ConnectionsAcademy
Reviews and Complaints

My son was enrolled at Oklahoma Connections Academy's online school for the past school year and I have to say, it was a bit of a nightmare. Their Connexus system software that is used for assessments (Quizzes, Skill Check's, Tests, etc.) had issues since the beginning of the school year (2017). The scores he received on the assessments that he turned in would have discrepancies. He might get a 100%, and it would show up in their system as a 50%, 0%, etc., and sometimes it wouldn't even show up as having been done at all. My mother is a retired elementary school educator (still currently certified), and she monitored him, ensuring academic honesty. She has been the primary witness of these discrepancies. However, I have also witnessed my son taking these assessments from beginning to end, only to see at least one show up as a different and lower grade in their system.

My daughter who is currently an 18-year-old college student with honors has even witnessed answers changing on their own in front of her eyes after my son hit the button to submit the grade. When we called about it in September of 2017, we were told by their tech. Support department that this has been happening to others, as well. We were relieved to hear that we weren't the only ones experiencing these issues, but it was still frustrating to deal with.

We then began taking pictures and screenshots of every grade that was sent. There are so many, that they haven't even graded everything from the autumn semester (2017) as of today (8/10/18), and they say they won't take any more picture evidence to replace the improper grades with. This had happened all year, but in the spring semester, they claimed that my son had been cheating, because they say they can see SOME (Most of the ones I've seen don't even have that.) screenshots with 2 tabs of the same test open. This is due to him sometimes accidentally double-clicking instead of clicking, which causes a second test tab to be open.

The staff from their tech support are now claiming they have never heard of this happening to anyone else, despite some of their staff saying in the past that this has been happening to others, bad reviews of people on sites pointing out that it has happened to them, and other schools using the Connexus software that admits it is glitchy. The vice principal said that it was the word of the math teacher to not accept any more multiple choice remediation (Their "work at your own pace" policy says they will accept it.). The math teacher told me it was the word the vice principal. When I called the principal, she said it was the word of the vice principal and herself. It seems audacious for them to claim we are lying and cheating when they aren't honest with us.

Our lawyers have even appealed to their administration on our behalf, but there is no legal precedent for your school to have any academic honesty. We will not be continuing enrollment or be referring people to their school the way we did in the autumn semester. We will, however, actively suggest people never enroll their children in this school, as they are dishonest and claim the family is, probably due to wanting to save face about their growing number of technological problems. They have claimed my son was cheating even when they have no proof, and even in the face of proof (screenshots) showing that we have been honest.

Don't enroll your children in this school, so it doesn't end up destroying the confidence of even more students.

Last year, our son was having some health issues that caused him to miss school frequently. So we decided to try out Connections Academy as an alternative. Their intro meeting indicated lots of one-on-one contact and individualized education while working at home, which sold us. I looked at some of the coursework lessons and they were all great. If you have a self-motivated student, I think you will have a great experience. The enrichment material is fabulous. The reading and text in English and history are outstanding. Based on seeing that, I thought this was going to be a great year because the content materials seemed to be fantastic for students. Engaging, filled with visuals, lots of internet connections to click onto, etc. This is truly high-level stuff for students who really want to learn.

However, the system proved to be totally about getting the FTE money from the state of Utah. Connections Academy is a virtual school, but there is virtually no contact between teacher and students. This is supposed to happen in the live lessons and with the Home Room teacher check-in. I looked in on a few of the live lessons and there is no "lesson" going on. It is a feel-good and students who are motivated can ask good questions. But most interaction is at a very low level and not really related to the content. Unfortunately, I did not fully understand that my son was really interested in just getting the assignments done and getting credit for the course. Yes, he likes to learn, but he is not academically ready to be a high-achieving student. So, the experience was going to be one that would fail because our son needs a more nurturing environment. Connections Academy is not the place for such a student.

Our son had several teacher changes during the school year. He got behind (health issues) in the second semester. The program does not ever have due dates, the computer just lets you see how many assignments behind your student is. So, we saw our son fall further and further behind, especially in Spanish II and Graphic Arts. In the end, he ended up failing the classes, but at no time did the computer ever show my son that he was failing --- he was just behind on assignments. He was not convinced he would fail even though I kept showing him his late assignment status, and he refused to get in gear. Now, the parent is the learning coach, which basically means Connections Academy has no responsibility to contact students. Some teachers did respond to written work with comments. We had about 10 phone calls during the year and maybe 10 individualized emails during the year. So, in the two classes he failed, we did not have one single communication from either teacher during the course of the school year. They did not ever try to help or encourage my son to succeed. No help was offered. No math textbook. Our son had to search the internet to find the answer or find a time to get with the teacher. Then, the math scores are all graded by a computer, and twice during the school year, glitches in the math grading left my son as not doing his work, and he had to redo much of the course (math III).

He often got bogged down because you cannot move ahead if you have not finished off unit test... his test anxiety caused him to stop working on one class and go to another... so he was always behind...

In the end, it was a terrible experience. We are back in the public schools where there is some flexibility and ability to work daily with the teacher to be able to succeed. If you want to talk further, you can reach me at ***@comcast.net.

Steve Miller

When I first started with Connections Academy, I was over the moon about it. I would recommend it to anyone, especially those with children who are sensitive and easily bullied. However, things changed after our second year. It seems like the administration went through some changes, and you know what they say about attitude reflecting leadership. The teachers became ruder and more judgmental. I remember my daughter's 4th-grade teacher asking me if I was a single parent. When I said yes, she referred to me as a "red flag" for my daughter's educational future. I was shocked and hurt by her words. Being a single parent doesn't mean I'm not capable of providing a good education for my child. It felt like she was judging me based on her own biases and stereotypes.

The workload also became overwhelming. No matter how much time we put aside and how much work we did, we were bombarded with tests and projects. If we took longer than a day to work on a project, we would fall behind by 30 assignments. It was frustrating and demotivating. The live lessons were also a nightmare. The teacher would call out certain children and show blatant favoritism. There was one kid who was very rude to the other students, and the teacher seemed to favor him. It made me question if she knew him personally.

