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Ignite Christian Academy is the K-12 online school of Alpha Omega Publications. With multiple start dates each month, your family can decide when to begin enjoying the assurance of an accredited private school. Ignite Christian Academy also includes incredible teacher support and individualized learning plans, as well as dual credit for college and graduation ceremony opportunities. Choose from full-time enrollment or individual course enrollment.
Website: Ignite Christian Academy (formerly Alpha Omega Academy)
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(142 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: Pricey
Grades Used: 9-12
I have been with AOA for 5 years now and I am still impressed with the way they care. They are always checking up to make sure your student is doing okay. They have always been quick to help resolve any issues. I am so happy that our family has found this program!
Cons: Maintaining a structured schedule.
Grades Used: 7th grade
AOA has been a positive in my daughters life. Amazingly responsive teachers and administrators are available with concrete answers. Anyone who is struggling with the public school system should look into AOA!
Cons: None
Grades Used: 5th and 6th
Alpha Omega Academy has been a tremendous blessing to our family. We love the responsiveness of the staff, the academic rigor, the multimedia content and the flexibility. It has put so much quality time back in our family.
Cons: I wish I had done this sooner!
Grades Used: 9th, 10th, 11th
After years of doing battle with our public school system, that no longer tried to hide their anti-God bias, indoctrination into extreme environmentalism, and leftist politics, my family and I had had enough. Adding to our decision was the on-going bullying of our son, despite all the "anti-bullying" programs.
Although there are a number of on-line Christian schools, I felt that AOA had the most to offer in terms of the large number of classes (AOA has a huge selection of electives), the support provided, the modalities used, and a very caring staff. Our counselor, Kristy, has been exceptional. She is very warm, caring, and encouraging. It meant a lot to our family to have the school walk with us through our son's very complex medical problems. We felt supported, cared for, and important to staff, people we will most likely never meet.
When our son was in public school he would be gone all day, and then have hours of homework in the evenings, and that was only in junior high. Instead of having 18 years to love him and build into him, in actuality it was only 11 years. With AOA, our son has his evenings free and we can bond further as a family. That sense of frantic activity with family members not having enough time for each other was now gone!
To top it all off, AOA is an accredited on-line academy. Although many homeschool families aren't concerned about this, having our son graduate from an accredited academy gave me peace of mind.
Cons: None
Grades Used: 9-12
My daughter started in 9th grade and graduated with AOA. She is now in college and doing very well. My son is in 10th grade and enjoys his interactions with the AOA teachers. They are helpful, knowledgeable and kind. My son is very involved in Scouts and sports and the flexibility of the program has helped him achieve his goals.We have found the curriculum to be excellent and highly recommend AOA to anyone looking for a quality homeschool experience.
Cons: None
Grades Used: 9,10
We really love AOA. We can pick when we want to start. My son can go at his own pace and do school any time of the day. AOA keeps me informed of how he is doing. Thanks.
Cons: N/A
Grades Used: 8-12
Our daughter has been with Alpha Omega since eighth grade and is now senior. We were recommended by our Pastor, Alpha Omega. Starting was difficult setting your routine and double checking with any teenager, but once her daughter got into the groove she succeeded. We have had nothing but praise for Alpha Omega, the teachers, the academic support team, our academic advisor have been excellent. I could not recommend a more successful, inexpensive way to train your child through Christian education.
I also appreciate the fact that the program is available kindergarten – 12 grade.. my daughters tutor loves the French program, and teaches at a public school. If that doesn’t sing of your fine curriculum.
Grades Used: 8th
AOA is a wonderful Christian on-line school, my daughter loves it! The coordinators and teachers are kind, helpful and easy to reach. I recommend enrolling and trying it out!
