Paramount Online Academy

Heather Day _{on Google}

Mar 5th, 2022

This review is regarding the 21/22 school year. This was one of the worst online school experiences my 8th grade child and I have ever experienced. My child has always been a A/B student and he and I are very proud of his accomplishments. He maintained his grade. However, I've never had to witness him struggle as much as he did this last year to maintain it. First of all, they have teachers that the children can't understand teaching classes. There is a language barrier issue. I contacted the school on several occasions to try to explain to them that my child could not understand what the teacher was trying to teach. They just kept telling me to have my child login to the other math teacher's after hours for help. Several times, when my child would attempt to join after hours, that teacher wasn't available. They also have two math classes and two different math teachers in one school day, everyday. I've never heard of this at any other school. When state ILEARN testing came around. The students were required to test in person. I was told through an email from the school that my child would be required to test Monday-Thursday with Friday being questionable. I dropped my child off on Wednesday that week where they then told my child they had put a paper in a bag of candy they had given him on his way out on Tuesday to let him know he was finished and didn't need to return. They didn't communicate directly with me, the parent, at all to inform me he was finished. So I took him on Wednesday for nothing. I would call to speak with the principal on several occasions. I would then be told that the principal can't be contacted by phone and I would need to email her. What principal can't be contacted by phone? When I would reach out through email to the principal, I would frequently put things I felt were important in caps. Because that's what I do. If I feel that something needs to be highlighted, I use caps. She would then CALL ME, (after I was told I can't speak with her through phone calls), to confront my email and tell me she was concerned because I used caps and she took it as me yelling at her. And I told her, I can't help how she takes it but the way they communicate with the parents needs major improvement and if I were able to speak with her over the phone in the first place, the email could have been avoided all together. I felt she was the one being confrontational seeing as she wouldn't address my concerns over the email and felt the need to call me to confront me about my email. Since she didn't respond through email, I also didn't have a way to save the conversation between her and I and I think she knew this and that's why she called. She talked to me like a student, a child. We are adults and she is supposed to be a professional that gets paid to do what she does. You can't not properly communicate with parents, inconveniencing them over and over and not expect them to get frustrated at some point. But, you most definitely don't call me acting like you forgot you are at work. If it had been a more pleasant experience, we would have had an additional two students, a total of three, enrolling for next year but, we will NEVER be back and I will let others know of my experience.