The worst part was the teacher's judgmental attitude. She made insinuations about our home being filthy and unlivable because we had seven cats. As a veterinary technician, I take pride in keeping my home clean and tidy. Her comments were hurtful and unnecessary. She also singled out my daughter repeatedly, even though there were other kids whose microphones weren't working. She threatened to fail my daughter and remove her from the Academy, even though the computer they sent me was not working properly. It was a horrific experience that left my child feeling humiliated and bullied.

Recently, my brother passed away in a motorcycle accident. I messaged the teacher to let her know that we wouldn't be able to attend the live lesson because we were on a flight to Florida for the funeral. She implied that I may need to furnish proof, which was insensitive and hurtful. It takes time to get a death certificate, and I didn't appreciate her insinuations.

Overall, this year with Connections Academy was bad. I'm not sure if we want to return, which makes me sad. My child went from being excited to start lessons and meet other kids to not even wanting to wake up for her lessons. It's not the kind of environment I want for my child. I thought bullying was something we were trying to get away from, not walk into. I hope the Academy can do better in the future and create a more supportive and inclusive environment for all students.

I gotta say, I've been reading the reviews on this site and I'm a little confused. My kids go to the Ripon online site for Connections Academy and we absolutely love it! They started when they were in first and second grade and we plan on sticking with it all the way through high school. Let me tell ya, this program is no joke - it's tough, but that's one of the things we like about it. They get to learn from a super cool curriculum and for the most part, they can go at their own pace. There's a scheduler that lets me set up their lessons based on what they need. For example, one of my kids loves Language Arts, so we do those classes more often, like 3 or 4 times a week. They breeze through those and have more time to focus on math, which is a little tougher for them. My other kid is a math whiz, but doesn't really like Language Arts, so we do more math and less Language Arts. As long as they finish everything in a reasonable amount of time, we're good to go.

The teachers are really responsive too. Whenever we've had any issues, they've been quick to help us out. And when we've had to travel, it's been awesome that the kids can still do their schoolwork because it's all online. One year, they even got to take classes from Julliard! How cool is that? And it was all free and from the comfort of their own room.

I'm really sorry to hear that some other people haven't had such a great experience with Connections Academy. Before we started, I was homeschooling my kids, but I didn't feel like I was giving them everything they needed for long-term success. So I went looking for another resource and stumbled upon Connections Academy during a web search. Maybe it's different in other regions, but at the Ripon site, we've had an awesome experience.

My kids started in different grades because one was a better reader, but then the other one got better at reading and wanted to be in the same classes as their sibling. Connections Academy let them do classwork in two grades at the same time so they could catch up. Now they're both in the same grade.

I could go on and on about all the positive experiences we've had. As for the negatives, we've only had two incidents in all the years we've been with Connections Academy. One was with a teacher who didn't seem to understand that my kids are twins, but I contacted the teacher in charge of that grade and they apologized and my kids were transferred to another teacher within a day. The other incident was when one kid said something inappropriate in a LiveLesson to one of my kids, but that was addressed right away and the kid was reprimanded.

In our experience, bullying of any kind is just not tolerated. During field trips, my kids get to hang out with other kids in their grade as well as younger and older kids. They all have a great time together without any problems. Kids with disabilities or from different cultures all get to hang out and have fun with their friends.

Honestly, our experience with Connections Academy has been beyond amazing. I'm really sorry that not everyone has had the same experience. I tell everyone I know who has young kids to check it out. When we're out and about, my kids and I talk about their classes and other interests and other parents have asked me what school they go to. I always proudly tell them "Connections Academy". If things change when my kids get to high school, we'll look elsewhere, but for now, we're sticking with it.

The curriculum at Connections Academy meets public school standards by state, but our family had some issues with public school in general. We decided to try full-on homeschooling for our 1st and 4th graders after only two weeks with Connections Academy. However, there were some positives to the program. One of the biggest benefits is the ability to set your own schedule. This is especially helpful for families with children who are heavily involved in sports or the arts. Additionally, if your child has difficulty getting out the door in the morning, it's nice to have the option to do school at home.

The teachers at Connections Academy were very nice and helpful. My 4th grader really enjoyed the live lessons and interacting with the other kids. She loved her teacher. The live lessons for my 1st grader were not as engaging for her because too many kids were talking or typing in the chat box, but she still thought it was a cool concept. We also liked the little characters used in the learning videos. They complemented the books and workbooks well and were engaging and relevant, although sometimes very repetitive. For the most part, the interface was easy to use and follow.

However, there were also some negatives to the program. One of the biggest issues was the amount of time spent on a computer. Our family is not heavy technology users, so our kids get excited each time they get to use a computer or play a game online. However, they were both done being on the computer for so many hours each day. For our 1st grader, it was about 3-5 hours a day (depending on the course load that day) of computer time. Granted, some of that time was reading a story or working in the workbook, but it was all related to the lesson on the computer so we had to keep going back. Many lessons have an assessment as the last "step" and of course all assessments were online. After the first week, our youngest would ask if she had to be on the computer again and then cry when we told her it was another school day.

We understand there was a lot to review as it was the start of a new year, but much of the course work was quite repetitive. Like the same lessons or videos with one small difference day after day. Our 1st grader was so bored and frustrated by this. Our 4th grader was doing lessons 5-8 hours a day, depending on the day. There was just SO much work to do that it was not possible for her to complete it all. And she is an advanced student. Again, a lot of it was review but it was daunting to figure out what she actually needed to do for the lesson versus what was just repetitive for kids who might have been struggling. In her frustration, she would end up missing important information because she was trying to rush through it. Many times, her friends from the local elementary school would get home and she'd still be stuck on her computer finishing an assignment or assessment. It was nice to have flexibility, but still, there was so much work it required being on point many hours a day.

One of our main desires in trying school at home was to take away some of the stress and anxiety our kids experienced at their local public school last year. If you're looking into online public school for this reason, understand it will help with flexibility as to WHEN you do your work. It will NOT help with workload anxiety and it will NOT help kids who learn best in a nontraditional school. Also, we were hoping that this would allow us to augment their lessons and delve further into subjects they're interested in or are naturally inclined towards. There was absolutely NO time for this. We were all just too overwhelmed with trying to finish the enormous amount of material in each lesson.

