Epic Charter Schools

Everybody there has been good. They have gone above and beyond to help me in any way possible and I like them better than K12. So far, our interactions with the students and the teachers are amazing. My son's teacher is awesome and from what I see, she is dedicated to her students. She is always in contact with me and meets me at least once a week. She is really helpful. My child is currently in third grade but he has difficulty in some areas, so they try to get him some special classes. Epic Charter Schools has taken him a long way and he is learning a lot with the help they have given him. I would refer them to anybody who wants to try an online school before I recommend them anywhere else.

My daughter loved it although the teacher was not a Math teacher by trade and when my daughter had some trouble with a higher Math that she was enrolled in, the teacher couldn’t help her. I also couldn’t help her and so, I ended up getting some outside tutoring that was kinda costly. We tried an online tutor/helper and it really was not worth anything too much. There was another teacher in Epic that was really good at Math and so, he was available to help her some which was a big help.

Epic is great for older kids and if you had a daughter who was older like mine and had already completed a lot of a higher harder classes then Epic would be great. My daughter will be a singer next year and she’s only taking two classes online because she's pretty much done with everything. My middle school daughter wants to do it but I won't let her do it yet because she's got too many difficult classes in Science and Math coming her way in the next few years that I want her to be in a brick and mortar school for.

I did the whole Epic Charter enrollment process online and it was pretty easy. The quality of education they offer is good and our teacher is awesome too. She's somebody who I feel like knows what to look for. She's also super sweet and helpful, and we love her. I also love that she's laidback. She's not pressuring us one way or another for certain things and she's flexible on when she comes to our house, as far as her own schedule and timing dealing with mine. Then at the end of the year, she had a sweet little party at the park for all of her Epic families where she honored each one of her students with a certificate. She brought treats for everybody too. I just appreciate that she cares about her students and their families. Epic is really great, especially for the early years.

Since then, we've had two tremendous teachers. In the meantime, I ended up adopting four foster children. I had them in public school and due to the bullying that goes on with public school, I pulled them all out. And so, all six of them are in homeschool and they're all in Epic now. Enrolling was really easy and our teacher was very helpful. We got all the paperwork for her, she scanned it and we were done. We have one kid who could not read at all whom we pulled out of school and the teacher has been working with him quite a bit. Now we've got him to where he's reading. Epic's teachers worked with me. They give feedback and they're right there with you pushing your child to excel. People there have been very caring. It was a great experience.

We've done our state sides in different states in different schools in different programs and a lot of times, there's an assumption that people that are coming in are either from the area or have some idea of what's going on and so, information isn't always as forthcoming as it could be. Epic seems to be way better about that than the local public schools and we appreciate that and the email communication and updates on what's going on with Epic. There could be a better explanation of what the learning fund is and how that's to be used, which shows up with a local Facebook group for Epic as well.

We had some people looking at Epic as the kids were transitioning out of 6th grade and they knew that the public middle school is not really a good option for students who are seeking to excel. But what we have discovered is even with our kids that are more motivated, that it still requires quite a bit of parent interactions, which we've done homeschooling before so that's not a horrible thing but our jobs are such that we are able to do that. If the parents are not in the place where they are able to actually invest daily in the kid’s education, then online school in general may not be for them. But there are maybe some curricula that are delivered online that are meant to be more comprehensive. And so, if they're not able to be daily involved, this might not be the way to go. But we’re pleased with the quality of education at Epic and they're definitely worthwhile.

The teachers are very approachable as well, and they're very good at getting back at me and giving me information. However, my biggest concern with these interactions with the school is when you go beyond the teacher. Also, the counselors are not very knowledgeable as far as getting information to you about requirements. I have a daughter and she graduated this year. My daughter ended up as a 12th grader taking 8th grade math because of some error from the first school.

And just through my own research, I feel that some of the counselors are like reception staff that has been promoted to that position. If they have better staff as far as the counselors go, especially when you'd talk to children that are trying to go to college, it would be beneficial. But other than that, everyone’s personable and professional. Everyone works really hard as well. When I talk to them about anything, I get responses. The enrollment process was really easy too. I submitted everything online and it was a pretty simple process.

The learning experience has been good too. You can change curriculums every year, which is a plus, but it also has some negative when you're changing curriculum every year. It's up to your own accord because you'd have to do that. I like having the teacher because then with the other school, you had a teacher assigned to you but it was just a different experience. It wasn’t that one on one quality like I could meet with this teacher, and she could see my kids, and she could evaluate my child with me. My children homeschooled their whole lives, there are certain things that they're just not used to. So I was worried about whether or not they were reading, if they were on par or not meeting certain things and just having the teacher there really helps ease that worry and concern. So the quality of the education is good or I wouldn't re-enroll.

