to a podcast about education. Our child Ezra, they're in ninth grade, and it's our first year at Sora.

The parent leadership positions that I'm in, I help Tiffany co-lead the parent support group, I lead craft club, I'm part of the social committee, and lastly, I'm a parent ambassador. 

Tiffany: My name is Tiffany. We were searching for an online high school for our student, Elliot, who's in ninth grade. We did a lot of research on the options that were out there. I believe we saw an ad for Sora on Facebook actually and were drawn to the visuals and the artwork. My son is very artistic. So that grabbed our attention. And then from there, we met with one of the Sora admissions staff and its history from there.

In terms of parent leadership, I co-lead the parent support group with Tina. I am also on the social committee and am a parent ambassador. And then I also co-lead the parent book club with another one of our parents. 

Rachel: Awesome. Lucia, tell us a little bit about you. 

Lucia: I'm Lucia. My son is Jack. He is in eighth grade at the middle school campus. We found Sora because of the pandemic. He always went to in-person school and had done well, but kind of started to fall a little bit out of love with learning. But because of the pandemic, the schools went online and we needed to stay online longer than most people due to health reasons.

And so we were looking for a better option that wasn't just online, sitting in the chair for eight hours staring at a screen, and also that had a community. And so I think I was desperately searching, like a midnight Google search, and Sora came up. I wasn’t convinced. I actually laughed because I said, this can't be real. It sounds too good to be true. And I showed my son and I said, don't get your hopes up because I don't know if anything could be this amazing. 

And then the next day we called, spoke with Lexa, the Admissions Manager, and found out that it was indeed a real thing and that it ended up meeting, probably surpassing all of our expectations, more than an in-person school as well.

So that was how we found Sora and we haven't looked back since. I'm on a social committee and parent ambassador as well. I also hosted a little event. We did a Taylor Swift trivia night. And so, yeah, I kind of pop in here and there. 

Rachel: Fantastic. So we have a really special community here at Sora with a lot of like-minded individuals. Can you tell us a little bit about what is one of your favorite things about our Sora community? Tiffany, why don't you go first?  

Tiffany: Sure. I think one of my favorite things is probably the parent community. I think Sora is amazing for the kids. And I think that's our priority when looking for an educational institution. You want it to be high quality. You want it to challenge them. 

The bonus for me is the family community that Sora has developed. I didn't expect that going in. Once the opportunity was there, uh, I first got involved with the book club and then parent ambassadors and other things that we've come up with, but through them, I've met so many amazing like-minded parents, and it's just such a supportive, nurturing, welcoming environment.

Even if we have issues outside of Sora, there are people now that I can go to, whether it's a parenting issue or just life in general. It's such a supportive environment. I've never experienced that before in brick-and-mortar school or the other online schools that we've worked with. So I think it's really unique to Sora and it's such a plus. 

Rachel: That's so cool, Tiffany. And I know you're a huge part of it. We really appreciate you. Lucia, tell us a little bit about your favorite things about the Sora community. 

Lucia: I've found my most favorite people at Sora. Not only parents, but staff. My son has met some of his best friends. The community is just, I kind of am at a loss for words because I feel the same way as Tiffany. It's the like-minded parents who are really invested and the people who I enjoy spending my time with and connecting with. I would also say for the school itself and the community, the inclusivity, the culture that everyone is included and accepted, we really love that.

Rachel: That's so awesome. Thanks, Lucia.  Tina, tell us a little bit about what are your favorite things from our Sora community.  

Tina: I was going to say the same thing Lucia did, like how inclusive it is and also anytime a student or a parent or family make any kind of suggestion like, hey, we want to start a craft club, Rachel and Jane, the Student Experience Manager, are right there to make everything possible, you know, from idea to reality, just making Sora even better.

Rachel: What do you want other parents, perhaps that are not in the Sora community or perhaps they're new to the community, what would you like them to know about parent activities or our community in general? Is there anything else? 

Lucia: I would say for new parents, I would like them to know because I know sometimes I speak with other new parents that don't realize that there's not, you know, multiple levels that you have to go through to speak with someone about an idea.

And just to say hey, if you have an idea, or if you have feedback, or if you're confused about something, it's so incredibly approachable. And there's not one person on staff that I can think of that I would ever even hesitate to just talk to, reach out to. And so that's something I think the new parents coming to this school, I think it's something really cool to know off the bat.

Tiffany: Yeah, I would totally second what Lucia ended her comments with, like jump feet first. And like, if you're introverted, if you're shy, if you can get over that and become active on Heartbeat, ask the questions. You'll find that you're a parent ambassador or leading 300 clubs that you thought were really cool. We'll be there to join you and have fun.

Tina: I think we're all on the same page. My answer was just, you know, jump right in. If you're interested in reading or books, you know, join the book club. If you're interested in planning events, you can join the social committee. You can just join any events.

Like, there's always something. There's movie night, there's trivia night. We had a pet party. Like, if you have a pet, you could come to the pet party. If you're interested in something like cooking club, Rachel and Jane would make it happen. It's been a great way to make friends and build community. I've made some really good friends. And we've just really enjoyed our time and meeting new people. 

Rachel: This has been so fantastic. Ladies, thank you for joining me today in our Parent Corner here. I hope it was a nice little glimpse into the many parent opportunities available here when you join Sora.