OT/Experience with Connections Academy?

[Mkaz]

I posted this on the cb, but I didn't get any responses. Does anyone here have experience with Connections Academy? We were considering this last year, but we changed our minds. Now I am sorry that we didn't look into this further. Our children are not getting what they need from our public school system. I would love to hear about your experience with them, good or bad. Thanks.

 

[Mkaz]

No one here either?

 

[DawnM]

I don't have experience with this particular academy, but some of my friends have done private online schools with their kids and liked it. It is worth trying!

Have you looked into just homeschooling with your own curriculum at all?

Dawn

 

[Mkaz]

Thanks Dawn. It's good to hear that others like it. We haven't looked into anything else just yet. I was going to do that today. We just made the decision to homeschool within this past week.

 

[jme829]

Have you checked k12..they offer virtual academies in several states, We live in ohio so we use OHIO VIRTUAL ACADEMY (OHVA) who incorporates the k12 curriculum...This is our first year also (coming from catholic school and previously public school) and we really really enjoy it..Go to k12.com and click the k12 Options link at the top to see if your state participates. They provide everything you need and its free. Feel free to PM me for more info.

Jayme


ps...I see you're in PA,,,I think that is definietly a K12 state, I think thats where they are located actually...k12 was started by WIlliam Bennet, the former Secretary of Education for the Federal Government.

 

[Mkaz]

Thank you Jayme. I went on the k12 webiste and checked it out. I requested a brochure as well. They actually called me this morning to do a follow up, but I wasn't home. I was pretty impressed that they called. Once I get time I am going to sit down and write out a list of questions that I want to ask. I know I will forget something if I don't. Again, thanks so much for the information. I really appreciate it.

 

[DonaldDuckFan]

I don't know if you'll still check this since it has been a while, but I've been looking into the homeschooling in PA also. I've looked at the virtual charter schools, the one uses K-12 and the other uses the Calvert school for elementary and KC distance learning for high school. Just thought you might want to look into those also. Pennsylvania cyber charter school (which used to just do Western PA does calvert and PA virtual charter school does K12.

Amy

 

[Mkaz]

Thanks Amy. That's exactly what we are doing. Right now we are checking into Connections Academy and Pa. Cyber Charter School. They both have info sessions coming up, which we are planning to attend. We seem to be drawn to both of these cyber schools. I came across a chart that compared the cyber charter schools for 2004. They listed data such as the year it started, number of students, grades served, expenditures, percentage of students proficient in reading, math, and it compared the graduation rate as well. I know that this data may be slightly off the mark. However, we did use this as (sort of) a guide to gauge the schools. Pa. cyber Charter School has a rate of 68.9% proficient in reading, and 44.4% proficient in math. Connections Academy has 66.3% in reading, and 43.4% proficient in math. Public schools require that 45% of students be proficient in reading, and 35% in math. In addition to that, they both seem to offer they type of curriculum that our children need. If you would like, I can try and find the link again and post it for you. I just printed out the sheet with the information on it. I didn't bookmark the site.

Thanks again,
Kelly

 

[pixiedoodle74]

Hi. We live in western PA. This is my 7th grader's 2nd year in PAVCS (Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School). This is also the first year my second grader and Kindergartner have been in the school.
We were not getting what we needed from our public schools either. The kids and i really enjoy the cyber school. It uses the K-12 curriculum, which is great. The only negative we really have is the 7th grader's science. It is very hard. You as a parent/teacher do have a lot of support though. The teachers are very accessible.
We checked into connections, and decided on k-12, i think you just have to decide what is best for your family/situation.
We also really like the flexiblilty of the school. You can have school around your schedule.