Umbrella schools and university model schools, oh my!

[Gwen in VA]

I am trying to research umbrella schools and university model schools. Neither of them make that much sense to me, but increasing numbers of people seem to use them, so I figure I'm missing something.

 

(No, this isn't for MY kids.....)

 

I know that some state require umbrella schools in order to homeschool legally. If you use an umbrella school, what does the school provide -- just oversight or classes and extracurriculars and guidance counseling and.....? When a student from an umbrella school applies to college, does he apply as a homeschooler? Does the parent still write the guidance counselor letter?

 

If your state does not require the use of an umbrella school, what is the advantage of joining one?

 

How about University model schools? They seem to offer everything from courses a la carte to entire high school programs. At what point is the student no longer a homeschooler? Does a student who has completed an entire high school education through a university model school still apply as a homeschooler, with a parent writing the guidance counselor letter?

 

Under what circumstances would a homeschool parent have someone else write the guidance counselor letter?

 

And what about accreditation? Some umbrella schools and UMS's are accredited, though usually nationally instead of regionally. Does that mean that the student then applies to college as a school student or a homeschooler? And what is the advantage of accreditation for a program that provides classes a la carte?

 

(scratching head.....the face of homeschooling has certainly changed over the past decade or so!)

 

By the way -- we still follow the mom-and-kids-around-a-very-messy-dining-room-table model, with occasional online and CC and 4-year college classes, so I am not in favor of these schools and programs. I'm just trying to understand why people get involved with them!)

[laughing lioness]

If I remember correctly, CA requires you to be part of an umbrella school, but the parents can apply to be a private school. So it's just a matter of semantics. Most umbrella schools that I am familiar with provide record keeping, some extra curriculars (depends, of course) and parental overview. But it all boils down to state regs.

In eled school, the child has to be enrolled- either f.t. as a public/private school student or a homeshcooler, or they are considered legally truent. So, even if they attend p.t. eled classes under an umbrella program, they would probably have to be (legally) a homeschooler.

In high school the state regs might change regarding truency and some states allow kids as young as 16 to be done with school w.o being considered truent. Others req that kids have an i.d. card and be off the streets during school hours or be picked up by police. It depends on the state (truency laws are important- you can have your child removed from the home because of them).

The advantadges of an umbrella school, if your state didn't req. would depend on what the umbrella school offered and how important those services were to you.

 

A UMS is a different ball of wax. The state laws will determine, technically, when a student is no longer a homeschooler, but NAUMS schools are set up as systems that rely heavily on the influence and participation of the parent. The student goes to classes 2-3 days a week, with the parent providing support and mentoring the other days. It would depend, again, on state reg's, but even if a student is enrolled f.t. as a UMS student that would leave them "unaccounted for" 2-3 days a week. When we started a UMS we consulted HSLDA and were told that our students should still register as homeschoolers, even though they would be in class 3 days a week. It's important to understand the regulations in the state that you are in because they vary from state to state.

In some states if won't matter as much (folks will leave you alone regardless). In others it will. Homeschooled and UMS students represent a loss of income to public schools.

 

Re: college. Most colleges are very concerned with test scores. If you student has great test scores, the rest of the information is good to know. There is no box to check on applications (as far as I know) to indicate you are applying as a homeschooler.

I would check with admissions at schools that student is intersted in to find out who would be the most appropriate person to write the recommendation. They will be able to tell you exactly what they want to know and how to provide that. It varies from school to school.

 

I doubt very much that there are umbrella schools that are accredited by an ouside accreditation board (which is what gives the accreditation its meaning) unless they are run by a private school. In which case they will have strict requirements for the homeschool parent and student as far as class/time/test requirements/time on campus, etc. (accreditation = accountability).

I know of no accrediting board for parent run co-ops or class days.

Classical Conversations is the closest to this that I'm aware of and they provide "standardizaion" rather than "accreditation."

[FloridaLisa]

Lol, Gwen, I can't answer most of your questions because we use the kids-around-the-dining room table/couches/bedroom floors approach as well. :001_smile:

 

If your state does not require the use of an umbrella school, what is the advantage of joining one?

 

Under Florida law, students registered under an umbrella school are private school students and follow those statutes. They may call themselves homeschoolers and for the most part look like homeschoolers, but legally these students are privately educated. There can be several advantages:

 

1) outside accountability (some families need or want this)

2) outside guidance counseling, esp. helpful for newer families

**3) qualification for Florida's Bright Futures scholarship based on lower SAT/ACT scores and grades. Because homeschoolers qualify for the state scholarship based only on a higher test score, some students with lower scores will go under an umbrella to qualify for the scholarship.

 

HTH,

Lisa

Edited February 10, 2011 by FloridaLisa

[Gwen in VA]

Interesting! Thank you.

 

The line between homeschooling and private schooling is, in some cases, getting blurrier and blurrier.

 

The National Association of Private Schools (NAPS) is a national accrediting agency that our local coop is investigating. Apparently NAPS will accredit university model schools. What this means and what this looks like isn't clear to me.

 

When I began homeschooling, in the state where I began homeschooling, you either homeschooled "around the kitchen table" (with possibly some outsourcing) or you used an accredited homeschooling program like BJU or A Beka. But that was over 20 years ago -- and the options have multiplied!

 

Thank you for answering my questions as I wrestle with whether or not I want to get involved (as an adult, not with my kids -- they're continuing with the dining room table approach) with the university model school that is forming locally.

 

I guess one question that still bothers me is about accreditation. Doesn't the value of the accreditation depend on the credibility of the accrediting agency? People tell me that colleges just want accredited transcripts, and what provides the accreditation doesn't matter. That makes no sense to me!