A lot of reviews talk about the kids needing help. Obviously, I knew this going in and understood that my husband and I would essentially be teaching our daughters. I was okay with this aspect and expected as much. It is definitely true that this is not for "hands off parents." They will need a lot of assistance.

Overall, I would say if you're content with the public school curriculum, workload, and style of teaching, this will be a great program for you. I hold no ill feelings toward Connections Academy or our state's CA program (we are in Washington state). It is a great program for public school enthusiasts and definitely helps take off some of the pressure some kids experience in a public school setting. It was just not for us. We are taking the big leap into full-on homeschool now with a better understanding of why public school (at home or at a campus) just does not work for our kids or our family.

My fam has been with Connections Academy for 3 school years now and we absolutely love it! The curriculum is top-notch and we've had a great experience overall. I've seen some folks express concerns about the pace and teacher involvement, but that hasn't been our experience at all.

Enrolling was a breeze. The admin team was super helpful and walked us through every step of the process, making sure we knew exactly what documents to submit and when. During our first year, they even called us once a month to check in and make sure everything was going smoothly. And the teachers continue to call us every other week to check in on each of our students individually.

For us, "at your own pace" means not having to sit down for 8 hours straight. We usually do 4-7 classes per day, depending on the child, and we have the freedom to take breaks whenever we need to. Sometimes we take longer than an hour to finish a subject, sometimes not. The subjects are all done online, but the material is super easy to understand. They provide tutorials, animations, workbook practice, glossaries, and educational websites to help us through any tough spots. And if we ever have questions about an assignment, the teachers are always there to help. They're really receptive to struggling students and encourage us to reach out whenever we need to.

We get to choose our own days off and let the teachers know ahead of time. And if we're planning to go on vacation during a time that's not designated as a break, we can complete extra assignments early to make up for it. This is how "at your own pace" works for us.

The scheduler can be a bit confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad. You just have to figure out which subjects you want to do on which days and then use the virtual planner to keep track of everything.

Connections provides pretty much everything we need. We get hardcover textbooks and paper reproducibles shipped to our house, and they even gave us a computer, headset, and webcam. They also provide art supplies and learning materials like counters, clay, letter blocks, science tools, magnets, safety goggles, and books. And if we're ever unsure about whether we have something we need, we can always check online.

The class itself provides "Live Lesson" group webcasting, which happens at certain times on certain days. We can choose to attend these sessions or not, but if we do, we get to address the teacher directly and get to know the other students in our class. And if we can't make it, the teachers provide us with a link to the recording of the lesson so we can watch it later.

Most communication happens through their "Webmail" system. They don't answer personal emails, but the webmail system is just as easy to use. The teachers are always quick to answer any questions we have and they even give us the opportunity to call them directly if we need to. And on select dates, students get one-on-one time with their teacher during a live lesson webcast, which is super helpful.

State testing takes place at different locations, which can be a bit of a hassle, but it's not a big deal. For us, testing was in Downtown Las Vegas last year and they even provided paid parking. Our kids had to attend at different times, but they let us drop them off together and took care of them while they were there. The testing itself is only a few days out of the school year and the proctors are super helpful.

There are lots of opportunities to meet other Connections families too. There's a Facebook group and tons of field trips. And we can connect with other students through clubs or webmail.

Overall, Connections has been amazing for our family and we're so grateful we chose it. We were really disappointed to hear that the K-5 department is closing, but our other kids will continue as long as Connections is running. We highly recommend giving this school a chance!

I'm like, totally blown away by all the other reviews on this site, man. But let me tell you, we've been with INCA for three years now and it's been awesome. The curriculum is so chill, you know? Each kid can learn in their own way, whether it's watching a video, reading a book, doing a worksheet, or whatever. And they can go at their own pace, so if they're like, totally crushing it, they can move on to the next thing. But if they're struggling, they can take their time and really get it down. No one gets left behind, dude.

The teachers are all super cool too. They're always there to help and give you advice and stuff. And the curriculum is way better than what you get in a regular school. You learn all kinds of stuff, not just the boring old basics. Plus, you learn how to use a computer and stuff, which is like, so important these days.

But the best part, man, is that you learn real-life skills too. Like, you learn how to manage your time and be organized and stuff. That's like, so important if you want to be successful in the virtual world, you know? And my family has grown so much since we started with CA. I've gotten to know my kids so much better and we've had so much fun learning together. We've done all kinds of cool stuff, like turning our kitchen into a science lab and stuff. And we've learned all kinds of life skills, like cooking and woodworking and stuff. It's been so rad.

The only thing we were worried about was that our kids wouldn't get to hang out with other kids and stuff. But it turns out, they're way more confident now and they can talk to anyone, even adults. And we have more free time to hang out with other people too, without all the pressure of a regular school.

I guess some people have had bad experiences with CA, but we've had like, 35 teachers and only one of them was a bummer. And I think some people expect it to be like homeschooling or something, but it's a public school, you know? You still have to take tests and stuff, but you get to do it on your own time. And you get to talk to your teachers whenever you want, which is way cool.

So yeah, I would totally recommend CA to anyone who wants a chill, flexible, quality education that meets state and national standards without all the boring stuff you get in a regular school. It's been so awesome for us, man.

I got a 7th grader who's on an IEP for all subjects and he's about 1-2 years behind. We decided to enroll him in Oregon Connections Academy this year because he was falling behind in his Brick and Mortar school. With his ADHD, it was hard for him to focus. This isn't Home Schooling, but he's going to school at home and it's an accredited public school. The curriculum is challenging and fast-paced, but I was able to take 2 years off to be his personal 1:1 staff assistant. If you have a motivated middle-high schooler with no support during the day, this program could work. Otherwise, without a personal assistant, my son would never be able to keep up or even be motivated to want to. I wish there were more days off, as we do need a few hours in the weekends to catch up but Oregon connections academy teachers have been very attentive and helpful. It takes a while to adjust to the program, and it can be confusing at times if you're not organized (I am not organized). It's almost all online. We haven't had any issues with technology, nor any grading issues. They do send textbooks, but we still need the computer for most assignments. We have a little flexibility, but not much. If you're looking into Connections Academy keep into perspective that every kiddo is different. I see a lot of negative reviews about teachers (there are poor teachers everywhere), difficult curriculum (It does seem advanced in some ways than the schools I've taught, but my kiddo has me to help him. This would not be the right school if he didn't have me), Lots of hours spent on the curriculum each day (You can modify, it's an online school and only portfolios and quizzes are recorded, see below), No social life (It's the one bummer about online programs but we knew that going in. My son isn't into the field trips and "chatting" at the beginning of live lessons isn't "connection". He does after school programs through the rec center 3x a week for the social). All schools have pros and cons.

