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Hi, my name is Rachel Fiest, and I am an elementary teacher at Ohio Connections Academy (OCA). I began teaching with OCA in 2003, and I have loved every minute of it! It has been wonderful to work in a school where the entire staff’s focus is working together to meet the needs of every student. I love the individualized approach that Connections Academy takes with regard to students’ learning. This individualized approach really allows you to work alongside families and students to make a difference in their education.

I believe Connections Academy is a well-rounded program that offers fantastic support for students and Learning Coaches, helping them be successful in an online school. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about OCA. I’d love to talk with you more about who we are and what we can offer your family.

Hi, my name is Suzanne Wasserman, and I have been a teacher for Ohio Connections Academy since 2008. At Ohio Connections Academy I have taught 9th and 11th grade language arts. I am currently teaching 8th grade language arts, and I love to come to work each day.

One of the things that I love about Connections Academy is the collaboration that happens here. I love working with all the great families and teachers at Ohio Connections Academy. All of the teachers are able to work together and collaborate extremely well so that we can focus on the student as a whole and all of his or her academic needs.

Along with the teacher collaboration, I work with each of my students and parents on a daily basis. This allows us to get to know our students that much more, and in turn enables us to better help them.

Our program helps all students prepare for college and other experiences they may encounter in their life. Our students really enjoy our Gifted and Talented program and other opportunities that we offer within our school. Our curriculum is great at providing an appropriate challenge for all students, no matter their learning ability. If you would like to find out more about it, let me know!

My name is Stephanie Nickles, and I have been teaching high school math at Ohio Connections Academy since November of 2009. I have a National Board Certification in mathematics, and I enjoy using the tools I developed while completing this process in my math classes.

At Ohio Connections Academy, we can focus on teaching our students and creating relationships with students and families. One of the many things that I treasure about teaching in an e-school environment is that we have so many opportunities to focus on individual student needs and to work one-on-one with our students. As a brick-and-mortar teacher, I was bound to the bells. If students needed help, they would have to come in during my lunch or prep time, or else stay after school. If my lunch and prep did not coincide with their open time, it became very difficult to set up help sessions, especially if they couldn’t stay after school either.

As a math teacher at OCA, it has been awesome to have many opportunities to work with students individually in such a greater capacity throughout the school day. In the virtual setting, we do not have interruptions to our teaching because of dress code violations, fire drills, pep assemblies, morning announcements, etc. There is so much more time to teach, to work with students one-on-one, and to develop a rapport with students and families! I look forward to working with students and families at OCA for many more years to come!