 

(And yes, I know, both from my own experience and that of folks on this board, that homeschoolers do NOT need an accredited diploma to be accepted by great schools!)

[Ellie]

If I remember correctly, CA requires you to be part of an umbrella school, but the parents can apply to be a private school.

Not exactly.

 

California requires children to be enrolled in a private school or a public school, or tutored full-time by a certified teacher.

 

Californians either establish a private school by filing their own private school affidavit, or they enroll their dc in someone else's private school, and that school files the affidavit. A recent court case refers to those private schools as Private School Satellite Programs.

 

There is no homeschool statute. Homeschoolers have been filing their own affidavits for a long long time. The concept of the PSP is fairly new.

[Joan in GE]

Thank you for answering my questions as I wrestle with whether or not I want to get involved (as an adult, not with my kids -- they're continuing with the dining room table approach) with the university model school that is forming locally.

 

I guess one question that still bothers me is about accreditation. Doesn't the value of the accreditation depend on the credibility of the accrediting agency? People tell me that colleges just want accredited transcripts, and what provides the accreditation doesn't matter. That makes no sense to me!

 

 

Gwen, I have to agree with you - the accrediting agency does matter - otherwise what would be the point. It probably depends on the college as to what they want. Maybe you can call some colleges?

 

I wanted to add that I think the value of being accredited depends on the type of hoops that you have to jump through. If it is mostly administrative, rather than content oriented, I don't really see the value.

 

Recently though I got an AP course approval and the amount of research that went into developing the course will/has already definitely bettered the quality of the course. So if going through the process is going to make more educated parents, I would think it would be helpful.

 

my 2 cents,

Joan

[Cinder]

How about University model schools? They seem to offer everything from courses a la carte to entire high school programs. At what point is the student no longer a homeschooler? Does a student who has completed an entire high school education through a university model school still apply as a homeschooler, with a parent writing the guidance counselor letter?

 

Under what circumstances would a homeschool parent have someone else write the guidance counselor letter?

 

And what about accreditation?

 

 

I don't get to the high school board very often so I just read this thread. I have 2 ds's at a UMS so I thought I'd add my 2cents.

 

What attracted us to the UMS was the ala carte style of the school. We could choose which classes we wanted, for the most part. We wanted to pursue the diploma program, so our options were less flexible. We knew this before we signed up, though, and the overall program met our needs so we were willing to give up some of those freedoms we'd gotten used to as homeschoolers.

 

The UMS is really a school, but in here GA it's classified as a homeschool resource. That is, until last year when they changed the rules: if your student is taking a full load (6 classes) they will be reported as a schooled student, not a homeschooler. Anything less and all the normal homeschool paperwork is required. That said, as long as the student is on the diploma plan, the school takes care of certain paperwork--teacher recommendations, counselor letters, school code for ACT/SAT.

 

This particular school is accredited: Cornerstone Prep is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools/ Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) and holds accreditation from the Georgia Accrediting Commission (GAC).

 

I have a vague memory of you wanting to start a school sometime in the future? Is this right? Anyway, feel free to pm me if you have more questions about our experience with the UMS.

[Wildiris]

I think the accreditation issue is real, or at least real in CA if you want your child to attend a public UC or CSU. Private institutions seem to be more flexible when considering independent home school students.

 

The UC system requires a student applicant complete its A-G college prep classes with a GPA of 3.0 or better. This I cut and pasted from their admissions site:

 

Under the new policy, students who become eligible by examination will not be guaranteed admission. They will, however, be entitled to a full review of their application. Students who take this path must complete two SAT Subject Tests in two different subject areas.

 

Fall 2012 admissions requirements to the University of California

 

MIT Admissions: Homeschooled Applicants Helpful Tips

 

I think eligibility by exam was how many independent home school students gained entry into the UC system. My interpretation of the entrance requirements leads me to believe that how one satisfies the the A-G requirements matters; the kind of texts used and structure of classes matters whether one chooses the private school option or public school umbrella option.

 

The charter school my daughters attends offers college prep classes which are supposed to cover the UC A-G requirements, using specific text. The school does not allow any deviation from its college prep path. So one could not substitute a more readable history book for their designated history text and maintain the college prep path. This charter does have WASC accreditation; however, the quality of teaching is low. To fall within the top 9% of their high school graduating class is not difficult, but to be in the top 9% statewide is another matter.

 

The more research I do on home school and college entrance, the more I am inclined to think that "Mommy" generated transcripts may work with some private schools, but I get the impression these types of transcripts are frowned upon unless the mommy has some kind of credential in the real world other than mother.

[SonshineLearner]

I think that veritasschools.com offer accredited school offerings. They are back south, with one starting in the PDX, OR area.

 

:)

[Homeschoolnewbe]

Firstly, hello! I am new to this board, but I belong to a UMS that was a co-op. Why? At first we were totally around the dining room table with the occasional tutor for all of our classes. I quickly realized that I was constantly having tutors either come to my house or meeting them at someone else's. My dd did not like online classes and liked being taught by a live person. I quickly realized I needed one place that I could go to get all of the tutors she wanted like Latin, Greek, and foreign languages, which is why I joined a UMS. I could go to one place one or two days per week and get all of her tutored classes out of the way. This school also issues an independent transcript which I have found colleges value far above the one I submit accredited or not. In addition to that, I have a ready resource for all of the college recommendation letters she will need soon. I have to admit we still do dual-enrollment and home classes, but I have appreciated the support of the UMS.