Here's our experience of tips: We only do about 5-6 hours a day of work and take a lot of short breaks. I will have him skip some parts of lessons that I don't find relevant to the main concepts of that particular lesson. Just like in a brick and mortar school, he wouldn't be doing 100% of the lesson (because he's lazy and off task), but if he's reaching 70-75% capacity it's a win-win. Understanding the main concept is the key and I draw lots of pictures. All his notes are written on the chromebook with voice to text. Nothing is handwritten for the sake of time and some teachers are allowing him use of notes on tests, which he's finding he doesn't usually need. I sometimes make him do all the math problems if he's struggling, but most of the time just enough to really understand. His worst subject has always been math (HATED IT) He's now averaging 94% and actually told someone the other day he's good at math (that was an amazing moment). He listens to audio for his books in Language Arts and otherwise I read almost everything, including the quizzes and tests. After every lesson is a quick check quiz that is 3-4 questions, to check comprehension. Quizzes are 10 points and generally every 2 weeks and there's a test at the end of the unit. In some classes he can correct tests and quizzes for full points. He finds (and I at times reading them) the Social Studies tests tricky but the other courses are pretty self-explanatory if you've studied and can narrow down. He is required to watch a live lesson, call a teacher or email a teacher twice a week. He doesn't get a lot out of watching Live Lessons, he tends to turn his brain off, so I often have him call or email. Language arts is always a 2 day lesson, Science is most of the time and Social Studies and Art sometimes, that averages out to 3 1/2 classes a day. We average getting through about 3 a day. On two day lessons we'll do 3-4 pages of the class on the 1st day then finish it up the next day. If we're going to get behind (this curriculum would be impossible for our family to do on vacation) I focus on keeping him up in Math and Science. P. E., Technology and Art he does without my help (currently getting a D in Tech because he doesn't try but I want him to have classes I don't micromanage). Also, a lot of our portfolios are dropped. I'm not sure if that's an Oregon thing or if it's because he's on an IEP... but we would be swamped if he had to do all of them.

I would love for my son to be magically attentive and take charge of his education, but we have a lot of bad habits to chip through first and even then he may never be fully motivated. He still doesn't like school, it's still hard, he still fails tests, he still complains, but my kiddo used to hide in the back of the class and not participate during lessons. He's currently getting the best education of his life. It works for us.

I've been with Connections Academy since August and I gotta say, it's been a pretty good experience so far. One thing that I think people need to understand is that homeschooling is a big commitment and requires a lot of responsibility, especially for high schoolers. With Connections, you really need to stay on top of your assignments or you'll quickly fall behind. My homeroom teacher even said that doing all the assignments for the day is the best way to avoid getting swamped. So, my biggest tip is to do your assignments every day or you'll be in for a world of hurt. Trust me, I've seen it happen.

Another thing to keep in mind is the lesson completion time. At the beginning of the year, I was overwhelmed with how much work I had to do (I take honors courses). But, I soon realized that I didn't need to do every single worksheet, video, or picture. I only needed to do what I needed to do in order to understand the concepts. This helped me cut down my lesson completion time from 5 hours to about half an hour to an hour. Plus, I was less stressed and actually able to learn. So, my second tip is that you don't need to do every single thing in the lessons. Just focus on what you need to know.

Now, I've seen some reviews that complain about the teachers not being helpful. But, I've had a different experience. All of my teachers have been really nice and understanding. They even give out study sheets and assignments if you need extra help. Plus, they hold live lessons where you can practice and play games like Kahoot. The only downside is that they can take a while to respond to webmails. But, if you're patient and respectful, they'll help you out. And, they offer really generous grade recovery options, which have saved my life.

The only issue I have with Connections is that sometimes the material covered in the lessons isn't on the quick checks. For example, I've had lessons on triangles, but the quick check was on circles. It's confusing and I wish they would sort it out. Also, I think there should be more resources for help on the lessons since not everyone learns in the same way. And, the quick checks can be a bit overwhelming. I don't think we need them on every single math and science lesson.

Overall, I really enjoy Connections Academy. It's so much healthier and better than regular school. I suffer from anxiety, ADHD, and depression, and a lot of it stemmed from being in regular school. But, with Connections, I can take breaks whenever I need to. Plus, I like being able to go ahead for the next day so I can have more free time for myself. Live lessons are optional, which is great, and there are clubs you can join. The students are nice, too. Overall, I'd rather be in Connections than regular school any day.

Should you enroll in Connections Academy? Take this quiz and find out!

Question One: Do you want to work at your own pace?
1. I don't mind staying on track with the pace of my teacher and peers.
2. Sometimes I wish my teacher would spend less or more time on a subject.
3. I wish I could go slowly or quickly, my teachers don't match my pace at all.
4. I feel like I really need more control in how much time I spend on each subject.
5. I need to freeze time there and here, and speed it up in some classes ASAP.

Question Two: Are you independent or willing to become independent?
1. No way, my hand is up like 24/7. Even if I know the answer I still bother my teacher.
2. I can go an entire class without interaction from my teacher, but prefer NOT to.
3. I would like to have my teacher there if I need her, but I'm ok being solo.
4. I like the challenge of taking things alone. I'm ok with being independent.
5. I don't need anyone, mckay? I believe in tackling things alone first.

Question Three: What do you think of the high-school experience?
1. I love the noise of a crowded cafeteria, seeing my teachers everyday, and fire drills.
2. I like pancake days where the entire school gets together, but it's not too important.
3. I'm alright with the field trips, proms, and graduation Connections A. Can offer.
4. I'll go to the field trips the virtual school offers, but it doesn't bother me at all.
5. I wish we had less assemblies and more time for instruction and class.

