Hi, parents,

I haven't been here for a few years. I visited when DS was little. Now he is in middle school and we just moved him to a private school. We tried very hard to "cope" with the public school system but have given up. The private school is very accomodating and the teachers are wonderful and they really "get" DS. But the only issue is that their math course offering is very limited. This should not be a big deal as we are ready to supplement with online courses. But we also hope that these courses (we are looking at geometry and algebra 2 at this point) will earn DS high school credits so that he can get into more advanced classes right away when he enters high school (the private school is only to 8th grade). I'm sure a lot of parents here have kids who take onlne courses for high school credit. Is this fairly routine now and most public school districts would have no problem accepting these credits? I'm talking about credible online schools such as CTY and Art of Problem Solving. I'm honestly scared of our school district, just not sure how they will react about anything now... I'd appreciate it if you could share your experience. Thanks very much.

Each school district (and I have been involved in several districts throughout the country) is different, and occasionally even the individual schools have their own tweaks. Two levels to approach it are the HS Counselors - by their reaction you will know if this is something considered run of the mill or completely unique. You may already have the District or State Policy concerning course equivalency (which is what some homeschoolers have to go by) and testing.
On occasion, a high school has chosen to require a student to retake a State Test because their scores were too high before offering up any credit at all.
If my son's experience with schools is any indication, there are many roadblocks along the way to course or State Test equivalencies, especially in the upper grades. I hope somebody else has a better answer for you.

Our school district has very specific requirements for what classes are accepted for credit, including the institutions allowed. My kids took several online classes from Texas Tech that were approved for the high school curriculum. But I do remember that the advanced biology did not meet state requirements for the biology credits, so I would high recommend that you are checking with the school district to verify that the class meets the state standards for credit.

Thanks for writing. Placement is exactly what we have in mind. We just want DS to have the opportunity to take more advanced math classes in high school and be with the other advanced kids.

I looked at our high school's website and yes they also have specific and very restrictive places to take online courses. Sigh. I will talk to them soon to get a general idea of how this works.

Good advice. I will definitely check with them before we move ahead.

What state are you in?

Michigan.