Clonlara?

[iluvmy4blessings]

I've been trying to reach Clonlara for a week. They keep putting me through and I keep leaving a voice mail. I'm beginning to wonder if this should deter me from using them. Anyone have experience?

[dragons in the flower bed]

They always told us not to call unless it was an emergency, but to e-mail, and that was in the nineties.

[Faithr]

I just enrolled in the program. I called once and it took a couple of days for someone to call me back. I've also gotten several e-mails. So maybe this is just a fluke? Maybe the voicemail is on the fritz? I'd shoot them an e-mail explaining the difficulty you are having. I've had very nice interactions thus far.

[gingersmom]

I'm planning on using them next year. I hope they are more responsible then that.

[Tiramisu]

When I was considering enrollment over the summer, I was able to contact them easily by phone. I found them very helpful and generous with their time....just too expensive for us

[Robin in DFW]

Phone calls unanswered...emails unanswered...

 

I actually enrolled my dd with them for the accountability but found their criteria for courses was strange, at least to me.

 

Robin

[iluvmy4blessings]

They did call me back and were very helpful. It almost made me wonder if they read the boards...lol...it was about an hour after I posted I got a call and she was super helpful. It did suprise me though that she said they only send schools a letter stating the student was enrolled and passed unless you personally request them to send a report card. To me it is very important that she get credit for whatever she takes in case she goes back public. From what I understand Clonlara is accredited by all the important places. It is about 1000 I guess for the year. I am glad to hear positive things .thanks!

[Corraleno]

You might look into NARS as well. It's fully accredited, they provide complete transcripts with grades, and at $425/yr it's half the cost of Clonlara. They are in Maine.

http://www.narhs.org/

 

Jackie

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

You might look into NARS as well. It's fully accredited, they provide complete transcripts with grades, and at $425/yr it's half the cost of Clonlara. They are in Maine.

http://www.narhs.org/

 

Jackie

 

Wow, NARHS sounds promising!

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Be aware that NARS is not accepted by NCAA--that might not matter to you at all. Conlara is. The difference is in having a brick and mortar school.

 

What's NCAA? Since I'm not American, nor in the States, I'm unfamiliar with all of this.

[TravelingChris]

NCAA is the National Collegiate athletic association. They have eligibility rules for who can play sports in college.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

NCAA is the National Collegiate athletic association. They have eligibility rules for who can play sports in college.

 

Thanks. That's irrelevant for us, but I can see why some people would be worried about it. Since my kids are not attending college in the States, we don't care :)

[Joan in GE]

at NARS accreditation...It is accredited by the National Private Schools Association. While this is accepted by some schools as a proper accreditation, it is not by others.

 

Now on NARS site, it also says they are recognized by the Dept of Education. On the Georgia Tech site, it says that the school can be accepted if it is accepted by the state's Dept of Education...

 

This accreditation information is from Georgia Tech (I only chose this one because I know their standards are more difficult and don't have time to search for other examples). I don't know how many other schools are like them.

ACCREDITATION INFORMATION

 

If a student pursues a home study program that is accredited by the regional authority (SACS, MSACS, NCACS, NEACS, NACS, or WACS), a state's Department of Education, or certain Georgia authorities (Georgia Accrediting Commission, Georgia Private School Accrediting Commission or the Accrediting Commission for Independent Study), supplementary documents are not required. To determine if your school is accredited by a recognized agency, please visit www.accreditedschools.org/school-search .

 

When I clicked on this link, it no longer works. When I searched earlier when the link was working (a month or so ago), NARS was not listed. But as above, the state Dept of Ed could be enough to not have to submit supplementary documentation.

 

Anyway, I would check the colleges your son/daughter are interested in applying to.

Edited October 22, 2009 by Joan in Geneva
correction

[Corraleno]

It's always prudent to check with the school one is applying to, but most schools & colleges will accept diplomas from other schools which are recognized by their State Board of Education. NARS is a brick-&-mortar private school recognized by the state of Maine, and their website includes an extensive list of colleges that have accepted their graduates, including Harvard and many other selective colleges as well as all of the US Military Academies.

 

Both Clonlara and NARS are accredited by the National Private Schools Association. (The other accreditations listed by Clonlara are meaningless ~ if you look at the list of 300 or so "schools" accredited by CITA/NCA, almost all of them are commercial tutoring centers, like Sylvan Learning Center.)