Question Four: Do you have some talent or ambition that you wish you had time for?
1. No, all that I have going on is my school work, chores, dinner, walking my dog.
2. I like doing community service, but it's no big deal.
3. I wish I had time to get a job and make money, learn to drive, volunteer at the shelter.
4. I figure skate professionally and I'm on the swim team. I have practice each day at 12pm.
5. DON'T even get me started on all the things I wish I could do but can't because of my fixed 7am to 3pm schedule.

Question Five: How important is your social life?
1. I never want to be separated from my friends or I want to make friends in public school.
2. Seeing them is important to me, but I could always make new ones.
3. I'm ok going to field trips and joining clubs to meet friends from my virtual school.
4. I'm pretty introverted, and I don't mind not seeing my friends anymore.
5. Introverted isn't even close. I'm a kermit and I like being alone, so netflix on please.

If you chose mostly 1's and 2's: You feel some attachment towards the brick and mortar school experience, and you value classroom interaction. You should consider staying where you are. Perhaps a virtual school isn't the best idea for you.

If you chose mostly 2's and 3's: You are sort of on the 'line', either option works for you but you should definitely weigh the Pro's against the Con's and ultimately decide what would make you happier and more succesful.

If you chose mostly 3's and 4's: You should consider learning more about your local virtual school, it looks like it could be a good fit for you.

If you chose mostly 4's and 5's: I would highly recommend considering a virtual school. It looks like the cons of virtual school don't bother you at all which is important!

Connections Academy is a virtual school for K-12 students. There are public and private options, and I believe mostly every state has a program. Students work independently for 28 hours (8-12) a week, or 22/less for K-7. You have access to teachers, but for the most part you are solo in a distraction-free environment so that you can work at your own pace.

The staff is friendly and always there to help. They respond in a timely fashion and are straight-forward. They are here for you, so don't hesitate to reach out or call.

The classes can be as hard or as easy as you make it. If it's hard you can always webmail a teacher, visit their Live Lesson (explained later) room, or google. Khan Academy, youtube videos, you name it. If it's too difficult they offer foundations courses or regular classes. If it's too easy, then ask to bump up the challenge and consider enrolling in Honors or AP.

In Live Lessons, as the name implies, you enter a chatroom ran by your teacher where you can socialize with fellow students and learn or review topics in your class. Usually each class has one once a week, and they are an easy way to being succesful. They are also a lot of fun.

For the first year, I declined because having the luxury and freedom of being able to do your classes at 9am or 1am, for me, meant a lot of procrastination. It is very easy to give into temptation and chill all day, but discipline is a habit you practice and build up. For my second year, I grew and began to mature. I took my education seriously and got high honor role. I stopped waiting until the next day or week to turn in assignments. As you can see, your attitude determines which way your growth will go.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to brick-and-mortar school just to see my old friends again. I fell out of touch with them ever since transferring, and for any teenager or child no matter how introverted you are, the experience of going to class and laughing at a meme your teacher posted or gossiping with your best friend is what life is about. Memories and socializing. Of course with socializing comes downsides too. Virtual schools are a safe-haven for individuals who have suffered bullying, don't find school safe anymore, have anxiety, et cetera. In some of my classes, the students were a pain in the calves and hindered my education (non-stop chatting, making teachers wait for them to shut up, etc), so being in a distraction-free zone actually helped massively.

If you took my quiz and scored high (3's, 4's, 5's), and you have months thinking it over, then try it out. You can always return back to your brick & mortar school if all hell breaks loose. Take this decision seriously and discuss it with your parents.

My daughter was enrolled in Connections Academy for her fall Freshman year. She started about 6 weeks into the school year, the teachers expected her to be completely caught up with all courses before Thanksgiving break or she would be subject academic probation. The teachers didn't give any leniency to the fact that she was behind over 200 lessons from all 8 courses. They wouldn't answer her emails or phone calls or even my calls. So with the help of myself, her step dad, abd her grandparents we helped her with figure out how todo the assignments. Teachers graded her lessons, gave her faiing grades then made her redo assignments but still really never explained how to do them. So when I decided to unenroll her and put her into K12. When K12 requested my daughter's transcript from Connections Academy, Connections Academy had put that my daughter never was enrolled in their school and had no credits. MY DAUGHTER WAS ENROLLED. I have the emails and so does my daughter. Connections Academy lied on a FEDERAL DOCUMENT. My daughter had to repeat her Freshman year because of Connections Academy lies.

I DONT APPROVE OF THIS SCHOOL.

I WILL NEVER SEND ANYONE TO YOUR SCHOOL

This school is pretty good, but there are some things that could be better. I finished high school after being in this school for like 7 years. If you have trouble sleeping or getting up early, then this school is perfect for you. However, there are some issues that I want to talk about. The workload is huge, like really huge. I know someone who went to a good college and she saw the workload and was shocked. We are young people, we like to get out and enjoy our lives, you know? And not sit at home all day doing school work. When I was in public school, it was much different.

The math courses are not a good fit for the online school. It is very lousy on how they teach it. It is very vague which you have to result in watching YouTube videos or research the type of math or possibly having a tutor. Teachers can be very rude at times. When I was in this school, I have had these panic attacks or just get anxiety when it is time for CBA's. The teachers get a bit rude when you get a single question wrong but if you get others right you still get credit and pass.

Now the worst part about this school is that you can be ACCUSED of cheating when you didn't. First of all, literally 99% of the students in this school or online ones in general cheat anyway. And the teachers know it. They are just in it for the money. If a student is asking a question on a website that is on the test and gets the answer from that person on that website and gets away with it, then if you actually answer the question correctly and legitly, and the teachers find that internet question, they will give you a zero for the test. That is absolutely absurd so if one actually cheated then the other gets in trouble. But of course, there is nothing you can do about it. If you have a good argument it doesn't matter.

Online school sounds great in the mind, but in the end, is it truly better than public? The material is really well done, but the workload is too much. The math courses are not a good fit for the online school, and the teachers can be rude at times. The worst part is that you can be accused of cheating when you didn't. Overall, this school is good, but there are some things that need to be improved.

