"Being able to wake up at whenever and having to just be able to get dressed, get ready.  Other than when I first went to brick and mortar, I had to wake up at six, then get dressed and I only had an hour to get on the bus.  Then if I missed it, I would have to go drive to the school."

-Jack, 5th Grade

"The first thing I do is I'll either wake up, or really whenever I wake up or when mom and dad wake me up, and then I'll be able to get ready and eat breakfast; then have a little more time to hang out right before my homeroom class.  And then as the day progresses, I have my classes that are teaching me the lessons for the day and then my breaks during the day that I can actually do my homework or my Gallopade or my Nearpod that I have for the day.  And then after my last class of the day, if I don't have any other work to do, I'll be able to just hang out or play games with my siblings or parents."

-Jack, 5th Grade

"I've done a lot of creating things in Legos or making thing in Kami assignments with drawing a picture and then uploading it.  One of my favorite things that I've done so far is actually being able to make a whole model of the Berlin Wall out of Legos, which was probably one of my favorite things that I've done so far as a hands on activity from the three years I've been at GCA."

-Jack, 5th Grade

"There are many benefits to attending a virtual school.  For the kids being able to learn self-discipline, for them to just actually learn at their own pace too, and also just to have that one on one time with each teacher.  Because it is like you're being taught one on one, even though you're in a room full, or in a class full of students."

-Heather, Jack's Mom

"The benefits of attending a virtual school are that it really sets you up for life. As he's going through [his] classes he's learning to have to schedule his time; knowing what assignments he has to do. I think that really there's a lot of life things that it prepares you for life in the working world. Being able to be at a desk, not necessarily in a classroom where physical people are there, but knowing how to keep himself on task and knowing how to be able to handle those things by himself in his room, but still be engaged in the classroom virtually. It is really setting him up for life and beyond just school and education."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"You know, the role of the parent or learning coaches is really important in a school like GCA because the child is not in a in a classroom environment with the teacher directly in front of them at all times. So the parent kind of has to step in and fill that void; which is great because when the parent does that, it it enriches the learning for the child. It also helps us parents who have forgotten a lot of things from our days in education. It helps us learn that so we can help teach the child or teach younger children as they're coming up.

It's really being hands on. I would really say for for a parent, at GCA it's really important to be hands on with the student. It's going to help them, you know, feel more engaged. It's going to help them want to get more engaged in the classroom virtually, because sometimes, when you're in a virtual environment, it's easy to just want to maybe sit back. But with the parent being involved, encouraging the child to to be engaged and to to step out of that comfort zone is very important. Everything that a child, that a parent does for a school, is be very important to be hands on and help make sure the child is staying focused... self-managing their education and not just handing it over to them saying, 'Oh, well, you do it now'. It's like, 'I'm here, I can help you. If we have the breaks in the day, I'm there to help you if I can. If not, let's let's do it afterwards'. Jack knows when I'm done at work, that's our time to either go over something that he wasn't understanding 100%, or maybe he just wants to kind of get better at something.

So, I would definitely say the role of the parent would be hands on because you're going to get a much fuller experience. You can do it being hands off, but I think it's going to really enrich the child's education if the parent is hands on. It's just going to help them learn and grow even more."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"There's so many hands on activities.  The teachers do a lot. For science, they do a lot of experiments and they say you could either watch or you could join in; and Jack loves to join in.  So the night before, they'll send [a list of] all of the ingredients or whatever they're going to need for the experiment.  My son is always prepared for it and he gets to join in on that."

-Heather, Jack's Mom

"Jack has built a rain gauge, he built a model cowboy scene. Not everything's just right on the computer. He just finished doing a Lego model of the Berlin Wall for a class assignment. [He got] to do a video and... present that to the class. There's a lot of hands on stuff that, in my opinion, allows him to be creative and think outside of the box of how he wants to present something because there [are] always things that he can offer where you can do a video or you can make a poster board, or you can do this or make this model of something. It allows him to find out what he's passionate about.