Cons: None
Grades Used: 4,5
Alpha Omega has been one of the best decisions we have ever made for our son! Struggling in a brick and mortar school environment shut him down and the learning process stopped. He was over stimulated and school was no fun. Giving him this opportunity he has blossomed into a whole new child! He is happy, focused and actually enjoying school. He learns at his pace and feels less anxiety. The flexibility of this program has now allowed him to enjoy other activities like drama and playing drums that he could not before! The staff is amazing and the teachers are encouraging and available to help when ever needed! The courses are broken down in short instruction and include different medias to keep the child's attention so they have fun while they are learning. Our first introduction to this academy was Kristy May! She is fabulous! She is amazing to work with and super nice! She takes the time to talk with you and really cares about our son's progress. The staff takes to the time to encourage the students and praise their accomplishments. We couldn't ask for a better support system for our son! Alpha Omega has been a wonderful opportunity for our son!
Grades Used: 10th, 11th &12th
Alpha Omega Academy has been an answer to our families prayers. The curriculum is very challenging and the staff has been so wonderful to work with. Our daughter has a very busy extracurricular schedule and this program was a perfect fit.
Cons: Students must be able to work independently with self-motivation.
AOA has allowed me to home school all of my children in a safe, Christian atmosphere. We can teach our faith, do school work on our own schedule and receive a higher quality education than public schools offer. My oldest daughter graduated from AOA in 2012 and received her B.A. in Christian Ministries from Trinity college (Billy Graham's Alma Mater). My oldest son will graduate from AOA this June and my youngest son is a Freshman. We're so happy there is a faith based alternative for our family!
Cons: none
Grades Used: 5th
Before my son began Alpha Omega Homeschool, he was absolutely in hell at public school. From headstart up until 5th, he has endured all types of bullying including being picked on for stuttering, introvert personality, being attacked in the school bathrooms by students and being picked on by a teacher. He has medical issues that a teacher humiliated him about. I was destroying the beautiful child that I was blessed with. He was treated and shunned as an outcast for being a different type of child. Since beginning home school, he has absolutely flourished. He has all A's and his confidence has began growing and he is learning all types of things in an environment that he doesn't have to worry about. I speak mostly to Sandy, Laci and Mrs. Sullivan. I love how they go beyond to help with any problems that arise and they have become like a family to us. Sandy is so easy to talk to and she has helped me tremendously during this time with my questions and solutions. Laci is just precious too. She mailed a card and a happy to my Mason for good grades. You couldn't wipe the smile off of my son's face. Mrs. Sullivan is always willing to help and explain ...she also answers back quickly when we have questions. I also love having the option to CHAT with someone for help and so does my son. First and foremost, I have to thank God for this wonderful blessing in our life. We love all the things he is learning.
Cons: Greatly question their Christian values,
Grades Used: 0% - 100%
Our experience with Alpha Omega Academy ("Christian" online school out of Iowa) has been very mixed. As far as curriculum, it has been rigorous, yet our child (middle schooler) has been able to complete it the first semester with excellent grades. The teachers answer questions in a timely manner. We do not utilize their office hours for correspondence, only emails. AOA also has a rigorous timeline for assignments due. It is in your child's best interest to stay on track or ahead of the game. AOA will charge you money if you go beyond your semester end date. The curriculum is a Christian worldview, and remember it is first and foremost a business. With this being said, here is our story. Our family had a major financial change due to job changes. Our monthly payment for 5 classes was $249. We had asked the school repeatedly to drop the 5th class as it is an elective and was just an addition that we chose. If they had dropped the class, our monthly payment would be $199. The extra $50 would give us breathing room and help us greatly. They absolutely would not do this for us. The school stated that we agreed to 5 classes and that was that. If we had dropped it in the first month of attending, there would be no problem. Sadly, our job change and significant money decrease came at the end of the first semester. Our payments were taken out automatically and therefore, always on time. Our child completed the classes on time and with excellent grades. We simply asked for a $50 change and an elective class to be dropped...to no avail. We were not asking to quit the school or stop payments. We simply asked for our Christian school to help us decrease our payment by $50 per month. Quite honestly, it just did not seem like a Christ-like action...more of a business decision. We are not unreasonable, we just asked for compassion. We will not be returning to this school/business. We encourage others to find an alternative to their child/ren's Christian online schooling.
