Forest Trail AcademyReviews of foresttrailacademy.com

During 2020 amid the thick of COVID-19, we made the decision to enroll our daughter in Forest Trail Academy's online high school programme. Thus far it has been a very fulfilling experience for her. Being able to work from home at her own pace has really helped her to become the type of student we knew that she could be. Her grades are markedly improved and her level of interest and determination is at an all-time high. Prior to FTA, she hated most aspects of school . Being highly anxious didn't help either. She used to be physically present at school but otherwise absent. Her grades reflected that state of being. At the end of last semester, with FTA, we asked what were her take aways from this experience. She indicated that she surprised herself by how much she could accomplish. She also indicated that her advice to herself would be to keep trying- knowing that her efforts would be rewarded. We are so thankful that she is an avid participant in her own success and is empowered to do her best. Special thanks to FTA and their teachers for continuing to provide these profound opportunities to students all over the world.

My son attended Forest Trail Academy online for 7th and half of 8th grade. Overall we were very happy with our experience and have recommended it to others. We felt communication from the teachers and school was excellent. The tuition was fair. The workload was challenging, but not overwhelming. I thought the English coursework and teacher were excellent. The Science and Social Studies classes were good for an online curriculum. Math was challenging in 7th grade, but dropped down quite a bit in 8th grade. I would highly recommend a review of that course because it took a good step back. Otherwise it's a great school and I highly recommend. We would return without hesitation.

What a joke of a school! They are irrelevant in the learning process! Be careful before you put your child here!!

What I love most above Forest Trail Academy is its curriculum allows students to cultivate knowledge beyond the curriculum itself. For example, my oldest daughter, at one point, had to do course work related to drawing graphs for math and social studies classes. Together, we dove into utilizing Microsoft Excel to build tables in excel and then have excel create the graphs for her using scatter charts. She could've settled for drawing the graphs on a sheet of paper and scanning them, but instead, we partnered together, and she learned how to do the same work through automation. In short, she learned to work smarter and not harder. She was able to complete her work while simultaneously learning to use one of the most daunting and ubiquitous computer programs available, Microsoft Excel. She consistently has had to use Microsoft Word for her Language Arts projects. One of the great features of Microsoft Word is that it has a built in references tool that auto formats referencs for the author based on the citation method required, in this case MLA. By utilizing the reference tool, and some of the other tools within word, she has, again, learned to work smarter and not harder while, simultaneously, abiding by the school's plagarism policy. If she was in a traditional school setting, she wouldn't be learning how to utilize Microsoft Excel to do basic math functions or how to utilize the tools within Microsoft Word to organize her work and produce a quality finished products. While understanding macro economics is important, or figuring out that the meaning of life can be solved with y=mx+b, understanding how to use computer tools will serve her better into her future and make her a better candidate for potential colleges and jobs than merely completing school itself. The second most impressive thing about the Forest Trail curriculum is that my 7th grader is being introduced to a collegiate approach to academic research. She is required to use MLA format for her homework assignments, to cite her sources, and how to read books critically. These skills will help her become a better critical thinking and assist her as she transitions into post-secondary education. In my recollection, attending a traditional in-class public school, I don't recall learning these skills in high school, let alone in a middle school curiculum. I learned them once I got into my post-secondary education. Learning these skills now will position her to be able to achieve better success in her post-secondary pursuits. I will concur with some other reviewers, the portal used is a bit dated. It looks similar to what Blackboard was doing about 15 years ago. The school would do well to invest some funds into a mainframe overhaul of their student/parent portal, or maybe even partner with a company like Blackboard. Despite the technological deficits, they do have a great tools that allow their teachers to interact with students in online office hours, and the teachers have been excellent at helping my two children get the one-on-one tutoring they need to receive very high marks in all subjects.

My child wanted to do distance learning for her junior year while we were moving to a new state. We liked Forest Trail Academy so much, she will complete her senior year there this year! As a parent, I appreciate FTA's project-based approach to learning. The lessons build upon each other throughout the school year in meaningful ways. My child has learned so much more than she did in public school by learning how to do research from trusted sources, how to spot key information and patterns, and how to apply and explain what she has learned in thought-provoking assignments. She has learned HOW to learn from Forest Trail Academy; she's not just memorizing dates and learning enough to do well on standardized tests. The materials are well-organized in the learning portal, and it's easy for me to see exactly how my child is doing in each class. The teachers and administrators are responsive, encouraging, and helpful. I see a successful college student and adult emerging in my child. The study habits and time-management skills needed for school work with Forest Trail Academy will benefit my child for years to come.

Great school!

greatest school ever would recommend to anyone

Thank you, FTA (Forest Trail Academy) for the amazing changes I have seen in my child. My son is autistic and had nothing but problems in our county's public school system. No one wanted to take the time he needed to learn. He was on medicine for stomach problems and he came home with constant headaches. After several heated discussions with the school's principal and picking him up from school with him in tears every day I had to make a change. I began researching homeschooling. My area does offer free homeschooling however, you still have to work on the teacher's timeline and keep up with the class. This was one of the reasons we wanted to leave public school so that would not work. Long story short we thankfully found FTA. We began 5th-grade homeschooling through FTA. I could tell the whole story but I'll make it short. It's three years later, he is finishing 7th grade with FTA as we speak. He has improved so much that he is off of ALL his medicine! The classes are very easy to follow and the teachers are always just a message or email away. I have not had one problem with any of the teachers. They all are very accommodating. We began the first year doing a lesson in each subject a day, the next year we tried 2 subjects a day, this year we have found doing one subject at a time works great for him and he retains more. This is one example of how you can gear the entire school year into what works best for you and your child. We could take breaks when he needed them. If he was having a bad day and we had to take that day off it was no problem at all. They are accredited. You can't go wrong with FTA.