Parents Continue to Give Ohio Connections Academy Top Marks

It’s that time of year when parents and students start thinking about going back to school and may be considering different academic options for their children. Ohio Connections Academy (OCA), a leading provider of high-quality, highly accountable virtual schooling for students in grades K through 12, gets very high marks among parents according to its annual survey.

In its 2019 Parent Satisfaction Survey, 94 percent of parents believe their children are satisfied with the program and 92 percent would recommend online school to other parents. Parents praised Ohio Connections Academy for the program’s high-quality curriculum and the variety of learning activities provided. Ninety-five percent of the parents believe the use of technology is improving the learning experience and 93 percent agree the curriculum is high quality.

“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.”

Ninety-four percent of Ohio Connections Academy parents are satisfied with helpfulness of their children’s teachers and 91 percent believe the teachers improve the learning experience. In addition, 92 percent of parents are satisfied with the variety of learning activities Ohio Connections Academy offers.

The annual survey also revealed parents’ various reasons for looking into Ohio Connections Academy for their child, including: desire a more flexible schedule (51 percent); a safe learning environment (38 percent); dissatisfaction with local public school (35 percent); want more involvement with their child’s education (26 percent); avoid bullying (24 percent); want an accredited program (19 percent); want a more personalized education (18 percent); and need accommodations for health concerns (18 percent).

Ohio Connections Academy’s stellar parent satisfaction ratings stand well above public school ratings from the 50th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, in which only 70 percent of public school parents gave the public school their oldest child attends an “A” or a “B” grade.[1]

Ohio Connections Academy served more than 4,900 students in the 2018-2019 school year. Enrollment for the 2019-2020 school year is currently open 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 2019 survey was conducted from January 14 to March 1, 2019 by Shapiro + 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.

[1] The 50th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, Langer Research Associates, September 2018.