Connections Academy

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!

I've been going to Connections (ARCA) for 3-4 years now, I'm in 9th-grade rn. The school is more worried about passing than anything else, they claim they care SO MUCH about the students, but they do not. If they did, they'd address the concerns that I brought up and not completely ignore them. They do not care about the students. I realized most reviews were made by parents, not students. Is it helpful to other parents? Yes, it is! But you need to also look at how the student feels. Most students I met (which was not a lot, because this school doesn't care about social interactions.) Does not like this school, most cheat because this school throws so much stuff at you. Lessons have many grammar errors, and the questions can be wrong, confusing, or have more than one correct answer, but you have to pick one answer anyway. If this school did what they claimed, I wouldn't be here. As a student with learning problems, I feel like the school does not care about me and many other students. They expect everyone to learn the same way. So if I had to say, this school NEEDS to be fixed and NEEDS to change for the better. I am going to leave after this year is over.

Edit: I want to add this. It matters from school to school. ARCA isn't good, no social interaction, no talking, nothing. At the time of making this, I was trying to do my work, but I needed to stop, there is just so much work. The weird thing is, I like reading, but for learning it's a no-go. I'm better off learning from someone talking to me, the normal school that I'm going to next year is good. No bullying, most people are nice, and it's in a really good area. If you are not good with in-person learning, your local public school is really bad, or you like being by yourself a lot, this school would be okay for you. It's just not for me. I felt like I needed to add this, so if you're fine with the stuff I said, then the school wouldn't be bad for you.