Timika S Chambers

Willamette Connections Academy: An Answered Prayer

Posted on October 3, 2023     Leave a Comment

Hi there,

The environments we choose for our children can foster growth or stagnation. In the summer of 2021, the Universe answered my prayers In the summer of 2021, the Universe answered my concerns and prayers about our children’s educational experience.  My children are no longer attending Willamette Connections Academy. Still, I wanted to share my experience with Connections Academy to share how the tuition-free online public school helped our family and the power of prayer. 

In 2019, before the COVID pandemic, my son was in the second grade, and my daughter was in Kindergarten. Both were in their 2nd school since our move to Oregon. I could tell they were unhappy and often received pushback from our daughter about going to her school. In addition, our children experienced bullying-type behavior (racist remarks and physical violence) in their schools. Although I volunteered and attended many school events, lunches, and parties with my children, I felt like an outsider regarding their education. Communication was sometimes not accurate, friendly, or timely. I didn’t know what my children were learning and how they were progressing until parent-teacher meetings or report card time (mostly report card time). I was often shocked by how some staff spoke to the students. In addition, before enrolling our children into their new district schools, a district employee told me our children could take Spanish at their prospective schools. I was excited to learn about our children’s opportunity to learn one of the languages on my bucket list. But shortly after starting their new schools, I learned that there was no way our children could take Spanish. 

When the Coronavirus storm hit in 2020, my husband and I utilized the momentary shutdown as an opportunity to homeschool our children. As the primary homeschooler, I developed a routine I thought would best meet our children’s needs. Then, during the summer of 2021, I wondered if I was meeting my children’s intellectual needs and how to do that consistently. What books should I buy? How much will they cost? How can we incorporate more socialization into their lives? I set my subconscious mind to seven major concepts and the ones gathered over the past year and discussed them with my husband. I wanted:

1. A safe environment for our children to learn.
2. Our children to excel in education.
3. A program that would enhance character development and intellect and help them fulfill their divine purpose.
4. Quality socialization opportunities. My husband, too, had concerns about their socialization skills.
5. Teachers who encouraged and supported them.
6. To know what our children were learning and intervene early and appropriately.
7. Accurate, kind, and timely communication from the teachers.

Then, my husband mentioned that we should research online public school programs. While living in Ohio, we discussed the potential of putting our children in an online school. I narrowed my selection to two programs, K-12 and Willamette Connections Academy (Oregon-based programs). The deal breaker was how polite, accurate, and informational the Willamette Connections Academy’s staff was. I also learned that our children would have two live lessons instead of one, a recent addition, and would help with socialization.

Oregon’s Willamette Connections Academy was the answer to my prayers and then some, including exceeding my philosophy about schools and education. Here are ten critical concepts Williamette Connections Academy exceeded in providing our family.

1. Character/Intellect: Schools should reinforce character development, intellect, and purpose. Virtues like kindness were common themes and threaded throughout the courses and their lessons. Unlike now, my children didn’t hear racist remarks and foul language (for my son, often daily).
2. Kind and Respectful Teachers: The teachers welcomed my questions and answered accurately, kindly, and timely. They sometimes offered immediate, timely, and consistent help with concepts our children needed help with.
3. Multicultural Education: Both children could take various courses (languages, art, and music). Unlike a recent experience, Willamette Connections Academy communicated consistently about electives, and students chose their electives instead of the school choosing classes for them. They saw children who looked like them in their classrooms.
4. Balance and Flexibility: Our children had a life outside school (during day hours instead of just evening) and plan activities accordingly. For example, my son would do Freckle Math in the morning as his daily homework before he completed his classes. Unlike now, my children didn’t feel rushed to attend classes or take notes. My son has four minutes to get from one class to another. They could watch live lesson recordings if they missed class or wanted to watch how a teacher solved a math problem again and didn’t have to worry about teachers being upset about being asked questions. I scheduled homework throughout the day instead of completing homework after a complete school day. My children completed a small ELA assignment on Saturday mornings. 
5. Parenteral Involvement: Willamette Connections Academy understands that parents are ultimately responsible for their children’s education. I knew what my children were learning. I didn’t feel like I was chasing down the teacher or begging the teacher for reviewed content. Daily, I could see our children’s progress and intervene immediately. I had access to books, quick checks, quizzes, and tests to see my children’s progress and review concepts they needed support with. My husband and I received emails that our children received. Consistent communication helped bridge potential communication gaps.
6. Family Bonding/ Involvement: We could attend events with the school and as a family. My family and I had a lot of balance and flexibility. We could travel and attend our son’s late evening Taekwondo classes. We ate meals together, discussed life and purpose, and held daily morning devotion. Our children could delay their studies if they weren’t feeling well or needed extra time and not feel punished. Likewise, our children could finish their studies before we went to events or on vacation. Most importantly, I could see days and weeks ahead of lessons, quick checks, quizzes, projects, and tests.
7. Timely Reminders: Recently, my son said that Willamette Connections Academy prepared him more for his tests. We had weeks to prepare for upcoming assignments, quick checks, and tests. We received information about elective courses and clubs a month or so before the sign-up time.
8. Timely Communication with Teachers. I could email and call teachers to confirm or clarify assignment instructions and receive timely responses.
9. Socialization-Williamette Connections offered various clubs to join. We had various electives we could choose from. In addition, we had opportunities to participate in field trips as a family.
10. Education Shouldn’t Be Hard– Children shouldn’t be punished but feel empowered and treated respectfully. Connections used multiple teaching strategies (e.g., videos, personal stories, historical facts). Access to my children’s books, videos, assignments, and other school information helped me to help my children, especially since I graduated from high school over 30 years ago. I had easy access to answers to help ensure my children and I were on the right track. I loved the clear, often comical, concise, and short videos that explained (right to the basic math points) and reinforced math concepts.
11. Children and Families Work At Their Own Pace-Education should not limit a child if they are ready to move to the next stage of their learning. We had access to courses, quizzes, tests, study guides, and rubrics for upcoming projects. In most cases, as long as our children completed their previous lesson for a course, they could complete the next lesson if they wanted to. They could take breaks from their lesson whenever they felt the need to do so. We often went outside, watched a family movie, or went to the park for up to an hour.
12. Access to Information and Resources at our Fingertips- My children didn’t have to wait or ask the teacher for a study guide; it was already there, waiting for them to download, fill out, and use. I had immediate access to grades and could review quizzes to help my children with any material they needed more support. We had access to books and math answers to homework questions so my children could check their answers after completing them independently or for me to use if I was a little bit rusty in the area. I could review all of their lessons and materials months ahead.

The state we live in has no Connections, so our children are back to in-person school for now. Willamette Connections Academy helped prepare our children for their current school experiences. They know what school should be like and have advocated for themselves (with teachers, principals, and students). Like me, many families have expressed gratitude for Connections Academy’s services. I cannot underestimate the freedom, flexibility, and excellent education Willamette Connections provided to my children and me. I learned so much about history, how to educate my children, and how education should be.

You can check out the Connections Academy website if you are interested in your children attending a state-operated Connections Academy. Currently, Connections Academy is in over 30 states. 

Click the link below to access their website or Google “Connections Academy.”

School Login | Connections Academy
Log In to Your Connections Academy School. If you are a currently enrolled family, use the dropdown below to find your…www.connectionsacademy.com

As always, make this lifetime great because you still can!

Timika