K-12 online schools gear up in Iowa

Des Moines Register

Feb. 5

Officials launching Iowa’s first two full-time online public schools for kindergarten through 12th-grade students say they face the same challenge: Families are unsure of how online education works.

To help answer questions, officials with the Connections Academy and K12, two national companies partnered with districts to start the new schools, are in the middle of a series of meetings with families in the Des Moines area.

Officials from both companies are showing curriculums to parents and explaining how online education systems work.

“There’s a lot about full-time virtual school that is still kind of mysterious to people,” Allison Bazin, a spokeswoman for Connections Academy, said.

Connections Academy will open its first Iowa school, called Iowa Connections Academy, in the fall in a partnership with the CAM Community School District (Cumberland, Anita, Massena) in Cass County. The company currently operates virtual schools in 23 other states.

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