Science fairs and social studies fairs and writing competitions and so many great things that are offered to him. So it's not just all, you know, keyboard and mouse. There's a lot of away from the computer time to build and construct and be creative with his art. Even now, getting up from the desk and running around and jumping jacks and, you know, doing all kinds of things to still be fit and, consider health."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"It's been amazing.  It's given my son a lot more confidence.  It has helped him excel.  He has learned so much.  The curriculum is amazing.  He has been able to grow academically, but also socially.  He has so many friends and it challenges him.  It's challenged him in a good way to where he wants to strive to move further and do more."

-Heather, Jack's Mom

"It set him up for life. It's teaching him skill sets that he wasn't getting in a 'normal' type school. And I keep saying the word 'normal', but this is a normal school; it's just virtual. But, it's really setting him up for skill sets that are going to help him as he gets outside of school. It's going to prepare him for college because the schedule to me, from what I've seen is almost very college-esque, where it's not just class, class, class. There [are] breaks in the day. So now he has to learn to manage that time of, 'Oh, I've got this assignment to do or this task to finish', to be on task and to learn the ability to do that and keep himself focused on those tasks.  Even though, he's not in a 'class'. Those are skill sets that he [was] not learning in in a brick and mortar school. These are skill sets that he is learning from a virtual school. So I would I would say to anybody, if you want your your children to learn those skill sets, I would definitely consider Georgia Cyber Academy because they're going to get skill sets far beyond what they're going to get just out of a classroom and other schools."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"The classes are recorded so we can go back. If he doesn't remember something, the teacher said, let's go back and review that recording and see exactly what the assignment was or see exactly how the teacher taught this. We talk to him even a little bit about how there's sometimes breaks in the day. And it's not breaks where it's like, 'Oh, it's playtime now'. It's breaks to, 'Okay, you have a homework assignment from this class, let's get that done so that you're not sitting there till 8:00 at night trying to get classes done or getting assignments done.

So the scheduling and the flexibility of the schedule, the best way I can describe to someone, it's like taking a college course. You might have a course and maybe have a little break here. You know, it's like, Do your homework so by the time school is done, you're done, you know, then you can have that freedom to play or be creative or do whatever'. The scheduling has been phenomenal, very flexible, and it works great with my work schedule, my wife's work schedule, so that we can always be available to help him at any time."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"It's amazing. Because of the education quality he was getting from the brick and mortar compared to what he's getting now with GCA, I've seen him really excel in his education. So to me as a parent, that's amazing. He was always a good student and that that's carried over with him, he's kept that; but the education quality that he's getting and the ability to do so many kinds of extracurricular things that weren't a part of what he was getting at 'normal' school. Like writing competitions and science fairs and things that he wasn't available to him at the time that he gets to now partake in. It's just an amazing experience."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"Georgia Cyber Academy is an amazing virtual school.  It's just so wonderful for each kid.  Anybody can learn. Any. Even if you're gifted; if you're just average. Even if you have a learning disability.  The school is amazing, the teachers are amazing, and everybody is able to learn, even the parents as well.  We could all learn and grow and there's no limit.

It's just been an amazing experience for our kids and for us; for me as a parent to see my child doing so great and thriving.  He's been thriving at this school and he loves it.  He's happy.  He's excited every year.  Georgia Cyber Academy has just offered so much and I'm just so blessed to be a part of it and have my son a part of it too."

