Ensuring Sacrifices Made by Military Families, Don’t Extend into the Classroom.
Kids know better than most the sacrifices that military families make. New orders mean packing up and leaving everything familiar behind. New teachers. New friends. New everything. Again and again and again.
It’s a contradiction to what many experts believe are keys for kids’ successful development: continuity and routine. Yet some military families are discovering it’s possible to find consistency even when you’re moving from coast to coast, or even across the ocean.
Real People. Real Academic Consistency that Moves With You.
Jose and Amy Moreno met as freshmen at Arizona State University in the early ‘90s. A military child herself, Amy doesn’t have what she considers a “hometown”. So when Jose’s military career began not long after they married, they agreed to make ASU, the place they met and fell in love, their home base. Little did they know how prophetic that decision would be.
Fast forward a few decades. The Morenos, stationed in Japan, enrolled their three children in local school. It was an experience of a lifetime and one the whole family agrees was worthwhile. However, doing so put their eldest daughter, Emma, a year behind in high school credits by U.S. standards. While puzzling over how to reclaim that lost time, a serendipitous email arrived. It was from the ASU Alumni Association and it described a new option called ASU Prep Digital.
The accredited online K-12 program is based in Arizona and serves students around the world, including a growing number of military children who crave consistency as they travel the world. The Morenos credit ASU Prep Digital with seamless transitions as they moved from base to base. Their children log in from anywhere and are instantly back in school.
The same school, the same friends, and in the Morenos’ case, the same Learning Success Coach (LSC) every step of the way.
ASU—A Family to Come Home To.
ASU assigns LSC’s to ensure students stay on track and meet their education goals. Michelle Ugalde first met the Morenos when Emma was a freshman four years ago. She’s played an integral role in the family’s experience, helping guide Emma to make up time and graduate in just three years (with 24 concurrent university credits). Elias will graduate this spring and Lucas is now a sophomore at ASU Prep Digital.
The school has also given the family freedom. They’ve been able to choose housing based on convenience, rather than fighting local real estate markets to rent in desirable school districts.
Through the years, when opportunity allowed, the Morenos made a point to return to ASU and ground the kids with a sense of home, whether it was exploring campus or attending sporting events. Now, after 25 years of service, Jose officially retired in October 2022. He’s transferring years of experience in the Army’s Signal Corp into a career as a senior project manager in ASU’s Research Technology Office. Amy has officially come “home” as well. She’s an academic advisor for Barrett, The Honors College at ASU.
Confidence in Digital Education that Lasts.
While these new roles mean more residential stability and the option to return to traditional schools, the younger Morenos prefer to stick with their digital classrooms. Thanks to the flexible schedule, Elias has plenty of time for a part-time job and work on his Eagle application through Scouts BSA.
While the Morenos are quick to acknowledge online learning comes with its own challenges, each of their kids has a different learning style.
“It’s what you make it,” Amy said. “As a complete package, it has been everything we could have ever needed. It gives them consistency that they wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