My son has been enrolled in Minnesota Connections Academy for a long time, and we were excited to transfer to Coastal Connections when we moved to Florida last month. However, we faced some difficulties during the enrollment process. Enrollment was closed for the fall, but we were told we could enroll him for the spring semester. Unfortunately, his immunization record was refused because it was not on a Florida form. It was quite surprising because Minnesota does not use Florida forms. We had to make him a pediatrician appointment to get a new physical and the immunizations transcribed to the Florida form.

Just this week, I confirmed with the enrollment department that Coastal Connections did not have a student cap, and I was fine to wait until his scheduled appointment next week. However, I was shocked to receive an email yesterday that the school had placed a cap on enrollment, and no more students could enroll for the next semester. It was quite frustrating because I had confirmed with them just a few days ago that there was no cap.

To make matters worse, I was offered an invitation to enroll my child in Pearson Academy (the private Connections program) at a generous 50% off. The 50% off value leaves me paying a tuition of $2,000 for spring semester to keep my son enrolled in a program we have attended for the past 6 years. The private school will not provide any of the IEP/IHP services my son has received from Minnesota Connections. I will now have to pay for those too.

All of this when the enrollment office confirmed with me last night that they could indeed see all of the conversations I have had with them regarding my son's transfer. And still, the answer is too bad for me. I will have to pay up to stay with the program. Let me reiterate. I was told Monday I was fine waiting to submit the last two forms until after my son's appointment with the pediatrician next week. "The school does not have a student cap." The very same week I get an email that the school has implemented a cap, and I must pay to keep my son enrolled in online classes.

They further acknowledge that they can see the documentation of this conversation, but will not honor their word. It is quite disappointing because we have always been so happy with Minnesota Connections. This has really shattered our trust in Coastal Connections. Despite all these issues, we are still hopeful that our son will receive a quality education from Connections Academy.

This is our second year with Connections Academy, and we have had mixed experiences with the Special Education teachers. Last year, my son had Mrs. Davies as his teacher, and she was fantastic! She took the time to get to know my son and made sure that all of his academic needs were met. However, this year has been a complete nightmare with Mrs. Chagnon as his teacher.

My son has an IEP, and the accommodations were not being made to his curriculum. I tried to advocate for my son, but Mrs. Chagnon refused to listen to me or put the accommodations in place. As a result, my son fell behind and became overwhelmed. I reached out to the Special Ed Director several times, and with their assistance, the accommodations were finally put into place in October.

It is frustrating that one teacher can refuse to read about the children on her caseload and not follow their IEP. It is the child's right to have the necessary accommodations in place, and it is disgraceful to set them up for failure. I have asked for Mrs. Chagnon to be removed from my son's team, but I was told no. We do not trust her and will not take the risk of her continued resistance in providing the accommodations he is entitled to.

It is unfortunate that the negligence of one teacher can deeply affect a student's academics. Therefore, we are now researching other online programs my son can transfer to, so he can complete this school year. Overall, our experience with Connections Academy has been mixed, but we hope to find a better fit for our son's needs.

I'm a parent of a 7th grader and my student has been with Connections Academy since 2014, when they were in 3rd grade. Let me tell you, the struggle is real. These poor kids are working their tails off and getting called lazy, which is beyond frustrating. My child works a lot of hours and barely has any time to relax and enjoy themselves, except for bedtime. This year has been overwhelming for them. Their grades are still good, but they have had to sacrifice so much to achieve them. They work 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and even work through vacation days just to keep up.

The math curriculum this year has been crazy! The curriculum states that they should do 2 quizzes, after a couple quick checks, and then they'll have a test and sometimes 2 tests. Then, let's not forget the required imagine math work lessons that need to be completed. This is on top of all their other classes. When they get stumped, the lessons pile up and a call to the teacher never gets returned.

My child has worked so hard to get where they are. They have been an honor student for quite some time and are in the NJHS. But this workload... whew, it's too much for any child. They aren't lazy kids if they are in this school, I assure you. One lesson alone can take an hour to do if it's done thoroughly. If they have a portfolio due, well... they are screwed. This is too much. Believe the kids who are stating this school has stressed them out.

I have recruited quite a few parents that were interested and I have yet to find any out of 20 parents that found it reasonable to stick with because their lives were impacted so severely by keeping up with their children's break-downs over accomplishing and overcoming hardship. These are grade-school kids, no wonder kids don't have lives anymore, why they're so bitter and glued to technology to find solace in their world.

I also want to add that the field trips are a huge joke... they are basically like you and your kid going on a scheduled trip alone. There is no socialization or togetherness. Kids scatter close to their parents and barely talk to each other. If you go on a field trip, be assured that you will be behind in your day lessons. So, why bother having a day of fun when you risk the lessons getting behind?

Really, Connections Academy, do something about this huge overload. Just because kids are getting older doesn't mean that you have to treat them like robots.

Me and my son decided to give Connections Academy a try because he really wanted to be homeschooled. I admit that I didn't do enough research before enrolling him, but I'm not really liking it so far. It feels like there's just too much school work to do. They encourage you to give the kids little breaks in between, but when I do that, the lessons end up being super long. They even added an extra credited class that I feel should be an elective, but instead it's a required class.

My poor kid is already doing his basics of Math, Science, English, History, and P.E. But no, that's not nearly enough. They decided to throw in a formal ART class as a required class. I'm not talking about a few little art pieces here and there, but an actual Art class that you would take in HIGH SCHOOL. This means learning about the history of art and having to make art pieces, along with submitting book reports on the history of art. I feel this is very excessive for a 5th grader, but it doesn't stop there. They're also requiring the kids to learn computer science on top of everything else. My son is feeling overwhelmed with how much he has to do.

Even as a parent, I feel overwhelmed trying to keep up, and I'm a single mom. So yeah, it's going to be difficult for me to keep up anyway, but the type of jobs I have make it easier for me to work with him. I've asked the teacher for more help with my son as he's struggling with math. Don't get me wrong, his teacher is doing a lot and has been helpful, but I feel that if they know the students are going to struggle with a new subject like decimals, they should have more live lessons to break it down for the kids. But they expect the parents to teach all of that. I expressed that I need extra help in teaching this to my son as I have learning disabilities in math. I'm having my son be helped by family and friends as well as Connections Academy. The teacher reassured me that I'm doing everything I'm supposed to, but yet my son is still struggling.

