Connections Academy

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

Connections Academy is a Baltimore-based division of Connections Education, LLC, which is owned by the UK-based, publicly traded Pearson PLC. The company offers online school for students in grades K-12. The online courses are an alternative to traditional public schools. Similar to charter schools, they are subsidized by the state. They also offer tuition-based online private schools internationally. Although they contract with many non-profit schools, they are not a non-profit organization.[1]

History

In the Spring of 2001, Sylvan Ventures started a separate business unit to create a virtual school program. The company began operations of its first schools in two states 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.[2] Connections Education consists of two education-focused divisions including Connections Learning that serves educational institutions and other organizations with online learning solutions.

On September 15, 2011, Pearson, an international learning company, acquired Connections Education for in excess of $400 million[3]

Criticism

Connections Academy has ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and other organizations promoting a for-profit educational model. Both on its own and as a member of ALEC, Connections Academy has pushed to provide for-profit online education in a movement away from brick and mortar classrooms.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Connections Academy- Homeschooling Resources". Homeschool.com. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Multinational giant set to run first virtual school in Maine". The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram. Retrieved 2015-09-16. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  3. ↑ , Connections Academy, retrieved 2012-08-01
  4. ↑ Mary Bottari, ALEC Bills in Wisconsin, PRWatch, July 14, 2011.
  5. ↑ Lyndsey Layton and Emma Brown, Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value, Washington Post, November 26, 2011.

External links

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