Local family finds online learning engages students and their parents

When the 2021 academic year was about to begin, Grant Meachum and Renata Steve said they made the decision to enroll their daughter Nataša in Minnesota Connections Academy. During the pandemic, when students were forced to learn remotely, Nataša did very well in the online classroom. As COVID numbers continued to be a concern, they decided to give a more robust online program a try.

According to Grant they realized how the online school provided a flexibility to do the coursework when it worked for their family’s schedule. They also discovered that lots of time in a brick-and-mortar school was spent waiting, whereas at Minnesota Connections Academy, the student can work and finish assignments at their own speed.

“About one month into Nataša’s first semester at MNCA, we suddenly had a feeling of ‘we can do this,’ It was a different kind of school experience for all of us, and it was so gratifying to realize that this was working” Grant said.

So, in the fall of 2022, they enrolled their son Leoš in Minnesota Connections Academy as he entered Kindergarten.

“It’s extremely satisfying to see both of our kids succeeding academically, especially when there are so many news articles about students falling behind academically following the pandemic,” Grant said. “What I like most about Connections Academy is that it gives our kids a chance to learn and achieve academically in their own way.”

He added that Nataša enjoys her science class, and Leoš loves Language Arts. Both children also have had a great time attending the in-person field trips the school offers where they get to meet their fellow students from all over the state.

Earlier this year, both Nataša and Leoš went on an in-person field trip to Como Zoo where they had a chance to meet classmates and teachers whom they had only seen online, and it was so much fun to watch that happen.

Another part of Minnesota Connections Academy that Grant and Renata appreciated was how the teachers really involve the parents in their children’s learning.

“We talk regularly on the phone, and our teachers are always responsive by email,” Grant said. “It’s a privilege to be able to be so involved in what our kids are doing academically.”

Outside of the classroom Nataša is becoming serious about ballet for which she takes classes four times per week at Minnesota Dance Theatre. Each year she dances in the “Nutcracker.” As for Leoš, he’s just learning what it is like to have activities after spending much of his young life in a pandemic, but Grant said his son loves to play soccer and build with Legos.