-Heather, Jack's Mom

"A virtual school is right environment for a child, because it sets them up for life. It's not just about taking this class and learning this subject. It's about taking the class and learning the subject and using the skill set of managing that education to be able to take that out into the real world beyond just the classroom, beyond just the education. It's going to set them up for college, knowing how to handle a college course load and college schedules. But then beyond that, and in this day and age, you know, I believe 80% of our workforce is is working remotely. So if you have a chance that a child is going to grow up and get a job working remote, why not prepare them for that in advance? Not to say they won't get some job that's not remote, but at least they have that skill set already kind of ingrained into them knowing how to be focused, even though there's things around them that might take their focus away. Learning how to be able to sit there and diligently be self-controlled, to focus on the tasks at hand, manage what they need to manage. And then the cool thing is when they're done for the day and all their tasks are done, their home, you know, they've got their toys, their games they can play, they've got the family around. And that's the cool part. But I think taking virtual classes like at a GCA and being a part of a virtual school is going to help set them up far beyond when their education is done."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"He starts at 8 a.m. His classes currently right now might end around 3:30, but then we're doing things outside of that day to prepare him and study. I would say compared to what he was getting at a brick and mortar school, and I hate to keep comparing it, but you have to compare it; know what it is to know what it isn't. When you're sitting in a brick and mortar school (and I had the privilege of sitting in on many of his classes), there [were] a lot of times where he was just sitting there waiting for the rest of the class to finish a task or wait for the teacher to maybe stop disciplining an unruly student or something. So there was a lot of wasted time standing in a line waiting for water or waiting for the bathroom. There was so much of that day that was spent waiting and not really being educated where here at GCA, when he starts, when he finishes like it's complete education. Even if he doesn't have a class in that time, he's still doing the NearPods or doing these modules that they have set up for him. There's a constant flow of education that's available to my child. It's true education time. It's not waiting around for someone else or whatever. So I really highly recommend if a parent is looking for more education for their child to consider Georgia Cyber Academy because they're going to get in that school day, a full day of education."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"One of the greatest things about the beginning of the day is I'm not having to get my son up so early to try to catch a bus or to go sit in a car line and drop him off.  It gives him a little bit more time in the morning to get himself ready, have a nice breakfast, [and] start it right at 8:00.  Then from there he's in class. He's got a whiteboard that he keeps on his wall where he has Monday through Friday [where] he has all the classes he has and assignments that's been asked of him.  So he gets into class, he's there at the computer and he has his schedule.  He knows what a schedule is, he knows what's expected of him and he goes through it.  Then if he gets to a point where there's a break, then he can pick up some of the assignments he needs to do.  If he's finished all of the assignments, he just gets a nice mental break.  And that pretty much is kind of how the day goes until 3:30.  From there, if there's anything that he hasn't caught up on yet or hasn't finished he can then do it at that point.  That's pretty much the schedule from start to end.  It's very self managed by him." 

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"The faculty and staff are amazing.  If I ever have a question, I will contact either our FEL or teacher.  And you know everyone gets right back to you.  They're so kind, they guide  you right through whatever you need to find out, to find a solution, or if you're having a problem, or if you just need help learning how to use the website.  They're always there to help.  And you could never go wrong with just reaching out."

-Heather, Jack's Mom

"The staff has been great. The teachers are great. There are times where my my wife or I have to reach out to one of the teachers. You know, maybe they're saying there's an assignment, but we can't find it or whatever. [They say], 'here's the link to go to or take these steps to find what you're looking for.' So the interaction has been great. The family liaisons... are always so encouraging, always so supportive.

Being virtual, I know sometimes the conception is, 'You're virtual, so you're separated. You almost can feel like I'm on this island alone by myself'. But that's not the case with GCA. You have this amazing group of people who are there to always connect and always help you feel like you're not alone in this. [They say], 'We might not be in the same room with you, but we're on the same journey with you'. We've never felt like we're kind of just floundering or wandering out there alone. There's always someone to engage with if we have questions or we need to reach out. And they're always so receptive to get back to us with the information we're needing."

-Dan, Jack's Dad

"The curriculum is challenging, but in a good way.  It's not impossible.  It's definitely doable for anybody.  It's a great curriculum because it doesn't just give you a watered down version of it.  It gives you the facts of everything, and there's so many resources to learn more.  You have the whole Gallopade system for social studies that teaches them.  My son loves to click on the little links where it actually does the audio from back then, and he's learned so much.  There's just so many avenues to go deeper and learn more, and the teachers give additional resources too.  So once they've learned the lesson, there's a video to watch.  I think the curriculum is rich and so amazing.  It teaches you beyond what you could imagine for each lesson."

-Heather, Jack's Mom