86 Percent of Parents Give Ohio Connections Academy Virtual Public School Top Marks

Ohio Connections Academy (OCA), www.OhioConnectionsAcademy.com, a leading provider of high-quality, highly accountable virtual schooling for students in grades K through 12, continues to get high marks from parents, a new survey shows. In its 2015 Parent Satisfaction Survey, 86 percent of parents gave the OCA online school program an “A” or “B” grade, and nearly 90 percent would recommend Ohio Connections Academy to other parents.

Parents gave the Ohio Connections Academy program high marks for the high-quality curriculum, the flexibility it provides students and the use of technology. Eighty-eight percent of parents reported that their children are making good academic progress, arguably the keenest evaluation of a child’s education. Ninety-six percent said they were pleased with the helpfulness of their children’s teachers, and specifically praised their responsiveness and accessibility.

Ninety-three percent of the parents also praised the Connections Academy curriculum calling it “high quality,” and nearly 83 percent are more satisfied with the program than their child’s/children’s previous school.

Other findings from the new report indicate:
• 92 percent of parents say their child/children are satisfied with OCA’s program
• 90 percent agree that the teachers improve the learning experience
• 91 percent rate the response time of OCA teachers as excellent or good
• 91 percent agree that they are satisfied with the variety of learning activities provided by the program
• 92 percent agree that the use of technology is improving the learning experience

The annual parent survey also revealed that parents’ top reasons for enrolling their students in a Connections Academy school include: wanted or needed a flexible schedule (43 percent), wanted a different environment from their current school (38 percent), desired for a safe learning environment (34%) and parents wanted more involvement with child’s education (25 percent).

“We are committed to providing the best possible educational experience for our students and their families. It is gratifying to know so many parents with students enrolled in Ohio Connections Academy have given our school such high marks,” said OCA Superintendent Marie Hanna. “This annual survey is one of the important tools we use to assess our online program and keep in touch with our families. We value the results and use them to enhance our program.”

“I greatly appreciate being involved and engaged in my children’s learning development. Ohio Connections Academy provides the platform allowing us to be involved and set up for success, having resources, supplies and guidance at our fingertips,” said Bree Anderson, of Dublin who has two children enrolled at OCA. “As a parent, it’s wonderful to be able to provide our children a positive education experience and comforting to know we will not miss any points of needful learning along the way by following the curriculum.”

Ohio Connections Academy’s stellar parent satisfaction ratings stand well above public school ratings from the 46th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, in which 67% of public school parents gave the public school their oldest child attends an “A” or a “B” grade. Further underscoring how pleased parents are with Ohio Connections Academy, 88 percent of the parents report that their children are enjoying the program.

Ohio Connections Academy served more than 3,200 students in the 2014-2015 school year. OCA is the only Ohio eSchool to have been rated excellent by the Ohio Department of Education. OCA has three teaching centers in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

Enrollment for the 2015-2016 school year is going on now and free information sessions are taking place across the state for families interested in learning more, meeting teachers and school representatives, and exploring the award-winning curriculum. Interested parents are encouraged to attend or learn more at http://www.OhioConnectionsAcademy.com.

Survey methodology
Connections Academy conducts the annual Parent Satisfaction Survey to find out how parents, guardians and Learning Coaches grade the program in several key areas. The 2015 survey was conducted from January 13 to February 28, 2015 by Shapiro and Raj, an independent market research company which created the questionnaire, collected the data, and tabulated the results. No individual responses were accessible to Connections Academy. Parents of all students enrolled at the time of the survey were invited to complete the survey online. A WebMail invitation was sent to each parent, and one response per household was submitted. Thirty-eight percent of 47,000 households with students enrolled in a Connections Academy school at the time of the survey responded to the survey.