Connected Class Sets New Standard for Fun Effective Learning

March 1, 2024 | By Maria Sonnenberg

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Christel Reaves, left, founder and CEO of Connected Class. Photo by Jason Hook.

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Did you know you can use playing cards to write algebraic equations? Or a flyswatter to hone literacy skills? Those are just some of the ordinary props that can help transform a child’s education thanks to the innovative educational approach of Christel Reaves, founder and CEO of Connected Class.

Combine seemingly boundless creativity with an enduring passion for teaching and the result is Reaves’ Connected Class, a unique learning conduit for families, educators and administrators. Reaves makes learning fun through Connected Class’ Learning Link, which utilizes props culled from items found in a drawer to reinforce new skills in math and reading.

The educator’s original strategy for learning has earned her awards, recognition, praise and results.

“I believe Learning Link is far more than standards-based games to engage students in the classroom and at home, but a resource to build relationships,” Reaves said. “It helps families put down devices and interact with each other in a way that builds connection and academics.”

For the past 14 years, Reaves has been customizing learning experiences for educators and schools around the country based on the academic needs of their students.

“Through this journey, I noticed an opportunity for educators and families to partner with each other to provide creative learning experiences for children,” she explained. “I began writing scripts that included games, strategies and activities that were standards-based that teachers could use, as well as families.”

She initially created 12 videos and emailed them to a core group of schools she supported in Palm Beach County.

“I had no idea how well received they would become,” Reaves said. “In just a few months, there were close to 6,000 watches and teachers were asking for more. At that point, I knew I needed to really develop more of these videos to support family engagement and student success.”

So she had a new platform developed that allowed educators to select videos based on standards or concepts that students needed, and teachers could share them with families at home. Over a four-year period, Connected Class developed and tested over 150 videos in literacy and math and 21 videos for digital safety.

“The engagement and increase in student performance is amazing,” Reaves said. “Over the last few years, we have offered a math fact fluency challenge for our schools, and they have seen a 37% learning gain in just four weeks! We are currently on track to hit 500,000 Learning Link sends this school year.”

How it Works

The use of familiar household items as part of learning games is what is found in Learning Link — videos that speak to both teachers and parents. Each of the short videos focuses on a subject and are modeled as a game, strategy or activity. As is, parents and teachers use these learning experiences with students who are progressing at grade level. With a tweak, they also are applicable to students struggling with new concepts, as well as those who welcome a challenge.

Teachers implement the engaging experiences in the classroom and email the exercises to parents, who are thus able to see what and how their children are learning and can help them practice these new skills at home, made easier by the video. The system also tracks who is watching the resources.

The 2002 Teacher of the Year and nominee for Dwyer Award for Teaching Excellence in Palm Beach County, Reaves both served as teacher and administrator in South Florida for 12 years before moving to the Space Coast to be with her husband. Her former colleagues didn’t want to see her go and sought her help as a consultant. From these initial consultant efforts, Connected Class was born 14 years ago.

The program was so well received that the company doubled in size two years in a row. From a one-woman business, Connected Class now counts 10 staff members and serves 38 core schools in Florida, Texas and North Carolina.

Educators love Connected Class for two reasons: the company’s breadth of professional development opportunities and Learning Link.

“It makes the learning environment engaging and saves them time in planning curriculum,” Reaves said.

Learning Link by Connected Class placed second at the national Future of Educational Technology Conference Pitchfest earlier this year. The program was selected via competitive application to pitch in front of a panel of industry experts, district administrators, front-line educators, parents, investors and a live audience in Orlando.

“The competition was fierce,” said Jennifer Womble, conference chair for the Pitchfest. “This tool was selected as a finalist because the goal of Connected Class Learning Link is to support learning by enhancing community between the classroom and the home environment.”

Learning Link also won second place at the national State Education Technology Directors Association 10th Annual Emerging Partners Program for 2023-2024, during a Shark Tank-style competition pitched to the SETDA community in all 50 states.

Summer Slide No More

To help students retain knowledge gathered throughout the school year, Reaves’ latest venture focuses on halting the “summer slide” that undermines learning success when school is out. Statistics note that carefree summer days can result in 2.6 months lost of math skills and two months of reading skills. Re-learning the old material can require six weeks in the fall, leading students to be on average two years behind their peers by the time they reach the sixth grade.

The recently released Learning Link Summer Success Program helps students avoid the summer slide through access to engaging games and activities that target math and reading literacy. The program’s curriculum is designed to fit the student’s academic level and address skills that need to be sharpened in grades kindergarten to eighth.

The program includes weekly emails sent directly to parents with videos demonstrating math and literacy activities, curriculum for the program, a parent’s welcome letter detailing what can be expected, checklist for students to track their program, a Learning Link Kit with everything needed for the learning activities, ongoing instructional support to families and parent/family engagement data that can be shared with stakeholders prior to the next school year.

“(Learning Link) unites the classroom teacher with the family in a fast, easy way to support the next generation,” Reaves said of the relationships built. “Families are able to respond to the email and ask their child’s teacher questions.

“My goal is to get Learning Link video embedded emails into the inboxes of families around the nation because I know it works. I would love to see the Learning Link Summer Success program in the hands of Brevard County families this summer and begin partnerships with area schools in the fall.”

The Learning Link Summer Success Program is available for purchase by individual families and school systems. Through the end of March, the company is currently offering parents, including homeschooling families, the special pricing of $99 for a summer subscription to the program, complete with an accompanying take-home kit. The program retails for $130 after the sale.

Districts and schools may be able to utilize Title I and/or Title IV funding or Parent Teacher Organization dollars to purchase the year-round program for students. Cost for schools for the school year program is $2,995 per year.

Carolina Assuncao, a big fan of Connected Class, depends on Connected Class programming throughout the year with her fourth-grade class at Lake Worth Christian School.

“These resources help bridge the gap between home and school and invite parents into their child’s education in a fun and easy way,” she said.

Staci Levine, a kindergarten teacher at Trinity Christian School in Palm Beach Gardens, also uses the program during the year with her class, as well as at home with her own three children. An educator for more than two decades, Levine happily admits she is “obsessed” with the learning resource. At home, Levine believes the program helps her to better connect with her kids, teaching them at the same time they are having fun.

“I am in awe of how user-friendly, how engaging it is, not only for the students, but also for the parents,” she said.

And as for parents, they just might learn something, too.

“One of my favorite comments,” Reaves shared, “was from a parent who told me, ‘If I had learned and practiced fractions this way, I would have been a better student. I understand fractions now, thank you!’”