 

I don't think it's possible to get regional accreditation from any of the standard "big six" accrediting associations unless the school provides a complete, prescribed course of study (they determine the textbooks, assignments, grading, etc.). In other words, if a homeschooler is looking for an "accredited" high school diploma, they can either sign up for school-at-home through a regionally accredited school like Keystone, Penn Foster, etc. (diplomas which are guaranteed to be accepted) or they can document their own course of study through a privately accredited school like Clonlara, NARS, etc. (which most schools accept just fine). Or they can just issue their own diploma, which most colleges (but not high schools) also accept just fine. :)

 

Jackie

[Joan in GE]

If they are really the same accrediting bodies, then Clonlara fees are astronomical.

 

But are you sure they are? (I personally do not know but would like to find out!)

 

NARHS/NARS says National Private Schools Association and Clonlara is National Private School Accreditation Alliance. When I click on the NAHRS site to read their letter, the link is broken.

 

If you know more, I'd like to hear.

 

About the list of schools where people are accepted, I would like to know if they are accepted because of or in spite of this diploma. There was a lady on another thread who had done all the NARS paperwork and then for some reason it was better to apply without actually using the NARS diploma. Did NARS count her ds as one of their graduates?

 

There are a lot of questions and since I'm far away it is costly to try to call all these colleges and see what they say about a NARHS diploma...Have you talked with any of the big names on their list?

[Laura Corin]

There are a lot of questions and since I'm far away it is costly to try to call all these colleges and see what they say about a NARHS diploma.

 

I have an account with UWT (United World Telecom) for overseas calls. The prices are extremely low.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[2cents]

I used Clonlara for my first year of hsing many years ago. I was really disappointed with them. I found that I was doing all the accounting and sending that to them and they just signed off on it. Then when annual testing came around all they could tell me was to find a FL certified teacher to administer the test and then send Clonlara the info. They never returned my emails asking about a list of certified testers that they supposedly would provide. For all the 'accounting' work I did it was crazy for me to pay them. I just quit providing the monthly reports and they never even emailed me to ask why I disappeared. IMO their service was awful. They talk a mean game and make it sound so good but the 'notebook' and their 'service' didn't justify the cost and paperwork that I did.

[melmichigan]

I used Clonlara for my first year of hsing many years ago. I was really disappointed with them. I found that I was doing all the accounting and sending that to them and they just signed off on it. Then when annual testing came around all they could tell me was to find a FL certified teacher to administer the test and then send Clonlara the info. They never returned my emails asking about a list of certified testers that they supposedly would provide. For all the 'accounting' work I did it was crazy for me to pay them. I just quit providing the monthly reports and they never even emailed me to ask why I disappeared. IMO their service was awful. They talk a mean game and make it sound so good but the 'notebook' and their 'service' didn't justify the cost and paperwork that I did.

 

How many years ago? We are considering this especially since it is in our state and accredited by the same agencies as our local school district. ;) NARS is not.

[Guest]

We're on our second year of using Clonlara. They have been a bit slow to return emails/phone calls this year. The secretary is apparently a part-time worker, but she has always gotten back to me in a couple of days. I have been most appreciative of the attentions of our advisor; I have a daughter with Asperger's Syndrome and dysgraphia, so have needed to really work outside the standard curriculum and think about alternate ways to produce "proof" of learning. They have been nothing but supportive and encouraging. I have had a number of very long, detailed conversations about education, education theory, Asperger's, etc. with our advisor, which I enjoyed very much and which reassured me greatly.

 

To be honest, I also use Clonlara because of its relatively high recognition factor. We live in California, which is very adverse to independent homeschooling. The state only recognizes "independent studies" done through the school system so it's important to me to look official and approved. This may just be my own insecurity, but I feel that with Clonlara registration I can relax and stop worrying about the state breathing down my neck. I'm sure other people feel just fine registering as a private school and going their own way without this, but I need the reassurance; I'm a worrier.

[melmichigan]

We're on our second year of using Clonlara. They have been a bit slow to return emails/phone calls this year. The secretary is apparently a part-time worker, but she has always gotten back to me in a couple of days. I have been most appreciative of the attentions of our advisor; I have a daughter with Asperger's Syndrome and dysgraphia, so have needed to really work outside the standard curriculum and think about alternate ways to produce "proof" of learning. They have been nothing but supportive and encouraging. I have had a number of very long, detailed conversations about education, education theory, Asperger's, etc. with our advisor, which I enjoyed very much and which reassured me greatly.