Well, he did a live lesson with my son and the other students, and then he admits that a lot of the students are struggling to understand decimals. Why are they throwing out homework without explaining it first? I think it would be far more effective if they had the teacher live breaking down and explaining decimals, and then have parents and kids working together on decimals. Then they could touch base with the students and see where they're at. Overall, I'm not really impressed with Connections Academy so far.

I decided to enroll my daughter in Connections Academy because she was experiencing social anxiety and stress in public school. However, after completing the first semester, my daughter started to feel anxious about the school and didn't like it. I checked her work and found that her essays were complex and professional, and she wasn't copying anyone's work. She's smart for her age, but she was getting anxiety from being in public school, so we thought Connections Academy would be a good alternative.

Unfortunately, my daughter started to feel stressed and cry knowing she had to go back to doing her work like a slave. She hates it, and we thought it would be better since she's really eager to start college even at her 10th-grade level. I know my child is intelligent, and I know a whole bunch of parents who sign their kids up know the same thing. But it hurt me seeing her breaking into tears and having anxiety attacks. She's smart, and I hate seeing her feel like she's anything less.

The live lessons don't seem as helpful, and they seem like a waste of time. We are enrolled in Connections Academy California, and we aren't happy. After a while, my daughter started to lose it, and she would get stressed and cry knowing she had to go back to doing her work like a slave. She hates it.

There are students who don't want to talk to people and would rather do their work and know they are keeping good grades, but they're still required to talk to someone. It didn't work for my daughter. She would get anxiety from even seeing phone calls, and she didn't want to talk to any teachers. She understands that they're her teachers, but she doesn't want to talk to them because it stresses her out.

She had talked to one of her teachers before, but she started to get anxiety after the first time she talked. She was hounded with questions on a whole bunch of things, and students aren't supposed to remember every little word and detail as long as they understand the material. She was crying after that phone call because she felt humiliated and felt like she was being seen as an idiot because of certain things.

So, sorry Connections Academy, you made my child feel worse. If you're considering enrolling your child in Connections Academy, I would suggest thinking twice. While the curriculum may be good, it's not worth the stress and anxiety that it can cause. My daughter is happier now that she's back in public school, and she's made friends who love and miss her. They know the horrible way she feels, and they want her to go back for her own good.

If you're a parent with a busy schedule or a child who struggles with attention, you might want to think twice before enrolling in Connections Academy. I attend Indiana Connections, and it's been a nightmare. My parents thought it would be better for me, but it's not. The kids in the electives are passionate, which is usually a good thing, but if you're different from them, they'll likely cast you out. It happened to me in my game class when the teacher asked about social media. Everyone said no, but I said yes. They claimed it was "more trouble than it's worth and full of stupid drama." Some of that may be true, but not always. None of them reply to anything I talk about anymore.

I feel stressed out all the time. Lessons only get one day for completion, and it's hard to get them done. Some people might say it's good that they're pushing me, but it's not. It makes me irritable and mean. When I was in public school, I was happier and friendlier. Now, when my parents ask me to do something, I wish they'd leave me alone because I have too much work to do.

Not to mention, they expect parents to be learning coaches and be involved 24/7. Attendance has to be recorded every day, and your child is expected to spend a regular school day's amount of time on the site. But in reality, most lessons take much more than an hour to do if you want to do them the "right way."

There's little to no communication with other students outside of live lessons. Even at public places, they only talk to those who talk to them first. I understand they might have anxiety, but even the ones who don't blatantly have it don't talk to anyone.

The lessons are overly hard, too long, and the time limits on tests make me jittery. I can't remember what the answer is, so I resort to cheating sometimes because I can't look at the book and find time to get the answer right.

In conclusion, if you don't have time to watch your kid, don't want to see them stressed out and depressed worse than they were before, don't want them to fail because they can't keep up, or any of the other things mentioned, please do your kid a favor and leave homeschooling to superheroes.

My son went to Connections Academy in Colorado for almost two years. He was in 10th grade last year and the first semester of this year for 11th grade before he was withdrawn by the school. His first year doing online schooling wasn't too bad. It took him a little while to adjust to the change, and the only issue we had at the beginning of the year was his assignments not going through when he was completing them. That happened only for the first month, but his homeroom teacher was helpful, and once we communicated the problem to her, it was fixed, and we didn't have any more issues after that. What she did, I don't know.

This year was a completely different story. My son would do the assignments, and it would show complete on his end, but nothing was coming through on my end to mark as "complete." So lessons started to pile up and become overdue, which would then put him in alarm status because it looked like he wasn't doing his work. I watched him complete a couple of assignments, and sure enough, it showed submitted on his end, but nothing was popping up on my end to mark as complete. I watched him do one assignment three times before it finally went through and allowed me to mark it complete.

We tried to communicate this issue with his homeroom teacher, tech support, and the assistant principal, but zero help. Of course, the school accused him of not doing his work, skipping lessons, and so forth. I received a VM from the assistant principal, called him back, and had to leave him a VM, no response back. Lessons with attachments he would submit, and the documents would come up blank. He had to submit a couple of documents to me a number of times before the document would finally come through.

First semester this year was a nightmare for my son because he had to do double work to get everything through so that he could pass! Meaning he was having to do the same assignments over again. Which he did, over winter break, and passed all of his finals. Now, if he really wasn't doing the work or putting an effort towards his assignments, do you really think he would have passed his finals? Probably NOT.

Teachers do not respond to webmails in a timely manner, no communication whatsoever, and no faith in students. All my son got was, "you're just not doing your work" when he would try to explain what was going on. He sent screenshots to prove he was doing the work, no response. What else can he do?! So now they have withdrawn him, and now I am having to scramble and try to find another school so he doesn't fall behind.

With this experience, my son wants to go back to a traditional school for his last year of HS. We tried the online thing because the schools in our area are crappy. Thanks for the horrible experience Connections, appreciate it!

My kid is in 9th grade at Connections Academy and I want to share my thoughts about this school. To be honest, I'm not sure if it's good or not. My child used to go to public school until 3rd grade, but I decided to homeschool her because of her attention and anxiety issues. She was doing well grade-wise, but we were both unsure about what to do for high school. That's when we saw Connections Academy advertised and decided to give it a try.