My son did Compass and the quality of education was okay. But he had to do summer school which was weird for me because it's something I've never experienced. Also, he got A's and B's in every subject so the fact that he's having to do some summer stuff is kinda frustrating. They said it was based on state testing. I’m not a fan of it. I believe in the program but people should do their research and make sure that it's gonna fit their student, and be very clear as to what their expectations are. My son’s teacher does everything based on the curriculum and Study Island, but his friend's teacher did 90% of the grades from Study Island and they had projects and reports they had to turn in. And so, there's no consistency across the board.

Getting in with that teacher and feeling out if what that teacher is doing is good. Right now, you just get to see a teacher and what they specialize in but you don't get to see the way they're teaching. We happened to get with one teacher that doesn't meet with group, whereas, he might have done better with the teacher that met with group a little bit. It could be broken down a lot better for us and be more customized towards the parent because if I could have looked at a list of teachers that were in my area and seen that teacher A does group teaching along with Study Island and curriculum, or teacher B does no group teaching, but only does curriculum, I could see what they do.

I'm taking Plato and I have had no problems with the Epic school instructors. They get back to me usually right away. They are really knowledgeable so they help me with about anything that I need help with. The quality of education in Epic is a little bit better than being in a brick and mortar for the simple fact that I can review all of the material. It's always in front of my face if I need to go back and look at it as compared to where I have to cram it all in my brain and then hope that I remember it. So the quality is perfect for me.

The teachers were very kind and supportive of homeschooling which is a plus for me. I love that they still have the mindset that “I still want to be the teacher.” They were friendly but very much wanting my kids to excel in learning and wanting it to be geared towards where they’re at in the different stages of different subjects. One of my kids is excited about it and I have another one who looks at it as extra work but that’s just personality wise. Especially since they’re children. Last year, I only got a little bit of it and I liked it. This year, I’m excited to dive more into Epic to see the curriculum we’ve picked out and to immerse ourselves in it. I am doing a complete change of how we homeschooled in the past so, this will be eye opening for me.

As for my younger son, it was like a light switch went off. He was having a meltdown every single day at school and I was getting phone call after phone call saying, “Come and help us calm down your child.” It got as bad as him peeing on the floor at school. Since bringing him home, we haven’t had that. We get a little frustrated but when I see that he’s getting frustrated, it gives me the opportunity to say, “We’ll come back to this later. Let’s take a walk around the house or go outside for couple of minutes.” I’ve also realized that we’re really behind, which I didn’t realize how far when we were in brick and mortar. Epic gives us the chance to get him back up to speed with everybody else his age. When he was in brick and mortar, he would have meltdowns and then the school wouldn’t give him school work because he didn’t function enough to get the school work done. Now he can function well and he can get the work done.

Also, the teachers we have had are great. I had Adam before and he was really good with my older son. The main reason my older son graduated was because of the encouragement that he received from Adam. Adam even took the time to explain to my son what my son's future was gonna look like if he didn’t complete this. Kim is my other teacher with my kid on spectrum and she’s knowledgeable with autistic kids. She's also friendly and easy going. She works really well with my younger son and gives him time to do things. The other cool thing is she can manipulate things. If there's a science experiment to do and my son's really having a hard time, she can go in and say, “We’re not gonna do this science experiment this time and we’ll catch up next time.”

I’ve been to the Epic office a couple of times and the secretary there is always very pleasant and nice every time I come in. She’s always really happy so she’s very friendly. The initial enrollment was done online and it was a step-by-step process, which was fairly simple for us. I’ve already been telling friends about them.

I was surprised at how simple the enrollment process was. I called and they gave me the information. I went online and enrolled. And once that process was done, they emailed me. And then I got my daughter a laptop. She is enrolled in the Plato program. I can see a positive difference in her in the last six months. She's learning a lot and I try to interact with her as much as I can and get online to look and see what she was doing. And it seems like she's doing really well. She made really good grades. My daughter's teacher has also been amazing. If I had a question, I can text or call him and he's always been available and always willing to meet with us or answer questions.

