Student Success Story: The Kinney Family

July 27, 2023 byAlyssa Austin

3 min to read

Meet the Kinney Family and learn more about their journey with Connections Academy

Shannon Kinney is the parent and Learning Coach of a student enrolled in Connections Academy. The Kinney family was seeking a new way to challenge their ambitious daughter, in a way that worked for her academic interests and learning needs.

“Our family made the switch to online school because my daughter was really looking for greater academic challenge,” said Shannon. “And when my daughter was really feeling like she wanted to explore other options, the first thing I thought of was Connections Academy, and it was just a wonderful fit for us.”

As a working mom with her own business, Shannon appreciates how easy it is to find information that helps her become a better Learning Coach and in a format that works for her busy schedule.

“Connections Academy has a variety of resources for Learning Coaches,” she said. “Many of them have interactive chat sessions so you can talk to other Learning Coaches. I also work and have my own business so I’m not always able to attend all the Learning Coach sessions live, but they record them and put them in the library, so I can go back and weed through them and find the ones that are most helpful to me.”

In addition, as a first-time Learning Coach, Shannon loves that she can get hands-on help from her daughter's teachers in a matter of hours whenever she needs clarification or extra support.

“I can speak regularly within hours with a teacher about work that’s happening right now. And it’s such a supportive experience. I hoped for some of it, but I never could have expected it to be as good as it has been.”

While Shannon has been pleased with the overall experience of her daughter’s online education, one of the things she wasn’t expecting was the accessibility of Connections Academy lessons, and how this format has brought her and her daughter closer together.

“I think one of the most surprising benefits of Connections Academy has really been that I feel more in touch with what my daughter is working on, and I can monitor her progress and approve her lessons in real-time throughout the day while I’m at my job,” said Shannon. “The material is easy to find and easy to navigate; I can see in real-time what she’s working on, and she can see the lesson videos and everything in one place.”

Hear more success stories from other Connection’s Academy families and students here.