Connections AcademyReviews 623

I had enrolled in our child in June and was told to not worry about the lengthy time to process the enrollment as the California schools would not start until September. Calling just about every week to learn of the status, I had been told over and over to not worry and that they currently don't have a cap on student enrollment. Waiting for tall the documents took forever, as they informed me that they had an influx of new enrollments but did not have a lot of staff at the time. Here is an idea, HIRE MORE! None the less, the school year started is fast approaching, still no word from them, in August, TWO months after the start of my enrollment process, I get an email that we will have to be put on a waitlist, What the heck?! They said that they reach capacity and now we are put on a waitlist. There is little communication, even when you have the chance to get in, and then they tell you that everything will be okay and then slam you with the fact that you have to now wait. As a result, I had to enroll him in another online school.

I've uploaded paperwork to them multiple times & somehow it's been lost. How? When I call there is always a 20-30 min wait. They have enrollment tasks divided into small portions and the people who answer the phones can't see the documents or answer questions. So, you end up waiting to speak to individual teams. They can answer only one part of the question & then transfer you to someone else. Seriously? If it weren't for covid, I'd switch to another online provider bc their enrollment system is a complete and utter mess. I'm very scared that the when we attempt to upload school work, it will be lost and that the education is going to be sub-par, confused, and just as much of a nightmare.

I pulled my Daughter from public High School in 2016 (personal issues within the family) I then enrolled her in Texas Connections Academy your child needs to be self motivated for sure she was 16 and with cap and gown walked with other Connections Academy students to get her Diploma. The Teachers are the Best they connect with your child more and you seem to have more access to them. I highly recommend especially now with Cov 19. If your child is self motivated and wants to learn. This is the school for you

We decided to have my son attend Connections Academy his junior year for the flexible schedule. My son up to that point had a 4.0 GPA. At the end of the first semester my son had earned all A's but his GPA dropped since grades of 90-92 are considered an A- at Connections and is not awarded the full 4 points toward the GPA. Could not recover the lost points and ruined a few scholarship opportunities. We transferred out his senior year so not to be penalized further.

I was one of those kids that didn't pay attention in school, didn't do homework and just hated school. I needed more help than most kids and never got it from school. That was untill Connections Academy! They got me the help I needed. Everytime I had a problem I easily called and got help. All the teachers were nice unlike the public school I went to. I had the mind set once I reached 16 years old I was going to drop out. Then my mother signed me up here and that thought changed. I finished school, graduated in "2012", which honestly never thought I would do and VERY grateful for them because A LOT of jobs want a high school diploma or G. E. D.
Thank You All at Connections Academy!

Connections Academy is the best online school choice. I have been a learning coach with Connections Academy for 5 years and my children absolutely love it. All the same joys of public school in the comforts of your own home. Easy to navigate website, extremely helpful staff and teachers. This program has wonderful tools and tips for parents and children to make learning fun and easy. I truly recommend Connections Academy to any family who is looking for online learning as a schooling option. My family and I are looking forward to many more years of learning fun with Connections Academy.

My daughter has never loved school, but 8th grade Connections has been a new level of hate. NOTHING let me repeat, NOTHING is done by the staff with the thought of "kids should go at their own pace" or "every kid is different, and has to have a variety of options to fit their needs" in mind. Due to past schools, my daughter has had an absolutely awful experience with teachers, so it doesn't help that your child will have to talk with them EXTREMELY often no matter how they are doing. Calling people over phone is one of my daughter's fears, and it's obvious that no staff member gives a flying f*ck about it. My 8th grade daughter is doing school work that I would have been doing in late high school, and although that may be because of change over the years, they should be able to teach it better. You may be thinking "What if your child is just dumb?" And I dont blame you, but mind that 3 of her friends have also recently started connections, and there parents have also said it has been a terrible experience with just about everything.

My apologies for the long paragraph or any grammar issues

I had been trying to enroll my son in Connections Academy for over a month. I'd sent in drivers license information and filled out the notarized document they requested and no contact or communication.
I turned in the immunization records from my childs pediatric clinic and I turned in his immunization records from his school. Those were denied without contact or communication.

When calling to try and figure out what could be done the communication was horrible, It's as if this school is going out of business and no one cares.

End of story. I had the correct information submitted but unfortunately the registration deadline has ended.

I feel like I dodged a bullet. This is not a company or school I would trust to help my child.

My son has been in this school for 2 years. Both years of hell. We thought by putting our son in an online school it would be great seiing as you can do everything on your own schedule. Which is not how it is. You are on their schedule He has an I. E. P. Which they could care less about. They do not honor it. He has ADHD. PTSD. And has always been in a SPED classroom. When we enrolled him, they said that the school has no problem with children witgh IEP's and SPED. They have held our son at the same standards as an honor student. He has no Idea what he is doing in algebra or chemistry. Basically F's down the line. When having meetings with the teachers. They tell us that they might call truancy in my city because he doesnt go to live lessons all the time. He takes meds that make him wake up late. They dont care about kids. They wont make modifications for your kid. The only reason we are still in this godforsaken place is we live in the city and the schools are real bad. So we are stuck til then. Run as fast as you can from tecca.

I think Connections Academy is perfectly fine if you're using it as a trial run before you decide if you're truly ready for an online academy. The key is; It should NOT be your permanent solution to homeschooling. I think that this is amazing if you want to try online school, but if you decide to stay within the realm of homeschooling, you should switch to a school that is paid-- Such as James Madison High, which I'm hoping to attend next year.

