Online Public School Gets High Marks

SCIO, OR — Parents looking for alternative schooling options and greater schedule flexibility are highly satisfied with an online Oregon public school option, a recent survey shows.

Eighty-Nine percent of parents with students enrolled in the Oregon Connections Academy gave the program high marks in a third-party satisfaction survey.

Laura Dillon is Academy Outreach Manager. She says that although the academy is a stay-at-home program, curriculum and access to instructors do not suffer as a result.

“Students are schooling at home but we’re a public school," Dillon says, "So they’re receiving their materials, their curriculum, that meet state standards. They’re working with highly qualified, Oregon state-certified teachers.”

Dillon says there are no criteria to be accepted into the program- students from all walks of life and with all variety of reasons study through the academy.

“It benefits those students that need extra support. Being in the home environment, working with the teachers, it benefits students that need a flexible schedule, we have kids who are medically fragile in our school. It’s just a gamut, you know, just students that are needing some extra support, flexibility, and a high quality education.”

The Oregon Connections Academy is a charter school of the Scio (SY-o) School District. Those who graduate the program receive an accredited Oregon diploma, just as any other Oregon public school student would.

“We have live graduation ceremonies," Dillon says. "We had about 260 kids graduate this year. Great ceremony- walk across the stage, cap and gown, get the diploma, so everything, you know, that you would see in typically in a brick-and-mortar school.”

For more information about the Oregon Connections Academy, call 800-382-6010, or visit OregonConnectionsAcademy.com

If you see local news happen, call the Horizon Broadcasting Group News Tip Hotline at 541-323-NEWS, or email us.

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