Cons: Nothing transfers
Grades Used: 1
I am currently a senior in high school, enrolled in AOA. I have had a bad experience because I took a whole year of college my junior year and NONE of those classes would count towards this program. The credits would've transferred to any other school I could have went to. I do not recommend enrolling in AOA if you have taken courses elsewhere as a high school student.
Cons: Outdated, Confusing, Has me go along with their schedule
Grades Used: 7
Not great, Not terrible, Just average, Nothing special
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: 9 and 10
Even before I started this program, I knew that it was not going to be good. My sisters and I used ignitia through the NFC academy, and let me just tell you, that the combination of the curriculum and the school made my ninth grade year experience a living hell.
First of all, NFC never answers their phone which made it a whole lot harder for me to transfer there. Same goes with emails. If I had a question on a lesson, I would have to wait at least a day before they answered me, and they would only link me to another website, or their "cap" pages which is basically an outline of all the lessons like that is supposed to help me any more than the textbook. It's hard on both sides. How am I supposed to understand them through an email and how are they supposed to translate what they want us to learn through an email.
And that brings me to my next point, the textbooks are a LITERAL PIECE OF GARBAGE!! I genuinely do not understand how someone could fail so badly at writing a ninth grade textbook. Its honestly the equivalent to a seventh grader's essay, and even then, if I had to pick one to read, it would be the seventh grade one. The textbook is so boring. All you do is read and answer irrelevant questions- everyday all day or until you finally catch up on work, which is almost never.
The questions that go with the lesson are so unbelievably irrelevant that I question the intelligence of whoever wrote and published that book. And besides the irrelevant questions, the questions they give us are so hard and they do not even give us enough material in the textbook to even sufficiently answer the questions(depending on the intensity and subject of the class). For example, Math (Ms.G whats good). The math lessons are so vague, and so unhelpful that not even the bill nye the science guy could help me on the lessons. And then the textbook is missing information like actual vital pieces of information it is ridiculous. Like its common sense. If you try to teach someone about the Pythagorean theorem, the most obvious way is to teach them about the formula. But the wrong way of doing it is by writing a 21 page essay about how to solve it without even giving mention to the equation. Basically what I am trying to say that the textbooks, specifically science and math, can't help you.
And then you have the unrealistic due dates. I had a 900 word paper, a quiz, and a test all within one day interval of each other, and on top of that, I had other subject work to complete. It gives you no breathing room, and it stresses you out. Its work on top of work on top of work and it never ends. Plus, most of the work is busy work. You really never learn anything. Like all the projects. Its unnecessary. It is not conducive to anyone's learning at all.
Spanish is a joke. They expect us to learn languages by reading. And most of the chapters are about different cultures in central and south america like the food, holidays, and the geographical aspect. But when it comes to the actual grammar part, it's like they don't even care. During this whole year of learning Spanish, I learned how to say "Fruit." But guess what, I forgot how to say fruit.
Now that I am in my 10th grade year I learned from my mistakes, and actually figured this program out. I still do not care for this program, but once you get the hang of it it isn't terrible. As long as you have time to teach yourself something, meaning in addition to the textbook you look for outside information, I think it will work out. But that only goes for Math, science and english in my opinion. But yeah, I hate this curriculum and I would never wish this upon my worst enemy.
NFC is not the problem by the way, I understand their circumstances but ignitia.. Ignitia is the one to blame.
Cons: None
Grades Used: (4,5) - (6,7) - (9,10)
After trying a few other complete online curriculum's, we felt we had a good handle on our homeschooling routine. Last school year my Daughter entered High School and we wanted her to have full transcripts to make college admission easier. We didn’t feel our home-school journey had ended so we began to search and pray for a viable option. We had previously been using Monarch complete online curriculum and it was suggested to us that we might look into Alpha Omega Academy. One phone call with a counselor and we knew this was the right move for us, it was an answer to our prayers! All of our kids really enjoy working closely with their teachers and have progressed very nicely with the school work. Personally, I feel a huge relief that I not only no longer have to solely oversee their coursework. Additionally they have Academic Support on standby 9-3 Monday through Friday so the kiddo’s can call anytime with questions. The teachers have been wonderful, caring and helpful. I would recommend this school to families that may be intimidated by the thought of homeschooling or for busy parents who still want to home school but do not have time to make it a full time job.
