"So I like it when... I just like when I do some brain breaks. I like quizzes. You just got to guess the math. So if one plus one equals two, two plus two equals four, four plus four equals eight. That makes the sense. The math might be a little tricky, but if I keep learning, then I might get great. I like it when I go to school at GCA. It's so fun and I really love it."

-Caleb, 1st Grade

"Miss Miller is nice.  She teaches me language arts, social studies, all of that. She always does fun stuff for me. She lets me do chit-chat, and that's so fun. But sometimes... social studies class is over and I'll be so sad."

-Caleb, 1st Grade

"We chose Georgia's Cyber Academy for my child's education because we wanted him to be in a virtual environment and still be able to adhere to the state guidelines of what was required for his education."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom

"The benefits of attending a virtual school is realistically he's able to get more rest. He's able to be more flexible when it comes to his extracurricular activities. He is in swimming and he's in soccer.  Swimming practice starts at 5:30 and if he were in a typical school, it would be kind of rushed if we were to go straight from school, come home, change. But being that we're already at home, it makes it a lot easier for us to get to swimming on time. And with soccer practice, his schedule can vary. So it's also more convenient with him being able to already be here and have that extra time, if you will.

Being in a virtual school, you can expect the same quality of education as you would if you were in a brick and mortar school.  The only difference that I would say is that the walls are your walls. You still have the teacher interaction. You still have student interaction. And he's still able to learn. He has activities, hands on activities, just as he would if he were in a physical school building.  And I just feel like it allows me more quality time to be able to spend with him.

Academically, a benefit of going to the Georgia Cyber Academy is you really have great communication with your teachers. You have all of the work in front of you. You can log in and see what's coming up."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom  

"The Family Engagement Liaison or the 'FELs' are very helpful. They are always checking in to make sure if you have any questions. We have set up time to have one on one calls, and I just never feel like I'm being left hanging. They're a great resource; a great tool. Also, the Parent Meetings and District Town Hall Meetings are very helpful.  They provide opportunities for you to know what's going on with the school, what's coming up with the school, things you can expect as far as assessments or testing guidelines. They even offer a resource that is outside of what I would say, school; things such as healthy eating. A lot of newsletters go out like Veronica Okpani sends out one for Primary and it has a message from the principal and different things like that. Communication at GCA is awesome. I always feel like if I ever have a question, I know who to at least reach out to to get an answer. I have the GCA app on my phone. Of course they're linked to my email, so I get the notifications via email as well as the app, as well as Caleb's email."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom

"He has his designated working space. He will come in the morning. He'll go sit down at his desk, in our office, and he will log on to his class and participate, just as he would if he were in a physical building.  While still providing flexibility, having a schedule works very well for us because I personally feel like if we did not have a schedule, if we didn't have that bit of structure, we would fall completely off course.

On a typical day, Caleb could spend anywhere from four and a half to six hours a day doing educational work.  Classes are typically 45 minutes. He has ten minute breaks in between class.  He has an hour for lunch which is beautiful, because if we decide that we wanted to go out and eat, we're able to do that. And that gives us the quality time that we wouldn't be able to have spent together if he were in a brick and mortar school.

In class, it's not just sitting and listening to the teacher talk. Sometimes there's time for writing, there are times for what they call 'Near Pod', where they're actively engaging online in the lesson. There are so many different things. I feel like there's the educational courses that he has to take, but there's also educational games and they have what what his teacher calls a 'Brain Break' where they will compete against each other in a little class just just to break up from, you know, learning all day. It's not just all day learning. The kids interact and engage with each other."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom

"He has the flexibility of being able to go to his soccer practice. Which may end at 8:00 at night, which to me is really late. Instead of having to get up super early in the morning in order to make time to get on the bus and, you know, the time spent on the bus ride to school, he's still able to sleep and get his rest so that when it's time for class, he's prepared and he's ready well-rested."

"The role of the learning coach is to assist the teacher and to supplement the teacher. You are able to kind of listen in on what's going on with the lessons and as far as what is needed for homework or quizzes that are coming up. You're literally, I would say, a coach. You don't spend more time, in my opinion, than you would if it were a brick and mortar school. I feel like you just have more flexibility to align your day because you already know what's coming up and what's ahead of time."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom

"The interaction with his teachers is great, even though it is a virtual school. He's not missing out on having a relationship with his teachers. His teachers actively engage with all of the students as well as pull them to the side for one on one engagement. If there's something that Caleb is struggling with, I notice that his teacher will pull him to a room by herself and work one on one. And I love that about the school.  They even have parapros in his class. Besides the interaction that he has with his normal teachers, his teachers that he has for his extracurricular activities even call on him one on one."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom

"He has art and there are a list of what you'll need for the class prior to the class. So he is able to create art projects, hands on. There are projects such as the Science Fair Project and Social Studies Fair Project. To me it's just like if he were going through a physical school, he doesn't miss out on having hands on activities at all."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom

"I feel like the curriculum is challenging and I don't feel like it's too much for him to handle. But I do feel like he is able to be challenged. I don't want him to feel like he can breeze through it. Math is a challenge. We have room for improvement and we continue to make those strides via the resources that are provided through GCA. iReady is one of the programs that is super beneficial to us. He's able to continue to build on what he already knows and learn more from there."

-Mina, Caleb's Mom