Parents give Great River Connections Academy top marks

Following the completion of Great River Connections Academy’s (GRCA) first academic year, the virtual public charter school and its curriculum received very high marks among parents, according to a recent survey. In its 2019 Parent Satisfaction Survey, 94 percent of GRCA parents believe their children are satisfied with the program and 87 percent would recommend the online school to other parents.

Ninety-four percent of the parents believe Great River Connections Academy’s curriculum is high quality and 96 percent of parents believe the use of technology is improving the learning experience. In addition, 93 percent of parents are satisfied with the helpfulness of their child’s teachers.

“We expected our first academic year to be a bit of a learning experience not only for our parents and students, but also our faculty and staff,” said GRCA School Leader Jason Swinehart. “It’s gratifying to know so many of our families believe in our program and feel we effectively offer the tools and the individualized attention that enables students to learn and be successful.”

Ninety percent of parents are satisfied with the variety of learning activities Great River Connections Academy offers and 100 percent give high marks to the quality of the school events the students attend.

The annual survey also revealed parents’ various reasons for looking into Great River Connections Academy for their child, they include: desire a more flexible schedule (47 percent); dissatisfaction with local public school (42 percent); a safe learning environment (38 percent); avoid bullying (33 percent); want more involvement with their child’s education (24 percent); need accommodations for health concerns (21 percent); want personalized education (17 percent); and an accredited program (12 percent).

Great River 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]

Great River Connections Academy served nearly 1,000 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.GreatRiverConnectionsAcademy.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.