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Jennifer of Choctaw, OK Verified Reviewer

Original review: May 4, 2021

This was our 4th year with Oklahoma Connections Academy. We have 5 children and have now experienced every grade level from Kindergarten all the way to a graduated senior. My oldest has now completed his Freshman year of college. OKCA gave us freedom to be involved in extra-curricular activities such as Oklahoma Homeschool Band, Homeschool Gymnastics, Martial Arts as well as social activities such as field trips. Before coming to OKCA our students were in a Private Christian School and then we moved to a traditional Homeschool setting.

Our decision was we wanted to know exactly what our children were being taught and as well wanted a challenging curriculum. Unfortunately the school district we live in does not have stellar public schools. OKCA has been an awesome experience for us. I as a parent love that I have the support of teachers, principal and counselors like I would in a traditional school setting, but have my children home with me learning. I am able to view exactly what they are learning and as well help them understand what they are learning. Please note...for elementary ages this DOES require parent involvement. I sit by my 1st grader for about 3-4 hours a day helping her navigate her lessons and then she does other learning activities independently, like math worksheets, reading, and art projects.

I love the electives that are offered. Everything from Chess club, foreign languages, computer skills classes and even an ASL class. We also love the flexibility this setting provides for our family as we can work ahead so we can have days off, or work their calendars to suit our own schedule around doctor's appointments, field trips, extra long weekends for quick trips and we have even gone on vacation during the school year and the kids are able to complete their lessons while away in our downtime.

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May 10, 2021 Connections Academy response

Experiencing K-12 in four years – that's a really neat accomplishment. It's great to see how your family took advantage of our school's flexibility to get involved in extra-curriculars. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. Have a great summer!

Max of Gainesville, FL Verified Reviewer

Original review: March 31, 2021

My son has attended FCA for the past 2 years and For next year I have signed my daughter up. I am very pleased with the overall experience that we have had as a parent and student. I found that my son had a lot of work to do, I noticed that his grades had a major improvement from when he was attending regular school. He was given the attention and that helped him feel more confident.

His teachers are supportive. High school can be a tough transition but they had programs and lessons that help the students through it. I found that the little quizzes that they have at the end of the lessons are good because the students can recap what they have learned through the lesson. The only thing I would suggest is that there is a way that the student could meet once a week for a fun time just the kids so they can form some friendships and exchange information so they can be friends out of school like they would at regular public school. Thanks. Florida Connections Academy.

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April 2, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hi Max. It is so great to hear that your student has been receiving the attention he deserves from teachers. Before the pandemic, we offered social opportunities for students, and we are currently planning to add more social activities once the pandemic is over! ~Kim

Brandi of Verona, PA Verified Reviewer

Original review: March 31, 2021

I enrolled my children (7th and 11th grades) into Connections Academy (PA-Reach Cyber Charter) because we were not happy with our local public school's options during the pandemic. My 7th grader has fallen in love with it so much that he plans to stay for the rest of his schooling. He really loves all of the STEM opportunities, clubs, and pop up type events. He also has less anxiety not having to go to the brick and mortar school. He also loves the live lessons for all of his classes.

My 11th grader is planning to go back to the local public school next year, as she misses her friends and wants to graduate with them... But she is also very happy that she has had Reach Cyber as an option this year. She cannot imagine having to deal with all of the changes and learning curves that the local school has dealt with during this pandemic. She is very happy to have had a choice!

As a mom, I am very happy that we have had the choice of a cyber school. I love the flexibility of Connection Academy! There are a lot of live lessons but none of them are required. So, if my children have a doctor's appointment or something else going on, they can just complete their assignments later on in the day. But, at the same time they always know that there is a live lesson to go to, if they want/need to. The lessons/curriculum is challenging and there are always fun things added into school also.

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April 2, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hi Brandi. Thank you so much for leaving a review. We are SO happy to hear that your 7th grader is participating in our STEM opportunities and enjoying all we have to offer at Reach Cyber Charter! We love that we can provide a safe and stable learning environment for your family. ~Kim

Amie of Saint Clair Shores, MI Verified Reviewer

Original review: March 30, 2021

We decided to enroll our son in a virtual school right after the end of the school year in 2020 due to COVID-19. This was such a blessing in disguise! Connections Academy offers a challenging curriculum that is interesting and fun at the same time. Our son was in the advanced/gifted program in brick and mortar school, and Connections is able to meet his needs with the same quality classes that he had previously. They are able to cater to his individual needs, and he is still on the same pace he was before. He loves his classes, his teachers, and the flexibility the virtual schedule offers. All of his teachers make the live lessons fun and engaging, and there are so many clubs to choose from plus fun pop up events for more social interaction, fun, and learning!

If he ever needs additional help with his lessons, his teachers are always right there for him. They are more than happy to video chat, talk on the phone, or email and text too. They've been there for me too whenever I've had a question, and have been very helpful and involved. Once COVID-19 has passed, there are many opportunities to get together with other local Connections families for clubs and field trips that we'll definitely be joining. We are so happy with Connections, that we will be staying on for 7th grade instead of returning to brick and mortar next year, and foreseeably through graduation.

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April 1, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hi Amie. I'm so glad your son is having a good academic year, and is exploring some of the fun parts of being a Connections Academy student, too!

