For the Elliot Family, Xceed Opened a World of Opportunity
For twins Dalton and Keegan Elliott, 15, and their younger brother Gabriel, 13, hockey is a family affair. The twins have played since they were five years old and Gabriel since he was three.
In August 2021, their family moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to Des Moines, Iowa, so the boys could play for the Des Moines Buccaneers AAA program.
“We wanted to try something that gave them a little more recognition, preparing hopefully for college and beyond, and more opportunities to be successful,” their mother, Amie, stated.
The opportunity to move and play for the Des Moines Buccaneers meant that the boys needed to find a new school, which worked well with their training schedule.
“We initially heard about Xceed Oakmoor through discussions around schooling during tryouts for hockey,” shared Dalton.
After initially learning about Xceed, the Elliott family gave it a deeper look and decided to enroll.
“There were a couple of reasons we enrolled at Xceed this year. Primarily, we did it to allow the boys more ice time and more availability for travel,” said Amie. “We didn’t want their grades to suffer for the days we were on the road. The decision also coincided with the pandemic, so it pulled them out of that environment, kept them from too much exposure, and allowed them to focus on hockey and school.”
“I chose to enroll at Xceed because it was the only virtual school that allowed me to interact with my teacher,” said Dalton. “I also enjoy having the freedom to choose when I do all of my classes.”
“My favorite aspect of Xceed is the flexibility,” Keegan agreed.
“It opened opportunities with hockey that I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.”
When the family lived in Kansas City, the boys attended public school, but the demands of school and hockey began to wear on them.
“Their practices would be so late in the evenings; we wouldn’t get home until 11:30 at night and then get up at six to get ready for school the next day,” Amie stated. “They were practicing three, four days a week. You could just see the exhaustion wearing on them.”
While Xceed Preparatory Virtual School has been a game-changer for the Elliott family to pursue their hockey aspirations, it hasn’t come without challenges that the boys didn’t foresee.
“Xceed is the place to go if you need a remote education,” said Dalton. “But potential students should understand that you may miss being able to see your classmates every day at school.”
Keegan agrees that it may not be for everyone and that before deciding, parents and students need to make sure, “they are responsible and up for the challenge because it is all up to you if you are going to do your work.”