Original Research by School Decision on Kingman Online Learning Academy (kola) Middle School
Kingman Online Learning Academy (KOLA) Middle School is a fully online public middle school serving grades six through eight within the Kingman Unified School District. Its entire instructional model is virtual, which sets it apart from the district’s brick-and-mortar middle schools. The school’s enrollment is small, typical for a specialized online program, and the student body is composed predominantly of White students, with a substantial Hispanic representation and small numbers of Asian and multiracial students. Data on students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available in the source materials.
Because KOLA Middle School is a virtual program with a small testing population, the state suppressed nearly all of its assessment results. Arizona’s AASA and AzSci tests were taken by students in at least some grade levels, but the proficiency rates were suppressed for all subjects at every grade level. One eighth-grade cohort had a reported testing count for math and English language arts, and the same cohort had a reported count for science, yet the proficiency results were withheld. Without those figures, it is not possible to draw any conclusion about student academic performance on state assessments. The school’s enrollment is too small for the state to publicly report these rates, a situation common among online and alternative programs.
No graduation rate is reported because the school serves only middle grades. The comparison fact-set, which places the school relative to other districts in Mohave County, was not applicable for the proficiency index, graduation rate, or chronic absenteeism rate, meaning the data for those metrics was either missing or suppressed, so no comparative position is available.
The school is part of Kingman Unified School District, and the district brief found little to report on recent changes. The school itself appears to be a straightforward virtual academy with no charter or magnet designation, and no Title I status was listed. Information on discipline, course access, and staffing was not available in the source data.
Kingman, the city where the school is based, functions as a regional trade and service hub for northwestern Arizona. It sits at the crossroads of Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 93, making it a highway-oriented town with a historic Route 66 corridor running through the center. The city has a defined historic downtown with a walking tour, an Amtrak station with daily service on the Southwest Chief, and a community college campus. The largest employers include the regional medical center, Mohave County government, the school district, and a variety of manufacturing and distribution firms located at the Kingman Airport Industrial Park. The city’s economy has seen steady postwar growth driven by industrial relocations, and the planned upgrade of U.S. 93 to Interstate 11 could influence future development. Housing values and rents in the area sit below the national benchmark, with a typical home price that is moderately affordable relative to the state average.
For a parent seeking a virtual learning environment for middle school, KOLA Middle School offers that model explicitly. The trade-off is that the small size and online format mean there is no published track record of state test performance to review. Anyone considering this school would want to speak directly with the school to understand how it approaches curriculum, student support, and measurable academic progress, as the public data does not document those areas.
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