Tara of Brookville, PA Verified Reviewer

Original review: March 29, 2021

My 5th grader is attending REACH Cyber Charter School which is part of connections academy. She has live lessons twice a week for science, social studies, English and math as well as math small group, English small group, art, Ed tech and physical education (1x/week for these). Her teachers are always a phone call or email away and are willing to help her when she gets stuck on a topic and I can't help her. I love teaching her the content of the lessons and organizing it to our schedule. The curriculum is way harder than what was offered at her regular school (2 older siblings who are in high school) and she is learning to code which isn't offered at the regular school in 5th grade either.

Through her classes, she's becoming friends with kids all around Pennsylvania and it's really cool to see. Kids from her former dance classes are even in REACH and they reconnected recently. Neither knew they were both at REACH. Nothing is a secret or kept from the parents. My daughter loves working at her own pace and has thrived this school year! We will be continuing on next year into the 6th grade and adding Spanish to her schedule too. We didn't add a language this year but there is a variety of languages and music classes to choose from as well as clubs.

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March 30, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hi Tara, Isn't it great that they're learning to code at such a young age?! So glad to hear that Reach Cyber is working well for your family. :) ~Kim

Resolution In Progress

Vicktoria of Montclair, CA Verified Reviewer

Original review: Oct. 26, 2021

As of this year my 2 kids must do a live lesson everyday, which is a bunch of bologna because I'm my kids teacher and all these live lesson do is get in my child way of doing his lessons. Now it take twice as long to get lessons and and anything they do in the live lesson isn't even noticed. These teachers are in the way of my kids learning and now we are doing homework till about 8pm.

Leslie of Blairsville, GA Verified Reviewer

Original review: Sept. 2, 2021

My 10th grader who has always been an A student started this online school in GA this year and after 1 full month in I have to say some subject areas are adequate structured though I would not say they are well structured. There are others such as History that was poorly created and executed.

Issue # 1. Apparently a some teachers that are teaching the courses have never read the materials in the course that they expect the students to read nor have they taken the tests created for the material they are expecting the students pass. I found this out after speaking with one of the instructors. I have a teaching degree myself and have taught for a total of 8 yrs though not recently and would never expect my students to take and ace a test that I had not taken myself to make sure the questions asked are in line with the material presented.

It is obvious to me that the teachers are not fully at fault as they are having to work with over 500 students per teacher at time and teach a variety of courses. The teachers so far are very helpful however the content that is presented and the manner in which it is presented needs to be reworked in order to create an environment where students can do the work needed to learn the material in a successful manner.

Issue# 2. The teacher student instructional time only takes place during a "live Lesson" for 30-50 minutes a week, there are then four days a week of 1 hr per subject where students can go online and ask questions. Though all "Live Lessons" are recorded and can be viewed at a later date these lessons are not enough face to face time with students for a child to learn a subject like History or Language. There needs to be daily interaction between students and teachers even if it is in a Zoom Room envir. in order for learners to acquire knowledge in my opinion.

It is my fervent belief that unless your child is gifted and can just read a text and memorize that info to take a test or you as a parent can spend 8 hours with your child acting as the instructor for all the lessons then this program will not work for your child. I will say though there are some teachers that do a very good job of teaching online but others are solely relying on the material in the online text to impart 98% of the knowledge to the students.

I will hopefully have a better opinion in the future of this companies educational product but currently they are getting an 'F' from me. More later...Hopefully things improve.

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Oct. 13, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hello Leslie. Thank you for taking time to share your experience here, and also for talking with us through direct messages here and via email so we can share your concerns with our curriculum team. We value your input and I encourage you to keep in touch with us via email and the curriculum feedback tool online as your student progresses through courses this semester. ~Kim

Kalene of Riceville, TN Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 20, 2021

I have submitted numerous proofs of residency including title paperwork. I then submitted a utilities bill also but it still says not adequate proof. They also have my driver's license with my proof of address and my son is transferring from a TN school. All I'd like is for him to be in school please.

Oct. 13, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hello Kalene. My apologies for my delayed response here. As a public school we are required to collect very specific forms of documentation from families. I know this can be very frustrating and I apologize for that. If we can be of any assistance, please feel free to contact us at the email I provided in my earlier private response. ~Kim

Alessia of Houston, TX Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 13, 2021

If you're thinking of enrolling your child, do not. They take a lot of time. 40-70 hours to see a enrollment documents. I don't recommend this online school if you are in a rush. They also don't answer calls. Don't call. Email them. Bad experience overall.

Oct. 13, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hello Alessia. It's always our goal to provide families with quality customer service, and I'm very sorry that we were not able to meet your needs this fall. We did see a sizable uptick in interest in August of this year, and, as a result, we experienced delays in document and enrollment application processing. I hope your family found a school solution that is working well for you. ~Kim

Keila of Springfield, MA Verified Reviewer

Original review: May 4, 2021

I have been a Connections Academy Learning Coach for about 3 1/2 years going on 4, I want everyone to know that if you're looking for an online school Connections Academy is the way to go. From the curriculum to the teachers I have never experienced education at it's best, teacher have the patience and the caring that one needs, they help with everything very fast and the learning what can I say is impeccable. I highly recommend Connections Academy for families who are looking into homeschooling their children. Learning that a brick and mortar school can not offer.

May 10, 2021 Connections Academy response

Hi Keila. We're thrilled to hear that you're having such a good experience at Connections Academy. Thank you for your review! ????