Now, let me tell you about our experience. Connections Academy is interesting, but it's not what we expected. Instead of being educated, my daughter spends most of her time in front of the computer. The scheduling is set up in a way that she could easily spend 8 hours a day just taking tests and quizzes. Her Biology class is outdated and consists of just tests and videos. Algebra and English are just quizzes and tests. Spanish is the worst, with a terrible curriculum and no book to follow. History class is dry and the tests are timed and cover enormous amounts of chapters. Even Physical Education is done sitting at a computer, which doesn't make sense to me.

In short, Connections Academy is not a place for education. My daughter is left to self-teach herself everything and find classes online to patch up the holes in the curriculum. It's merely a place to pass tests and learn how to sit at a computer all day.

What Connections advertises is not what you get. There's no communication between students and teachers, unless you email them, but it's still difficult to communicate. If you want a public education for your children, I recommend sending them to school where they can have face-to-face interaction with teachers and peers. The clubs are also a disappointment, as they're run so poorly that you have to see it to believe it.

I'm not giving Connections Academy a bad review because my daughter is doing poorly there. She's in a mixture of honors and regular classes and has all A's. I'm giving my review because I wish I had read a fair review before signing up for this school.

Yes, Connections Academy is free, but you get what you pay for. I'm going to withdraw my daughter after the semester ends because she's starting to hate school, which was never my intention when I enrolled her at Connections. It's a sad situation.

I've been attending Connections Academy for about three-quarters of the first semester, and let me tell you, it's been a rough ride. The school claims that you can work at your own pace, but that's a complete lie. Every day, there are around six to seven lessons to complete, and if you fall behind, you'll have a mountain of work to catch up on. I'm currently 18 lessons overdue, and I had to use my entire three-day Thanksgiving break to try and catch up. It's been a nightmare.

To make matters worse, I have ADHD, which makes it difficult for me to focus. My math teacher, who I won't name, insists that we work in MATHIA, but it's been completely useless for me. The principal even said that the program will be trashed at the end of the semester, but my teacher still insists that it's important. It's frustrating because I'm struggling to keep up with the workload, and the program isn't helping at all.

The stress of the workload has also caused me to lose touch with my friends. I simply don't have the time to hang out with them anymore. Some of my teachers are good, but others are terrible. I get bombarded with emails every week about temporary 0's, and it's always the same message, even from different teachers.

My homeroom teacher, who teaches English and Social Studies, is helpful, but my art teacher, who I'll call Miss 2, is the worst. I have three overdue lessons in art, and she's failed me with an F and 22% because of it. She even sent me an email titled "Academic Intervention," claiming that she called me, but she didn't. She called a random number that the school had on file, and now some stranger knows my name. It's ridiculous.

I'm currently 25 lessons overdue, and I have to work through my Christmas break as well. I'm failing three classes and have 32 overdue lessons. If I stay at Connections Academy through high school, I won't have a chance of getting into a good college. It's been the biggest mistake of my life, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Look into a good public school or try K12 instead. I'm hoping to switch to K12 for the next semester and get away from Connections Academy.

I would like to know why in the art/music/technology subjects the curriculum uses she and her when the refer to a student. My grandson would also like to know why his teachers always call him a her or a she in emails and texts having seen him in live lesson and knowing perfectly well that he is unmistakably a boy. This slight mishap is a way to push an agenda that I was assured was not being practiced in the online charter school. I'm all about inclusivity but not by excluding another group. It is not hard to say he/she, his/her, they/ them is they want to go the cheaper, time saving route. Crt and sel are 2 big reasons I keep him out of public schooling and this "school" falsely advertised their separation from this nonsense.

I highly recommend avoiding this school at all costs.
And it's clear I would never recommend you to involve your children in this mess.
I don't know who these programs were made for, but it's not for average and ordinary people, for superheroes, probably, who have 37 hours around the clock instead of 24.
You'll be thrown into a lot of work and you will dig into it without having enough time to make everything right. Think twice whether you want to spend your time and money on this.

I have doubt and lots of questions regarding teachers' qualifications and professionalism. I think they don't reach the highest level to be called the best ones.
I'm myself a top-rank teacher and know what standards exist.
I just wonder what the teachers really do if most of the lessons are held online? How they help our children to understand if they don't get something?
After each lesson, I have to explain and answer all of my son's questions, because he's interested. I have nothing against it, it's great, but I pay to your teachers as well, I want them to participate as well and to do their job properly.

Thank you.

Sarah Willson

I saw a lot of good reviews about ConnectionsAcademy and I'm actually shocked that they exist! My sister is using this ConnectionsAcademy service and she hates it a lot. She said that teachers are not so polite to students and that lessons are really boring and she doesn't get that much of a new information.
I bet all the positive reviews are fake, there is absolutely nothing positive in ConnectionsAcademy!

Don’t use the website www.connectionsacademy.com. My friend’s son couldn’t graduate from this school, ’coz they provided bad ad and their virtual school turned out to be real scam. Waste of money and time. Now this boy will start the simply school. They didn’t provide a lot of new, and they didn’t teach people. So please, be careful if you choose the, and share your comments about it.

I'm in Connections Academy and I am now getting failing grades in classes I was passing (or would have been passing) in public school. They give false advertising by saying a child can go at their own pace, when in all honesty, they cannot. I'm a slower worker, but I turn in A work because I make sure I understand what I'm doing instead of just speeding though it. My teachers didn't care about that. When my homeroom teacher would contact me, she would push lower classes because of a lighter workload, but without the things to challenge me. There is also no personalized curriculum, as advertised. LiveLessons also just seem to be a waste of time.

My child can not graduate this year due to Connection Academies lack of communication and misrepresentation.Most of the teachers sit at home doing other things like watch TV rather then answer their phone and BE A TEACHER! Their solution is pull your child out, they blame the child by saying "must not be a good fit" they REFUSE to take responsibility as educators! Do not be fooled by their lies!They costed my child and many others the graduation day these students worked so hard to achieve.When is America going to stand up for the future of our children? My child had dreams but this school taught him how to fail and that he should drop out and give up! You people should be ashamed of yourselves for calling yourselves "Educators".