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Health & Fitness

Award Winning Excellence in Education

Virtual learning curriculum may be presented differently than in a typical brick and mortar school, but the goals are just the same – high student achievement. As such, I was proud, but not surprised, to learn that Connections Education recently was named a winner of four EDDIE Awards for its outstanding curriculum. In fact, this marks the fourth straight year that Connections Education has been honored by ComputED Gazette’s Annual Education Software Review Awards for its outstanding curriculum offerings. Connections Education, an accredited provider of high-quality, highly accountable virtual education solutions for students in grade K–12, is the parent company of Connections Academy.

Connections Education’s curriculum spans the entire instructional spectrum, from core academics to remediation, career and technology education, and fine arts. The awards were presented to the following Connections’ programs:  Science 8, Career and Technology Education (CTE), Juilliard eLearning Music and GradPoint.  Michigan Connections Academy, a full-time, tuition-free, virtual public school for students in grades K-12, offers each of these courses with the exception of GradPoint.  Our sister schools, Great Lakes Cyber Academy and Nexus Academy also offer Career Technology Education and Juilliard eLearning Music courses to the high school students they serve.

Science 8 is a core academic course, taught online, for students in 8th grade and based on the framework for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The course provides students with opportunities to engage in inquiry-based investigations, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) projects, and hands-on and online activities that encourage students to make connections, collaborate, and reflect on their learning.

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Released in 2013 and in response to a growing demand for career education, Connections Education’s more than 20 CTE courses allow students to explore a variety of careers and gain career-specific knowledge in fields such as sociology, criminal justice, law, astronomy, finance and more.

Debuted in early 2013, Juilliard eLearning is a series of online music education courses for students in grades K-12 developed by Connections Education with the world-famous Juilliard School. Courses in the series include: Experiencing Music (grades K-2), Discovering Music (grades 3-5), Exploring Music (grades 6-8), and Living Music (grades 9-12). Through the course series, students gain a foundation in music theory, composition, and notation, and an introduction to Western classical music and music from around the world.

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Having served as the principal at Michigan Connections Academy since its opening three years ago, I have seen firsthand the tremendous impact our school’s innovative and one-on-one approach has had on our students. While I didn’t choose to be an educator in order to win awards, I do take great pride in knowing we are committed to providing award-winning programs to our students so that they can excel in school and in preparation for continuous learning after graduation. 

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