 

To be honest, I also use Clonlara because of its relatively high recognition factor. We live in California, which is very adverse to independent homeschooling. The state only recognizes "independent studies" done through the school system so it's important to me to look official and approved. This may just be my own insecurity, but I feel that with Clonlara registration I can relax and stop worrying about the state breathing down my neck. I'm sure other people feel just fine registering as a private school and going their own way without this, but I need the reassurance; I'm a worrier.

 

My DD also has dysgraphia and Asperger's. :) Any ideas on how they handle subject acceleration?

[In The Great White North]

NARS is not a brick-and-mortar school in the sense that the students are taking classes there. They do have a nice brick building--just no one taking classes in the building! NCAA states that they will not accept them because of that. Clonlara has a day school where students take classes. Yes, I know NARS states that they have students in at the military academies--my dd! Funny, how all 3 of her appointments and her NROTC scholarship showed up on that list... :D

 

Being accepted to a military academy does not imply a recognized diploma/transcript. All of the military academies accept homeschoolers with a mommy diploma/transcript. They didn't question it at all.

 

Rumor has it that the NCAA used to accept NARS but doesn't any more.

[Guest]

My DD also has dysgraphia and Asperger's. :) Any ideas on how they handle subject acceleration?

 

My daughter has had an interesting combination of accelerated learning and trouble with real basics. For example, she raced through the Hands-On Algebra program at a young age and could solve -- and make up -- some pretty advanced numerical sequencing problems while still being unable to count out the right number of candles for her birthday cake (at age nine) or count coins accurately. She taught herself to multiply, was interested in primes and square roots, before she could remember basic addition facts (we're talking sums under twenty here). She read way beyond grade level but still drew pictures instead of writing book reports afterwards, for many years.

 

What I have finally figured out is that acceleration in terms of content works really well to engage her sharp mind; it's the endless petty paper-based assignments on that content that drag her down. So we do far fewer math problems on paper (but do advanced topics, read lots of mathematical essays in addition), fewer written papers (but reading classics, going to Shakespeare plays, and the like).

 

When her obsessional interests are engaged acceleration works best (you probably have seen this too!). She is enjoying a physics workshop once a month at our local university, and her physics work is a model of neatness and thoroughness -- things I don't usually associate with her work.

 

Tell me about your daughter???

[Brenda in MA]

About the list of schools where people are accepted, I would like to know if they are accepted because of or in spite of this diploma. There was a lady on another thread who had done all the NARS paperwork and then for some reason it was better to apply without actually using the NARS diploma. Did NARS count her ds as one of their graduates?

 

Joan,

 

I think that I am that lady from the other thread that you mentioned :001_smile:.

 

I suspect that they do count my ds as one of their "graduates" because my son does have a diploma from them. They are not aware, however, of where he applied to college or where he was accepted because we didn't go through them for that process.

 

Due to a difference of opinion with them about who should write the guidance counselor paperwork for my son's college applications, we decided that he should apply to college without mentioning that we used them. I made up my son's transcript and wrote the GC letter myself as many here have done. He had a very successful college application process and is happy at a school that is a good match for him.

 

I will not use NARHS (or Clonlara) for my younger son's high school years. IMHO, unless you really need an accredited diploma (like Margaret's dd did), then NARHS is very expensive for what you actually receive from them. And Margaret is correct; NARHS is not a brick-and-mortar school building with students who learn on-site at their location. I have been to their previous location (I think they moved last year) several times for my son's portfolio review. They are basically just an office of education folks who review schoolwork and keep records for people.

 

If you plan to teach all of your dc's high school courses at home and will have no outside grades for them, then I could see that using a program like Clonlara or NARHS might lend some strength to the student's high school record. If your child has other outside grades from a CC, another local college, or a distance learning program, or AP scores, I would think that most colleges would take that as outside proof of the child's preparation for college.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[Joan in GE]

I suspect that they do count my ds as one of their "graduates" because my son does have a diploma from them. They are not aware, however, of where he applied to college or where he was accepted because we didn't go through them for that process.

 

Hi Brenda!

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I was still wondering.:001_smile:

 

I'm still working on a cover/umbrella/or charter school (is there any other word for this type school?) just because I've recently found out that for university here in Switzerland, even with 5 AP's, they want a high school diploma that comes from a "school".

 

Even to apply for a master's program here, you need this certified copy of your high school diploma (not that ds is at that point yet, just thinking ahead). So I want a program that is not too "fly by night". But dh doesn't want it to cost too much....

 

I've gone thru some lists (see California thread) and need to spend more time on this very soon.:(

 

If you hear of anything good, please let me know!

Joan

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Joan, are your kids American citizens?

 

Because NARHS requires a proof of American citizenship.