Chandler Online Academy - Chandler, Arizona

Hiroko

I am a parent with background in teaching. I’ve only experienced the traditional learning experience in a brick and mortar setting. Initially our child started Elementary Connect due to the Pandemic. Three years later, our child is still proud to be a COA Elementary Connect Hornet! Our child is absolutely thriving in this online learning community. This learning style is in line with her academic and emotional needs.

Every teacher she has had thus far, has challenged her, encouraged her, and above all else has made her feel like a welcomed and valued member of her learning community. I have had the pleasure of getting to know the teachers due to their attentive communication. They have given our child and us, such valuable feedback and support. You can tell they truly care about the students and their families.

Additionally, Elementary Connect has 2 of the most AMAZING specials teachers you could every ask for. They are the most dedicated specials teachers I have ever known. They work tirelessly to make their lessons engaging, fun, and inspire greatness from their students. Furthermore, they both create the most amazing after school clubs for the students! Our child has has the privilege of joining running club, jump rope club, arts/crafts/cooking club, ukulele club, and participated in their school musical. They really work so hard to enrich the lives of these students, and the students just adore them.

The teachers of Elementary Connect have made this online learning experience a wonderful one. They have all embraced what that “portrait of a learner” really looks like. We are so grateful for this close-knit community.
Thank you teachers of Elementary Connect for making our child feel safe, welcomed, and cared for.

We appreciate you all so much!

Kristean Alcocer

Very happy this option exists for our students in the district. My son decided to enroll full time during the peak of the pandemic and he never looked back. He is in 9th grade and loves it. He works at his own pace, he is self motivated and super organized. He did not enjoy waiting for others to finish work in the traditional classroom setting. He is moving fast through the courses now and is part of a couple extra curricular activities. Thank you COA staff for all you do. Go Hornets!

Shane Rowling

There seems to be an expectation that a parent can sit through the entire school day with each student. This is evident by parents being asked questions during live sessions. It is not self-paced as the entire day is scheduled. This does not work for families with multiple students. Rather than becoming competent with a single tool or piece of technology, numerous tools are introduced and the teachers are learning at the same time as students. Teachers have communicated that younger students (2nd grade and under) will not be able to navigate the tools without a parent. Lesson plans seem to be adopted from other schools or programs and this school is a conduit to those programs. The lack of creation of lesson plans is disquised by the assignment of large workloads that are unproportional to other school programs or the grade level. Teachers lack the training to know the difference between clear and concise communication and excessive email.

Nicole Moll

There is very limited help for the students. As a parent I felt like I had to be the teacher because my kid just wasn’t learning. Even when I had questions there was a limited window to chat with someone. I think if you’re very independent and self learner. Then this may go well for you. But for most teens. I don’t think this style of online is beneficial to their education.

Alyssa Reynolds (Alyssa R.)

Absolutely terrible, the format makes it difficult to navigate, theres a bug that they refuse to fix that reloads the page when you attempt to submit a file over 2 MB.
When taking the final to my AP US history course none of the questions would render. I didn't panic at first, I thought emailing my instructer with screenshots of the test not loading would allow him to give me more time or help me figure out a way to fix it; but instead he never responded to my email and disqualified my final for "sharing test information outside of testing area".
All in all, the site has issues loading and connection no matter what browser or network you use, the assignments end up being busywork if you cant submit them and the instructers dont care about their students.
I passed my AP US history AP test not because of COA, but because my friend who goes to in-person school studied with me and lended me their textbook.

Kelton “Lemonbean” Gilbert

My family had to buy another computer, and get one from the school, because we all have to work at the same time. There are 3 of us. All of us are struggling because we are not used to online school, and this site is designed for people who are. In in-person school, most assignments are busy work, easy stuff to get you through your day while still preparing you for bigger assignments. On COA, every assignment is a big assignment. Everything they ask you to do puts you at risk of carpal tunnel, having to type multiple paragraphs every single English assignment or having to READ endless paragraphs in Math, not understanding anything it says but still being required to solve every problem it just failed to teach you. My parents had to spend $100 every week for Culinary, and I can't even turn any of them in because I have to write an essay about every one, roleplaying a TV show contestant or a restaurant reviewer. I can't hold my attention on anything, and the site design is awful and claustrophobic. Not to mention they gave me 2 months to complete something like 100 assignments, each of which takes me an entire day to do if I can bring myself to do it at all. Thank you for failing me, COA, can't wait to see you after the ONE WEEK BREAK.

Delliona Johnson

This school is not good at all.
1. The front desk wasn't helpful.
Before quarantine, I called the front desk multiple times, because the district didn't clearly explain what we have to do. I thought the COA front desk would know, but it turns out that they knew little about what is going on.
2. Unhelpful teachers
Okay, there are very responsible teachers at COA, I love them, but there are teachers who are not that good. I am taking a math course right now, I need to understand this course to take an AP critical course. The thing is, it is so difficult to learn online without any help. You might say that I am not seeking help, but I DID. I read ALL of the contents in my math course, I watched YouTube videos, and I searched on the internet. These didn't help me at all, so I decided to ask my teacher about it. My AP Human Geo teacher is the most patient teacher I have ever met. She is always willing to help me when I am stuck. I asked my math teacher if he is free to have a quick meeting with me. I didn't force him to help me, but I thought he would reject if he is not free, but no, my teacher pretends he didn't see my emails and comments. He could've given me some excuses, like he is busy or something, but ignoring my messages is just rude, to be honest. He promised to have some live lab meetings in his welcome folder. I don't know if that happens with his other students or dislikes me for some reason when I have done nothing wrong. Not only that, he stopped replying to all of my emails. LOL, he is the reason why I am writing this lengthy review. I want to do this for a long time.
3. Horrible planning
The course planning is horrible. I was trying to review for my upcoming final exams, but I can't. The course doesn't let me go back to the previous units. Why can't we go back to the previous units? To move on to the next page, I have to actually click on the top instead of the bottom. Super inconvenient. When I took a course in the summer, its content wasn't like that. It caused so much confusion. When it came to the mid-terms, they didn't even have a plan. They even had a survey at the end of the courses, asking us what can be improved. Of course, nothing happened. I wonder why they are still there. I also took health. The course itself didn't teach anything, and it only has hyperlinks. The content of the math course is ridiculous. Despite being one of the most complicated subjects, there is only one page?

Jesus Lv

This school is not good they do not care about your kids so don’t go to this school