Online school to showcase program for parents to see

The school lends each family a computer and charges no tuition or fees.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ohio Connections Academy is offering parents an opportunity to learn more about its virtual public school program with a free hands-on informational Program Showcase from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at ITT Technical Institute, 1030 N. Meridian Road.
The online school is completing its third year of operation and serves more than 900 Ohio children in kindergarten through ninth grade, but will expand to include 10th grade in the coming school year.
The showcase will give interested families an opportunity to meet academy teachers and the principal and talk with parents of pupils currently enrolled. They can also participate in a demonstration of the school's online technologies and view its curriculum.
What will be covered
Other topics include organizing the home and day for the most effective schooling environment, how to balance your time when you have more than one child enrolled in the program and how community coordinators work to arrange field trips and extracurricular activities.
Because it is a public school, there are no tuition, fees or supply costs.
The school lends each family a computer, reimburses them for an Internet connection and provides all curriculum materials -- several large boxes per child of textbooks, workbooks and hands-on materials that make up the core of the curriculum.
The school also supplies all of the necessary software and free technical support to ensure the computer is working properly, and each pupil is also assigned a professional, certified teacher to oversee learning and assess student progress.
For more information about Connections Academy, visit www.connectionsacademy.com or call (800) 382-6010.