Connections Academy

Connections Academy
Address
1001 Fleet Street, 5th Floor Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore City 21202 United States
Information
Type	Online
Established	2001
Founder	Barbara Dreyer
Website	connectionsacademy.com

Connections Academy is an online school provider for grades K-12. It is based in Baltimore^[1] and is a division of Connections Education, LLC, which is owned by the UK-based, publicly traded Pearson PLC. It supports public online schools for grades K-12 across the United States. A private online school, International Connections Academy,^[2] is also available to students who live abroad. Online schools are an alternative to traditional public schools.^[3] Similar to charter schools, they are subsidized by the state. Although they contract with many non-profit schools, they are not a non-profit organization.^[4]

History

In the Spring of 2001, Sylvan Ventures started a separate business unit to create a virtual school program. The company first began providing online school services to two schools in the Fall of 2002. In September 2004, Connections Academy was sold to an investor group led by Apollo Management, L.P. The company now operates public schools under management contracts from charter schools or school districts.

A new corporate entity called Connections Education was established in early 2011.^[5] In this same year, on September 15, 2011, Pearson, an international learning company, acquired Connections Education for in excess of $400 million.^[6]

Connections Education consists of two education-focused divisions including Connections Academy and Pearson Online & Blended Learning that serves educational institutions and other organizations with online learning solutions.

Awards

2016 & 2015 awards include:

• USDLA "Outstanding Leadership in the Field of Distance Learning" 2016 awarded to Amada Ebel, Executive Director, South Carolina Connections Academy^[7]
• Ohio Connections Academy recognized with a 2015 Momentum Award by Ohio State Board of Education, 2016^[8]
• Indiana Connections Academy Recognized for Counseling Program, 2015^[9]
• Lea Ann Lockard, Executive Director of Texas Connections Academy @ Houston, EdTech Leadership Award, 2016^[10]
• Dr. Patricia Hoge, Connections Education Executive Vice President of Curriculum and Instruction and Chief Academic Officer, USDLA Award for Outstanding Leadership by an Individual in the Field of Distance Learning, 2015^[11]
• Connections Education Named "Top Workplace" by The Baltimore Sun for third consecutive year, 2015^[12]
• Connections Education Awarded Renewed AdvancED Accreditation, 2015^[13]
• Connections Education's Connexus® education management system, GradPoint, and education technology online learning courses Win Tech&Learning Award of Excellence for Best Upgraded Products, 2015^[14]
• Connections Education Wins Three BESSIE Awards for Exemplary Educational Software, 2015^[15]
• Connections Education Middle School Art Wins CODiE Award—Honored in Best Arts & Creativity Solution category, 2015^[16]

See also

• Home School
• Internet
• Academy
• Academics
• Education

References

External links

• Official website
• AdvancED Accreditation Commission

Pearson PLC
Financial Times Group	The Banker fDi Investors Chronicle Money Management PWM Vedomosti (33%)
Pearson Education	Pearson School Addison-Wesley Dorling Kindersley Heinemann (outside US) Modern Curriculum Press Prentice Hall Scott Foresman Silver Burdett York Notes Pearson Higher Education Addison-Wesley Allyn & Bacon Benjamin Cummings Longman Prentice Hall Propero Pearson Professional Addison-Wesley Professional Adobe Press Apple Certified Allyn & Bacon Professional Cisco Press FT Press IBM Press InformIT New York Institute of Finance Peachpit Pearson Assessment & Information Prentice Hall Professional SAMS Publishing Pearson VUE Wharton Other Connections Academy Edexcel Pearson College Pearson Language Tests Wall Street Institute
Other	80 Strand Glen Moreno Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray Marjorie Scardino Penguin Random House
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