Connections Academy

No matter how well your child is doing, you are required to meet with teachers?! So regardless of an A average, not needing help, you are required to physically speak with your teachers... homeschool? We wake up each morning to a big red "unhappy face" letting us know that her enrollment in this school is jeopardized... despite doing the "live lesson" requirements. In the 6 weeks she has been enrolled, we feel more pressure than we ever did at traditional middle school. We have 2 more months... and we are trying to get through. Think twice before attending Connections Academy :(

This educational program is excellent, they take with your student, they display accountability and I as a parent am more than pleased. My son has been enrolled in this program for 3 years he does great! Go NCA!

The teachers are nice personally. If there were more stars, I would definitely give more of a 5 star rating, get along with their students, plus let's me know how well my child is doing along the way.

Worrst online school ever, be prepared to teach your child yourself with the lesson plans they provide, expect college style lecturing with assigned reading and asynchronous work. Basically, as the "learning coach" you're the unpaid teacher and they get paid by the state.

Update: Connections Academy responded by reporting my review as not having a valid email address... I wonder how many bad reviews they get removed in an underhanded and dishonest way.

Location: Texas Connections Academy

I have had to remove both a Freshman and a 6th. Grader for the same reasons. There was entirely too many assignments each day and the Live Lesson were a joke. Live Lessons consisted every day with technical difficulties on the teacher's behalf, continuous chatting among peers about unrelated content-very distracting. Most Live Lessons had zero instruction, but only had to do with showing up to be held accountable for attendance. Meanwhile the Live Lessons were a complete waste of time. If questions were asked by teachers, only one student would usually dominate the entire class. This school left my children feeling like failures and completely destroyed their confidence in school. Terrible waste of time!

Best choice I could've ever made for my girl! She is doing so much more now than when she was in brick and mortar! Don't have to worry about bullies! Our family loves INCA! I want to try and enroll my boys next year, but we will see!

Location: Indiana Connections Academy

Connections Academy has been a very easy to follow program for my child. I have other children in different programs that are much more difficult to navigate. Re-enrollment was a breeze, with prompts to keep you on task. My only issue is not enough parent-teacher follow-ups. They said they require them, but I only had one at the very beginning of the year.

Our daughter has attended Connections Academy for 2 years now, and the experience has been terrific. We have excellent communication between her teachers and administrators, and they take any questions or concerns we have seriously. The schedule is very flexible and allows for plenty of extracurricular activities, and the school also offers plenty of clubs and field trips too. My entire family is thrilled that our daughter can get an education this way in a safe, loving, and supportive environment. My husband and I both work part-time from home so it is a perfect fit. We decided long ago that our child would not be going to a brick or mortar school, and Colorado Connections Academy is the best school we could hope for.

Where do I begin? They didn't make enrollment easy, I spoke to 15 different people who all told me 15 different things, in the end I had to enroll my daughter into a different school entirely which is sad because my daughter really would have benefited from virtually learning. Every document we submitted was rejected even though we submitted what we were told we could submit. You want kids to be apart of hi out program, yet you make it so hard for the parents to Enroll... Just don't understand. If you live in HUD or government housing, I do not recommend this program for your child because they choose not to understand your situation nor understand your "leasing" terms.

Location: Florida Connections Academy

My daughter is very happy and learning a lot. She loves it and she is looking forward to finish high school with connections academy.

Great school. I am reading the reviews about students getting too much work. I did not notice because I went to a Boston exam high school and we got tons of work plus have some college background it is the norm if you want your child to get ahead.

My daughter was enrolled for this past school year for third grade. Her teacher was very involved and ALWAYS there for any questions about anything. They did live lessons multiple times a week and always let my child know that she can also contact her with any questions as well. I'm sorry a lot of people have had such a hard time with them. There are a few things in the curriculum that I didn't like all that much but that's kind f with any school.

Connection Academy is just so awesome that there's not enough words to explain everything. My kid gets 100% of all the attention and help he needs from the teachers and absolutely loves to have his classroom in his room.

It looks like the majority of these reviews were written by students who didn't like taking responsibility for their work and parents who thought they could just leave their kids to their own devices all day (apparently forgetting that they're kids and need supervision?). The school isn't easy--they expect you to actually work and keep up with deadlines. You can't goof off and twiddle your thumbs till the last minute then expect to get the work in. The only time I've been admonished by a teacher was when I tried to put off my work till the last minute, and the quality showed that. I've had no problem socializing because I actually, you know, leave the house and go out once I'm done with assignments. Try joining a team or something. Meet people outside of the computer.

Last year this school was a mess. This year the teachers are amazing. Mrs. Weber, Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Welch, Mr. Nickels are my daughter's sixth-grade teachers. They are accommodating. They always return calls, are respectful, thorough when grading papers in such a way that they explain why you got something wrong and how to fix it. I've even had moments when I've had personal issues with my daughter, and a couple of the teachers have taken the time to listen. I do wish they had more textbooks as most of them are online, but the curriculum overall is excellent.

There is WAY too much email spam. Things are sent through email that really doesn't need to be. Important and needed information gets lost easily because there is just so much. It's hard enough for an adult to search through the emails, let alone a child trying to learn.

Otherwise, good alternative to in person.

I enrolled my son in this school almost a year ago, I should have known and read the reviews before I actually went through with this. They pile work on top of work. My son is Special needs, his grade dropped from an B average to a low D. I'm very dissatisfied, and will be looking for other schools for my son. Also you will never have any type of time for yourself or family.

My son has special needs and this gave us the ability to continue his medical needs as well. He is advancing in his classes at a pace that works for him with assistance with real life teachers. Great selection of academics as well.

We maybe don't know all the ropes, but everyone is very helpful. Sami is doing so good, on the honor roll, besides working some days 12 hours at a retirement home. She is enjoying both. Love the flexibility!

My daughter is in the first grade and the workload is insane. She sometimes had to sit in front of a computer for 5 hours a day just to finish. It is way above grade level and they expect way to much from a 6 year old child. Some teachers don't respond to emails or do what they are supposed to do. I ended up pulling her out and putting her back in our regular public school. I would not suggest this program to anyone. It has caused severe stress and anxiety for my child.

This is a great public school solution for students who need that extra time to complete lessons. They learn at their own pace in the environment you create for them. This is our 6th year using this curriculum.

My daughters went here for a year and it was the worst thing we did. The tech system is old and clunky and your kid ends up doing WAY more hours than is needed. Additionally they just messed me around for a month and cost my kids an entire month of education - where they could end up being held back from CA mistakes!

High school was always a concern for us just because the world is; let's be honest a little nuts. I knew I made the right choice when on the day we pulled her from Boston Public Schools. A student was caught going into the School with a gun. Because he had been bullied and was tired of it. After speaking with my daughter the horror stories she told us of fights everyday; fire alarms and just nonsense. Two weeks later a parent and student removed as another student arrested with a gun. My daughter now has straight A's and last semester finished all her work a week early because she is excited for school again. Not to mention no more arguments about going to school or running around getting her to school. School life is so good my wife just finished her first semester of College! I can't say it enough; this is the best thing we have done for our daughters education!