Fridays typically represent a day off for Ryan Fike, an Oklahoma state trooper.
Well, except for the chores around the small family farm.
“We’ve got horses, goats, chickens, dogs,” he said. “We’ve got some cattle.”
Fike made sure to get everything done early March 1, as that particular Friday featured something very important: applying to St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic School.
Ryan, his wife Jordan and their three boys – Ryce, Paxton and Sterling – have no access to Catholic education out in western Oklahoma.
Until now.
So Ryan got his morning chores done, set up at the kitchen table and fired up his laptop in hope of claiming three of the 500 open spots to the new school, set to open in the fall.
Ryan got in, at No. 1 through the portal.
“Our kiddos are super excited,” Jordan said.
Excitement and personal stories abound as Catholics and non-Catholics alike are seeking spots into the newly approved, state-funded virtual school. Applications continue to flow in at stisidorevirtualschool.org, with admissions beginning after applications close April 3.
St. Isidore is a full-time, K-12, tuition-free online Catholic virtual charter school accredited by the Accreditation Standards Division of the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Any student eligible for kindergarten to grade 12 of any faith or no faith, living in Oklahoma, is eligible for enrollment.
For the Fike family, St. Isidore arrived at just the right time.
The Fikes drive from Foss to Elk City for their Catholic church community. But the parents said the boys, ranging from third grade to 10th grade, aren’t thriving currently in the public school.
“There’s not a lot of Catholics,” Jordan said. “My middle son is 14 and if you asked him right now, he’d say there is one other Catholic child at school.
“There’s a lot of other communities, probably five or six towns, that come to church in Elk City. We’ve met so many wonderful people at our church in Elk City. Some of them do home schools. But the biggest thing is my kids are thriving at church and around their peers. They’re more friends with people we go to church with than the people we see at public school.”
While St. Isidore will be virtual, there will also be local hubs across the state for students to gather in community. And in rural areas especially, where Catholic schools are mostly not an option, maybe Catholics will see each other in class and at the hubs.
“My kids like to be around those people,” Jordan said. “I have prayed for years for a Catholic school. I kept thinking maybe some of us mothers could put our heads together and come up with something. And then this fell into our lap.
“So I do feel like this is an answer to my prayers.”
A virtual school also fits other facets for the Fikes, whose boys participate in rodeo competitions that often take them out of state.
The oldest, Ryce, rides bulls. The middle son, Paxton, ties goats and ropes calves. The youngest, Sterling, is in the pipeline, getting his start by riding calves.
Likewise, it could fit other families with outside interests or challenges.
“We were exploring home-school options,” Ryan said. “We just couldn’t quite find something we were all-in on as a family.”
Then St. Isidore came along.
“That morning, my phone showed me the reminder that it was the day to apply,” Ryan said. “So as soon as I could, I got online and filled out the applications.
“I knew we were probably near the top, but I didn’t know we were the first ones in. That’s pretty cool.”
John Helsley is the editor of the Sooner Catholic.
Photo: The Fike family – mom Jordan and dad Ryan, along with sons Ryce, Paxton and Sterling – are excited that St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School will provide a Catholic education to rural areas, like theirs. Photo provided