Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums High School Online HS

Dd#1, who is currently an 11 y/o 7th grader, has been expressing some significant reservations about enrolling in our local hs in 9th grade. While we have some local options for choicing into other high schools, we are also considering an alternative route for high school including an online hs or early college admission or homeschooling combined w/ some courses at the local community college.

We really don't have any good local options (or maybe even any local options) for early entrance college. In terms of online schooling, Stanford's OHS looks interesting but very expensive. We really can't afford to pay for hs given that we don't even have much saved for college and that will be necessary to pay for in that there aren't any free college options whereas there are free hs options.

We would like dd to be eligible for college scholarships and worry that taking too alternative of a route might make that harder as well. For instance, on the off chance that she was one of the few kids in our state selected for a very competitive full ride scholarship that is only available to be applied for by kids in the top 5% of their graduating class, that would be obviously wonderful. If she isn't part of a "graduating class" (i.e. -- homeschooled or something else), she loses the opportunity to apply for these types of scholarships.

I guess that I am just thinking out loud here. Have any of you taken an alternative route like online schooling for hs and how is it working out?

My DS13 is in 9th grade at public school, and it's tracked for the first time, so the fit is pretty good. It's less 'organizational skill' intensive than the local private school he tried, but still more than any of the public school kids have experienced up to this point. I hope it doesn't come back to bite him, but it is a good fit so far.

I would certainly consider letting her start High School next year, perhaps skipping into 8th grade now, if a scholarship is a main concern. OTOH, the scholarship might be for a University, and some kids are going to do better at a 'small liberal arts college' some of which give out scholarships as well.

Connections Academy and k12 are online schools that go through highschool, but I don't have any personal experience with them. Do you have a local community college?

Also look at The Program for the Exceptionally Gifted at Mary Baldwin College
... Residence Life � Student Life � PEG Staff � Online Resources � Find Your Gateway � About MBC � Program for the Exceptionally Gifted. E-mail: peg@mbc.edu ...
www.mbc.edu/peg/

I wish I had more info, but that's all I've got!
Smiles,
Grinity

For really smart achieving students, and that includes those that are homeschooled, there are many paths to scholarships. What is most important is that you choose something that works for right now. I wouldn't tie today's decisions too much on meeting the requirements for a particular scholarship as the requirements or availability of the scholarship could always change as time goes on. There may be an avenue for a homeschooled student to qualify for this particular scholarship. In general homeschooled students are not disadvantaged in terms of college scholarships or admissions - and in fact may in some situations be at an advantage because the flexibility and time allowed by homeschooling can offer students the opportunity to pursue impressive stuff like college classes, research opportunities and so forth.

She skipped 5th last year and just turned 11 this fall, so she would quite young to move up again. I'm not sure that is in her best interests right now.

I haven't figured out the multiple quote from different posters on this board, so sorry for the multiple responses!
Would you mind my asking which online school this is? I, too, liked the idea of an online hs which is university affiliated. Stanford's OHS runs $13K/yr right now and prices may be going up -- yikes!

What exactly are her concerns about High School? I was sort of assuming that she wasn't near being challenged enough now, so how was she going to hack so many more years of this. What is on her mind?
Best Wishes,
Grinity

No, I think that it is more social. She is still testing advanced on state NCLB tests and in the 99th on reading tests, but she seems to be reasonably adequately challenged right now. She also isn't the world's fastest worker, so adding on a heavier workload in terms of homework, etc. really might be too much for her if we moved her any further forward.

She is feeling like the atmosphere at her middle school is really changing with more and more kids going "emo," I believe she called it. She's describing that as some sort of ultra-goth dress with rather disrespectful kids and there is a lot of cutting going on from what she says. I told her that cutting is a psychological issue, not a lifestyle/clothing choice, but she is just finding that the group of kids are not ones with whom she would like to track to hs.

She has also been riding a bus with kids from the hs she would attend since she started middle school last year and is unimpressed with what she's seen. She reports that a lot of the kids smoke, curse profusely, and are goth.

She wants to be with a different crowd than what she is seeing. We are going to take a look at a hs in the town to the north of us which may have different demographics as well. I think that she'd do best in something like UW Seattle's early entrance program (if we lived in Seattle) b/c she could be with other bright kids who valued education -- peers. It seems like she is finding her peers to be morphing into something she doesn't want to be part of.