Cons: Fast-paced
Grades Used: 7-12
I absolutely loved Alpha Omega Academy. I learned so much through them. My confidence sky-rocketed and I began to go to church. I found Jesus and was so much happier. The teachers were kind and actually cared about the student.
The work was challenging but I think it really helped me to get an good understanding of it. It wasn't that flexible but that might have been because I was a bit slow. We could not have chosen a better school.
Cons: None
Grades Used: 7, 8, and 9th through 12th
AOA has been a great option for our son and we feel has given him a great, Christ-Centered education. Our son is very smart and needed a challenging curriculum and AOA was able to tailor his courses to do so. His Spanish teachers were great and he was able to learn his second language without issue. There is never an issue contacting a teacher when you follow the published schedule for teacher availability. We never had a problem with teacher contact but just the opposite. All our son's teachers took the time to get to know him and how he learned. They always took time to make sure he understood any problems he was having so he could move on in his studies. They never rushed him and no teacher was ever rude. We found all the teachers at AOA extremely caring and were top notch in their field. Our coordinator was great, too. She was also very caring and guided our son's education pursuant to his intended field of study for college each school year. Our son received a way better education then he would have in any other school. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA, member of the National Honor Scoiety, and was accepted to some of the hardest universities in the country to get into. If used correctly, AOA provides every opportunity for the student to be successful. We highly recommend AOA to anyone who looking for solid, top-notch, Christian education.
Cons: No complaints
Grades Used: Grading system was fair and useful.
My son just graduated from Alpha & Omega. His last two years were done with the school as well as earlier years. I found the curriculum to be fair, interesting and demanding. Administrative support was top notch. The teachers were very good on getting back to him when he had questions. There is no question that we would sign him up again if we had to do it all over again.
Cons: Math is very strange. I am an engineer and even I couldnt figure out many of the questions. They tend to be vaugue or not appilcable. We followed up with her teacher serveral times and he was stumped as well.
Grades Used: 11-12
Excellent service and attention to our daughter. She wanted to leave her school after 10th grade and proposed Alpha Omega. We were skeptical and worried b/c we didn't have the time to devote to following along with her. However Alpha Omegas program is very attentive and stay in constant communication with the parent and student
Cons: costly but not prohibitive
Grades Used: 1st to 12th
Our youngest daughter started with the Grade 1 Lifepacs then Switched-on-Schoolhouse when she was in 6th grade and AOA Ignitia in her 11th and 12th grade. All through out she had a great time studying because the format was age-appropriate. Having "mastered" the printed page, she moved on to digital at just the right time when she was old enough to handle it. Content-wise, we are both satisfied. We liked how it is bible-based, with topics in other subjects building up or timed with each other. It is comprehensive enough to give a good foundation for knowledge and understanding of the core curriculum - Language Arts, Science, Math, History &Geography, together with Bible. The electives and foreign language were adapted for a homeschooler and she has learned more than just the basics with them. Overall, it has developed and prepared her academically for the next level till she graduated from high school. We are confident that she can face the challenges of college with what she has learn in AOA.
Cons: more examples in the harder courses
Grades Used: 9,10,11,12
I have used AOA for 4 years of high school. I love how flexible it all is. When I am not keeping up on the kids progress, their advisors are always so helpful with an email or phone call. I would recommend this curriculum to anyone!
Cons: None
Grades Used: 9-12
Overall great experience!
Cons: Need expanded examples (or the option to view additional examples) in challenging courses
Grades Used: 11, 12
Alpha Omega Academy was an excellent fit for my high school student and my family. Teachers and advisors were involved and helpful – checking in routinely with me regarding course progress and regularly providing assistance and feedback to my son on assignments. I am very grateful for their responsiveness and support and believe the Christian education and experience received at Alpha Omega Academy will serve my son well as he starts college in the fall.