NC Connections Academy

[Murrayshire]

Has anyone used Connections Academy or know more about it than me!

 

It has just been approved for NC as a virtual public school to begin in the fall of 2015.

I am curious about this for my rising high schooler.

 

Any info you could pass on to me would be greatly useful as far as structure of lessons, teacher support, materials used, daily commitment, ease of use, and college ready.

😉

http://www.connectionsacademy.com/free-online-public-school.aspx

[Murrayshire]

Thanks again Plum Crazy!

 

[JBJones]

I'm trying to find info pertaining to CA, so I'm searching through old threads. My daughter has always liked routine and structure, and seems to be craving more and more structure as she nears high school. I'm wondering if Connections Academy would be good for her. It seems like the majority of people don't have a positive experience with online public school. I've, for the most part, already heard the bad. I'm interested hearing from people that had a good experience with them. Thank-you.

:bigear:

[MarkT]

I'm trying to find info pertaining to CA, so I'm searching through old threads. My daughter has always liked routine and structure, and seems to be craving more and more structure as she nears high school. I'm wondering if Connections Academy would be good for her. It seems like the majority of people don't have a positive experience with online public school. I've, for the most part, already heard the bad. I'm interested hearing from people that had a good experience with them. Thank-you.

:bigear:

I believe the courses are very similar from state to state.

Plum Crazy seems to have the most experience with using Connections Academy.

 

My DS' friend is using  K12-AZ for high school and his B&M teacher parents like it.

 

I have heard that they might have too much busy work.

[JBJones]

Thank-you, Mark T.

 

[JBJones]

My oldest used CA for 5th, 9th and 10th. He also likes to be able to check boxes and work ahead on his own block schedule. He liked it. I used it to get all of the non-core diploma requirements out of the way for his early college program, courses like health and PE. I've copied and pasted this quite a bit, so sorry if it's a bit choppy. 

 

What worked for him:

• He could work ahead. He finished Health in a couple of days, after getting approval from the teacher because he had an extra class on his schedule and wanted to free up that time. 
• You can see your entire semester plan at any time. I have to keep explaining to him how much of an advantage this is over B&M students. He can see that he has 2 unit tests and a portfolio scheduled in one day and plan accordingly. He was able to work ahead last semester just enough so that he only had to take one final a day. That gave him time to take one, prepare for the next one and not feel too overwhelmed. He can be a slow test taker (I plan to work on this) so his first round of finals was already going to be stressful. 
• He could work in a block schedule. He liked being able to spend all day on German and then spend all day on science the next. 
• His 10th grade year, he only had one Live Lesson (what they call a live class lecture) and found he actually missed them. In 9th, they were required for just about every class and he liked the interaction with other students and the teachers. 
• The planner and student home page gave him all of the links he needed. He would open up a tab for every lesson he planned to do that day and then close out the tab as he completed them. 
• They can see their grades and if they are on track for finishing on time or have overdue lessons.
• This is a con for me, but a pro for him. They hold the student's hand A LOT. I signed him up so that he would be held to someone else's standards on someone else's schedule. However, even in Honors classes, he had multiple chances to turn things in, fix things, and at the end of the semester crunch time, he suddenly had lessons altered or dropped so others in the course could get them finished. This can be teacher/state-dependent, the national teachers seemed a little more rigid, so it wouldn't surprise me if my state was a little more lax.They are pressured from the upper levels to get students to complete 90% of the semester. (Which is why I would never recommend enrolling mid-semester. They make them catch up to complete 90% of the lessons.) 
• He's found a couple of things CA taught him that helped make his transition to community college easier. The discussion forums he was required to do in CA, is common for college online courses. He's better at managing his time than some of the other students in his high school. 

It takes a certain type of student to thrive at CA. Independent, self-starter, motivated, and willing to work on time management.

Thank-you for responding. My daughter had a Dr.'s appointment so I couldn't reply until now.

Do the students have teachers for each subject? Is the student assigned a Guidance Counselor to discuss what classes to take, ACT testing, etc? I appreciate you giving me so much information. I'm really torn about what to do for high school; I guess if CA doesn't work out though, we don't have to continue past one year. Again, thank-you very much.

[City Mouse]

My DS has been in a CA school since 6th grade. He is now in 9th, and I agree with what Plum Crazy says.

 

I will add that families coming from homeschooling often have a slightly more difficult time adjusting that families coming from public school just because of the differences in school experiences. The structure and schedule can be challenging for some. Most of the "busy work" is not turned in or graded in any way, so a student who does not need the extra practice can skip over it, but it is there for the ones who do need it.

 

I will warn you that joing a brand new CA school can be much more challenging than joining a school that has been going for a few years. Online schooling can be as challenging to teachers as it is to students and families, and there is a steep learning curve the first year for teachers than can detract from the student experience.