Connections Academy

My son has been in this school for 2 years. Both years of hell. We thought by putting our son in an online school it would be great seiing as you can do everything on your own schedule. Which is not how it is. You are on their schedule He has an I. E. P. Which they could care less about. They do not honor it. He has ADHD. PTSD. And has always been in a SPED classroom. When we enrolled him, they said that the school has no problem with children witgh IEP's and SPED. They have held our son at the same standards as an honor student. He has no Idea what he is doing in algebra or chemistry. Basically F's down the line. When having meetings with the teachers. They tell us that they might call truancy in my city because he doesnt go to live lessons all the time. He takes meds that make him wake up late. They dont care about kids. They wont make modifications for your kid. The only reason we are still in this godforsaken place is we live in the city and the schools are real bad. So we are stuck til then. Run as fast as you can from tecca.

Wonderful school and staff very highly recommend. They care about your kid's future. My kids been going here for several years and they loved it.

We enrolled our 6th and 7th grader for the 2020-2021 year. Customer service signing up was a huge challenge due to demand, I have close to 30 hours into a straight forward enrollment and over 6 hours of cumulative time on hold. Instruction is extremely fragmented. My online bachelors degree program was easier to navigate and locate information on. The curriculum doesn't necessarily follow the teachers instruction and students need to read the assignment in the lesson then sometimes refer to a bulletin board or email to get the final instructions which sometimes conflicts with the lesson. Students also cannot fill out lesson templates online, they need to download and save them, then attach or upload the completed version to their teacher. Sometimes they attach and sometimes upload, this depends on the teacher and leads to failed assignments because of upload or submission errors. My kids have been very discouraged these first weeks. So far the teachers have been good at getting these errors sorted out but this has taken hours of extra time. Some teachers use Microsoft products some use Google, there is no consistency and you must use your own accounts as there are no linked accounts to the school. On average I am receiving 10-12 emails per day, and the information from teachers and admin is fragmented. I spend about 2 hours a day in emails and review and we have hired a tutor to help out 5 hours day to assist them in navigating the software. There is virtually no interaction or instruction with the teachers. Most of the lessons are recorded and students cannot interact or ask questions. Communication is primarily through email which is ineffective. The platform is just a mess, it is like trying to work with Windows 95 in modern day. The supporting tech is at least 5-7 years behind the UI and integration you might expect in modern software. I strongly suggest you go elsewhere.

Teachers were always there to support and the lessons they do everyday were easy to follow with very interactive activities.

Very good, the teachers are very kind. And my daughter has more time to do different activities besides the school.

As I said great staff the star of the staff is Dorothy Larson they need more just like not only is she my son's teacher but now our family friend!

With multiple students, it would be very helpful if correspondence reflected which child it is for. I get so many, and never know who it is for.

I absolutely love this school. My daughter had a biology teacher at her traditional high school who was not a good fit for her. While I would normally force her to work it out with the teacher, in this instance it wasn't worth the anxiety.

I pulled her out of that class only and enrolled her at CA. Her new Biology teacher was interested in her as a learner, was willing to individualize the curriculum needs to include what she had missed in traditional school, and was a complete professional, keeping in touch with both my daughter and myself as her learning coach.

I understand the frustration that a student might feel if they think they can work at their own pace, but it simply is only true to a point. If the school year ends on June 4, the student HAS to be done by June 4! I'm not sure why they would think that "at your own pace" means you can take as long as you want to. My daughter traveled a bit and missed about a week of school, but because she had worked ahead, she didn't fall terribly far behind. She was able to complete her late lessons at her own pace (again, within reason) to catch up and finish the class on time.

My daughter gets A's, B's and C's in traditional school and as expected, earned a B in Connections Biology. More importantly, she learned a LOT more than she would have with her traditional teacher.

IF you are willing to take personal responsibility for your education as a student, and if you are a good reader and have a good support system at home, this could very well be a GREAT opportunity for you. Parents: Keep in mind that you are expected to partner with your child's teachers as a learning coach to help keep them on track. If you don't have time to monitor each day what they are doing and where they are going on the computer, then this is probably not a good option for you!

It's a great experience. We have enjoyed the Connections academy experience and would recommend the program to anyone.

This is our first year at connections Academy and we love that our daughter is above to get an education and still do what she love to do(dance)

Excellent Teachers, always there to help when needed. Excellent learning platform. Just an all around excellent school.

I'm a student at Connections academy and it's my first year and it's honestly great! I'm passing all my classes and the teachers are very helpful

This is a great school for children that have medical issues. The school is awesome the teacher are great and very understanding.

The staff goes above and beyond to help the students. They are always there to provide support and encouragement.

It gives you to many work and not enough help. My student has been mentaly abused by many teachers. Do not try this schook

We are so thankfully to have found Connections Academy. Such a wonderful school experience. Our child has succeeded academically.

Entirely too much work to get through on a daily basis. You are always rushed and I do not feel like my daughter is learning anything.

This is our second year and could not be happier! Curriculum so organized, teachers Simply phenomenal! Best educational decision!

Location: TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School

Connections Academy has made our lives soo much easier! The flexibility and helpful teachers have been a great experience for my son!

Everything has gone smoothly. Daughter is doing very well with online classes. She can concentrate and does not have any distractions Feels safe.

Connections Academy states that you aren't the teacher, but a "Learning Coach". A "Learning Coach" is someone that is supposed to keep the student on track, but not to teach them anything. They say the teachers and the online lessons do that. This is not entirely truthful. When your student has a question, they will come to you for help. Either because the online lesson is convoluted and doesn't actually cover the material asked in a quiz, or because they can't get real help from their so-called teacher.

There's also a designate called "Caretaker". This person (in your household) is the person that is supposedly taking care of the student's needs, such as doctor's appointments, driving to events, meals, etc. You guessed it, the "Caretaker" and "Learning Coach" are one in the same.

So, not only are you the "Learning Coach", but the "Caretaker" and much of the time the teacher.

Don't enroll your student if they struggle in any subject and need help frequently. YOU will be providing that help.

Connections Academy is fine for someone who decided they want to be a homeschooler and was needing some curriculum already planned out for them. The state testing and reporting is all taken care of, too. But don't expect to modify the lessons.

The stress caused by CA in our family has made us decide not to re-enroll our student next school year. But that hasn't stopped CA from asking us for a review. But they only want you to give them a 9 or a 10... if you don't think they deserve that, they tell you to contact the Executive Director. So, in other words, don't give an uncomplimentary, honest review. That's why I'm doing it here.

I enrolled both of my youngest children into Ohio Connections Academy due to covid19. Overall it is a pretty good school... the teachers are present and active with my kids and the classes all all great with the exception of math. My daughters 7th grade math class uses Mathia for all assignments except for tests. The mathia program is absolutely useless! The teacher expects the students to complete two mathia workspaces a day and one workspace usually takes my daughter over an hour to complete. The wording they use on the program is confusing at best and doesn't teach the kids steps to complete the problems that they will find on the test thier teachers give at the end of the week. My daughter is about 20 assignments behind in math because of this mathia program and always struggles with the unit tests because nothing on the test is what she is seeing on mathia... she is not being taught how to do this math using mathia program so i am having to find alternative lessons for her so she will pass her unit tests. Because of Connections Academys use of mathia in their cirriculum, I do not recomend this school if your child struggles in any way with math because they will just end up more confused than they were when they started.

Good school experience also the system.I am very happy what my child is doing with all school maters & subjects the school offers.