I saw that Epic had a pretty good track record so I decided to give it a try for a year. The accredited teacher is really great with him. She's able to handle him whenever she does in person. She comes once every two weeks, and she's really good at working with him. And not only that, but I can sit down with him, help him with his schoolwork online, and help him understand that. I like that, as a parent, I am able to focus a lot of my attention on my child and what he needs, so instead of being in a classroom of 23 with one teacher, it's more individualized. Epic's curriculum is also comprehensive and they've been doing really great. I would recommend Epic, especially if your child needs more specialized attention.

We did online enrollment and it was easy. Last year would have been our second year to re-enroll so most of our information was saved. Then this past February 1, I did it again for this coming year and it was quick and easy. The first year, I know you had to have some of the copies of shot records and things like that but that's pretty standard for any school enrollment.

We interacted with Julie, our teacher, on a weekly basis and she has been amazing. If we don't talk weekly, we always see just the different Epic teachers when we do the standardized testing and they are friendly and welcoming to the kids. Julie has gone above and beyond to help my daughter, especially in Math. She has even had put some of her own time into it above what she's probably paid for. She has really wanted to see success for my daughter and we're not just another student off her list, and I felt that way about any interaction we've had with the teachers. I've really been pleased with the teachers and the faculty of Epic.

We did some of the classes that they offered for the study island tutoring. This year, my daughter did them online through Google Hangouts so there were some different teachers that we wouldn't have normally interacted with and they were really helpful too. That was a great alternative because my oldest daughter is in sixth grade. We did some of the Google Hangouts for sixth grade Math and the lady that had done that was a Math teacher who was really helpful and great with strategies. And then our teacher has been great in any subject area we needed help with.

However, I've been very frustrated with their slowness in paying vendors. When you file something for your learning fund, a vendor sends in an invoice. They have a 30-day window of reimbursing that vendor. It's frustrating from the parent's side because they are slow to pay for a service that we have already had, and then they wait until the 29th or the 30th day to put that check in the mail every single time. That reflects poorly on us, the Epic people as a whole. It doesn't encourage people to want to be Epic vendors because, "Oh well, I'm not gonna get paid for a month out at least."

I understand at the beginning of the year, "Hey, we have a new influx of students. It may take us a while to get your invoices". But it has been that case every time consistently for two years. It didn't have anything to do with me but it reflects poorly to me when I'm having to say to the tutor or the piano teacher, "I'm so sorry you haven't been paid yet for your services. It's coming." If there's anything they could do to make that more efficient, it would encourage people to want to be Epic vendors. Other than that, it's been a great experience. I recommend Epic quite a bit to people and answered a lot of questions about it.

My kids really like going to EPIC and I think the education they're getting there is better than the one they'd get from a public school. I've recommended it to several friends and told them that if they wanna do homeschool, then they should do Epic because they will get a teacher to help with all those stuff that homeschoolers don't really want to deal with like the recording of the grades and having to do a lesson plan. I've also recommended my specific teacher because she's phenomenal.

The other school's testing was done way away and its headquarters was in Eastern Oklahoma. And then, someone had talked to me about Epic Charter Schools and then I was able to visit with a parent that had Epic and they gave me the name of our current teacher to be able to talk to. Norman is a smaller community and I felt good about the one-on-one instruction from this particular teacher and then had been impressed since then. Our experience with Epic has been very pleasant because of her, Julie. She was very attentive to what my goals with our older son were. We have five children, and the first two are very high-achieving academically. And I knew this one was a different personality but he was very capable academically and she was very good in listening to me.

I don't like to be viewed as a helicopter mom over my kids. But when your kid's doing great and then all of a sudden, his national test scores dropped to 50 percentile, and he's always been up at the top, you know something is not quite right. And so, she listened to me with that. She was really good to help us achieve our goals. He's still a little behind in reading but he's in the 95th or 96th percentile on math. He has really excelled. If I didn't think the vocabulary, she would always run a good book to say, "Let's buy this with your learning funds," in areas that we didn't necessarily feel with that program that we bought that was up to where we needed to. She was always good to recommend extra material or to kinda cover that. She really was good at tailoring what we need.

We've gotten our son up there pretty well. However, I didn't like the tutoring for our kids. Epic may be paying those people by the hour, but it didn't seem like a very time efficient thing to do with all that typing. So, if my son needed extra tutoring, I would just either ask our high school son to help him or hire an outside tutor.

I have recommended Epic Charter Schools to my friend. She was considering homeschooling and had gone to a homeschooling convention but was overwhelmed with the amount of material and curricula to choose from. She's a busy woman, and she's just like, "I don't know that I can do that." And so, I said, "Well, here you have the best of both worlds. You have a certified teacher looking over what they're doing. And you can bring him home and make sure they're improving their study habits."