It isn't the best school. I will not sugar coat the fact that the math lessons are incredibly vague. However, most of the gaps that the systems have can be filled. EG, Since I can't use the math lessons, I use Khan Academy. I also purchased an Algebra 1 Review book for study. I basically don't use their math platform at all, and I come back to the lesson when I am prepared to do the Quick Check; A small test at the end of every lesson.

My teachers have always responded to my 'webmails,' and I've only had one issue with this when the school counselor didn't respond to my webmail for ~3 days. She eventually did and we worked things out pleasantly. The tests are easy if you study and read closely, and each lesson provides extra work to ensure that you understand the topic before you move on. Sometimes, they do throw in a random question in the Quick Check that you're almost certain not to know, which I do hope they fix. The unit tests are fine, everything is fine; As of this year, books etc are digitally provided. Live Lessons are essential for classes like math where the in-book explanation is very vague-- I use them whenever I need extra help in a specific area.

ALSO. The workload is NOT overwhelming if you stay up to date on your work. DO NOT fall behind; It's hell.

TLDR; Its great to use as a first go. I would not recommend it as your forever school.

The math lessons are awful. They are very vague and even if the topic is simple, they find a way to make it difficult. The teachers take a long time to respond to webmails. By the time they respond to a question your child has, they will already be behind. The live lessons are usually irrelevant to the lessons. The lessons do not teach you everything that must be done in the assignments. This goes for most of the classes, including the electives. If your child needs help and you can't help them, they are going to get bad grades. You are better off learning the material off of Google.

It's not a terrible curriculum it's the staff, The teachers and administration are terrible. When reaching out for assistance the condescending tones are offensive. I truly believe some staff are semi prejudice. I am currently in the process of disengaging my student for another learning platform. This school is terrible and their system needs an overhaul immediately. Learning coaches don't have enough access to say We are the teacher.

I graduated last year. It was quite the ride, and I'm thankful for having the opportunity. I constantly piled overdues, but I was able to pass at the very end because the teachers got out of their way to help me one on one for a week. Big smooch to all of 'em.
Some subjects were bull$#*! and many of the classes were heavily outdated. Some teachers took a lot of time to respond to webmails and phone calls. That's about all for my complaints though.
Thanks to you all. A tip though, teach college enrollment better without the need of a club. You should teach it to everyone anyways.

My daughter took online courses through tecca for 3 years. When she returned to public school it was a hastle getting her records... took a month to get a response. Not to mention, they gave her sophmore work as a freshman... she reported every week to her homeroom teacher, which was expected and never an answer... she left voicemails... i recieved emails saying they were going to call officials for a well being check... ridiculous... would not recommend

I can't speak about other states, but the Texas Connections Academy apparently is the only branch of this school that requires the principal to manually check off parents' names that attend the online pre-enrollment meeting. Attending this meeting is a requirement to complete enrollment. I attended the meeting & followed instructions, but the principal hosting the meeting did not check off my name. A week and 15 phone calls later, I can't move forward in the registration process because of their error. Mostly the representatives I have spoken with have been pleasant, but there is a huge communication problem between the state school staff and the main corporate staff. I have had 2 "tickets" submitted to address this issue, only to find out they were both sent to the wrong person. No one can help me except this one principal that never answers the phone. Meanwhile, my child is falling further and further behind--if he even gets registered at all. My advice is to register for this school with plenty of time to spare. If you are running behind & close to the registration deadline, find somewhere else.

I've come to change my review. When I first started I hated it more than anything. It was stressful. It STILL is very stressful. I had over 40 overdue lessons and was only a few months in. I finally came out of a huge depression and got them all done. Right now I'm struggling with most work but have no overdue lessons. Mrs. Drake is the sweetest teacher. Math is the worst, I had a domain not comeplete and had a 35 and when I finished it came up to 75. Mathia is horrible as well. I was put in avenues of hope also. It doesent help, just gives MORE work to STUGGLING students! Try not to fail core courses. Just saying that this is a lot more work than public school but once you get kinda used to it it gets easier. It's still not the best tho.

Our son started with Florida Connections Academy when it was part of the Florida Virtual School program, four years ago. He started kindergarten with Mrs. Schlenker, and then had Mrs. Helms, Mrs. Gill as teachers. This year his teacher is Mrs. Varner, but there's a whole team of teachers who offer support. We absolutely love the school, and the staff. They're quick to answer emails/texts, and are extra supportive.

The workload is manageable, as long as your student does the required lessons every day. Usually, when there's a Field trip, or we have a doctor's appointment, I make sure that we advance lessons, so that day's lessons are done, as it's easy to fall quickly behind if you don't do that. Except for core courses, the other lessons are spread out, so the students don't end up to do too much in one day. We work 20 hours per week, which is what is required for Elementary school students, though we might work a few extra hours when there are written portfolios requested by the teachers.

Overall the quality of the lessons so far is outstanding, and our gifted son has found the support needed to challenge him and keep him focused. The extra advance lessons provided by the Math and English teachers where he can view his peers, and join debates, and a classroom like environment is truly amazing.

I think Connections is a great school, but for it to work, students must put in the work needed so they can succeed at it.

They started my child 3 months late. She's a nonverbal autistic and only got an hour of speech therapy per week. The therapists are always switching up, so there is no way for a child to build any kind of relationship. They switched our case manager (the person responsible for organizing services) without notice. And now, they are prolonging giving me a referral to another school. All they care about is their funding... not your child.