Today I have a review for you of a flexible K-12 online school called the Christa McAuliffe Academy School of Arts and Sciences also known as CMASAS. This is an accredited online private school for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade. We’re going to look at the entire program together and see if this might be a good online school option for your family to consider. So let’s get started.
CMASAS K12 Online School
CMASAS is a flexible online school with rolling enrollment, so students can enroll anytime throughout the year. Just like their namesake, this school is dedicated to empowering students to be lifelong learners and pursue their dreams. And there’s definitely something special about this program that you don’t see in a lot of the other K-12 online schools out there.
This school prides themselves on their personalized education experience, which they call Personalication. Every full-time student at CMASAS is assigned a dedicated Personalized Education Coach or PEC who helps them develop a personalized education plan.
CMASAS is accredited by (WASC) the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It also has over 130 NCAA-approved core courses that students can take to help them meet NCAA eligibility.. It is a school, not a homeschooling program, so while parent participation and support are still a very important aspect of your student’s success, parents are not required to do any grading or reporting or anything like that.
Everything is handled by the school, the same way it would be in a brick-and-mortar private school. But unlike a traditional school, with CMASAS you get to work at your own pace while being supported by a global community of students representing 31 countries.
So if you want to accelerate your program and graduate earlier, you can do that! Or if you need to work at a slower pace, that’s ok too. The experience is tailored to each individual student.
If you’ve looked at other accredited online schools, you might notice that a lot of them are sort of fast and easy solutions to get your degree with minimal effort. There are honestly so many online schools like that. And while they serve the purpose of getting a transcript and U.S. diploma, I think many of them lack the quality education that parents are looking for. A good online private school needs to do more than just serve you a curriculum and issue documents.
As I mentioned in the beginning, this online school offers rolling enrollment, so you can enroll any time. They don’t go by a traditional school year calendar. It’s really a very flexible program. I think it sort of combines the flexibility of homeschooling with the quality education of some of the best private schools out there. There are no live lectures or classes to attend, rather, everything is done online in their learning management system.
Academics at CMASAS Online School
Another interesting aspect of this K-12 online school is that they are a mastery-based program. And that’s something we hear a lot about in the homeschooling community, but I don’t think it’s as common for a school to have a mastery system. With CMASAS, students typically take 1-3 courses at a time and must a achieve a minimum of 80% in a course before they are able to move on. However, most students strive to score above in the 90% range because they become highly motivated to take license over their learning.
This school has a really extensive course catalog, but something else that makes them stand out in my opinion is that they also allow for project based or portfolio type courses. So if a student has an interest in something outside of their course offerings, they can work with their coach so that they can earn credit for the outside activity. This could be something like dance or music, archery, flying lessons, or any other number of things.
If you want to take a look at their course offerings, you can check it out on their website under course catalogue. Courses are grouped by elementary, middle and high school. I know most people are probably looking at online schools for middle or high school, but I was so surprised by the courses they have even for elementary school. There are a lot to choose from. So I definitely recommend going to their website and taking a look.
They also offer more than 9 world languages, 70 STEAM courses including science and physics with labs, 14 AP courses, and for students looking to earn college credits while still in high school, they have a dual enrollment option where they have partnered with ASU to offer 60 college-level courses.
Students will have an assigned course instructor for each course that they take. This person will oversee your child’s progress through the course, provide feedback and grade their assignments. They will also be available to meet with students 1 on 1 as needed. And even though some of the course work is graded in real time, students also receive feedback from their course instructor, which is really great.
As I mentioned earlier, each full-time student will have their own PEC who will be their main point of contact. This person will serve as a mentor and advocate for your student. With the standard tuition plan, your child will meet with them weekly, and it’s really a team effort between the parents, student and coach. This is one of the aspects of CMASAS that really sets them apart from a lot of other K-12 online schools. Even though there are no live classes, your child will still be working with real life educators who want to see them succeed and will provide them with the guidance and support they need.
Curriculum at CMASAS
Now let’s talk a little bit about the curriculum. Unlike some online schools that may use the same curriculum for all subjects, CMASAS is a little bit different. For some subjects they have their own in-house curriculum, and for others they use different curriculum depending on the course. You can actually test drive some of the high school curriculum, and here is the link where you can go to do that. Students will learn through videos, audio, text and hands on methods, so its not all the standard “video-quiz” format that you’ll find in a lot of online schools.
Each course includes a course syllabus, which explains everything that will be covered in the course, as well as the grading and communication policy. There will also be a lesson, which may include text on screen, videos, audio, and offline work to complete.
Lessons may also include a quiz, which can include both multiple choice and write in responses. DBA is a discussion-based assignment that will be done during a meeting with their course instructor. And there may be writing assignments, labs, or other projects to complete. It’s very much like a real in person class, or maybe like an online college class might be. This is not just watch this video and do a multiple choice quiz. It’s a very comprehensive curriculum. And while we’re here, something I also wanted to mention that I think you might appreciate is that this school is not aligned with common core. I think they set the bar a lot higher than that.
So that’s how the lessons work on CMASAS. I think it’s very high quality. And remember, even though there is a curriculum for each course, your child’s education will be personalized beyond this, so it’s definitely not a one size fits all model.
Opportunities at CMASAS K12 Online School
In addition to academics, there are also many other opportunities for students to get involved and connect with their peers. Students can participate in leadership opportunities such as student council and the national honors society. There are optional virtual hangouts grouped by location for students to get to know each other as well as over 30 different student clubs that meet regularly.
Students attend weekly homeroom meetings with other students, and they can also participate at in-person regional gatherings, an annual international trip, and when it comes time to graduate, they do have a yearly in person graduation that takes place in San Diego.
For students interested in attending college, they will receive lots of guidance in the process, starting from middle school when they get kids thinking about college and what the future might hold, to the actual college application process. Over 90% of students at CMASAS go on to attend a 4 year university, community college or technical college.
Tuition at CMASAS
So now we’ve covered almost everything, but let’s talk about the cost. And I think you’ll find the tuition to be very reasonable based on what they have to offer. They have 3 plans to choose from, the Essenial Care Plan, the Premier Care Plan, and the Personalized Care Plan.
The first option is the Essential Care Plan. It offers full support and core courses, while sticking to the basic requirements needed to graduate. High school tuition is $9960 per year. It includes up to 5 full-year courses, a weekly homeroom, one club, limited elective options, and PEC support one day a week. It does not include honors, AP, or dual enrollment, so it’s really best for kids working toward a standard diploma.
This plan is limited but still beneficial to many families. It offers full support and core courses, while sticking to the basics requirements needed to graduate.
The second plan is the Premier Care Plan, and this is the one most families choose. It covers up to 6 full-year courses, and it includes full access to the entire elective catalog, unlimited clubs, and all of the advanced options like honors, AP, and dual enrollment courses. It also comes with weekly PEC support, with the option to add more if needed. For high schoolers, there’s even an unlimited course add-on.
The third plan is the Personalized Care Plan. This one is very flexible. Families pay a smaller base tuition and then add courses individually at about $850 dollars per semester. It still includes access to electives, clubs, and advanced courses, and PEC support works the same way. This plan is often a good fit for kids who only need a few classes, who are very involved in outside activities, or who need a lighter load for health reasons. This is also beneficial for Seniors as they pay per course needed, but still have full support, access to all courses, higher-level courses, and clubs.
There’s also a part-time option if you just want your child to take one or two classes without the full-time commitment. Middle schoolers can even take high school courses for credit at an additional fee. And for all of these plans, there are payment options to spread out tuition over a 5 or 10-month period depending on semester or annual plan.
For each plan there will be an annual registration fee, and tuition varies between elementary, middle school and high school.
There are also some tuition discounts available for referring family and friends, military and Hawaiian residents.
So hopefully I’ve covered everything that you may want to know about the Christa McAuliffe Academy School of Arts and Sciences. But if you still have more questions, you can go here to request more information. They’ll even send you a virtual tour with tons of helpful information about the school.
If there’s anything I can help you with, please let me know in the comments and I will be happy to answer!
