Building Up Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I live in PA. State law says that homeschoolers must be allowed to participate in ps extracurricular activities - but each school district can decide for themselves whether or not to allow homeschoolers in co-curricular classes. I decided to ask our local elementary school if my 10yo could come for band. I met with the principal today and found him to be very friendly and welcoming. He said they had had homeschoolers in the band in the past and seemed very open to it. Actually, there didn't even seem to be any doubt on his end that the school would allow it (despite the district's written policy against it, but that's another topic). He said the only thing they would need from us is to enroll her as student - but it would be listed as a partial enrollment with a percentage of time equivalent to band only. He said that nothing else would be needed from us. He wanted to let me know about the enrollment requirement right off the bat, because that has been a deal-breaker for some homeschoolers. So I'm wondering if there is a drawback to this partial enrollment that I'm not thinking about? I'm not one who has an issue with being in the system...and frankly they already have all of this info on her anyway because of everything the state requires us to submit to the district for homeschooling. So what do you think? Is there something about enrollment I'm not considering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliall Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 That is how we have chosen to do it in Iowa. We dual enroll in the school district, and they get a small amount of state funding. My oldest goes just for band, they do standardized tests for free with a grade appropriate classroom (for compliance--our choice), and then we do our own thing the rest of the time. We have never had any issues where we felt they overstepped their bounds, and we actually have a great relationship with the school staff. They have been very welcoming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 We did something similar. The school counted my kiddo as part time for band class, but she was still legally an independent homeschooler. The band was... not the quality I was hoping for, but it got dd started on her instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Building Up Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 Thanks for the encouragement. I'm glad to hear that the arrangement worked well for both of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyfulhomeschooler Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynnae Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Our daughter was enrolled as a part time student for band, and it worked out wonderfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Here in NH, homeschoolers are not assigned a "pupil identifier" number for database tracking at the state and local levels. Many homeschoolers believe it is an invasion of privacy, and also have concerns about technological security. But if you enroll in public school you get one whether you want it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 This is what we did from 7th-12th grade and it worked out great for us. The schools were always very welcoming and it was a nice arrangement. We live in a small town and there was really no other option if my kids wanted to play in a band or sing in a choir. They were still considered independent homeschoolers, and being in the band or choir didn't require them to do anything else in the ps system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Building Up Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Our daughter was enrolled as a part time student for band, and it worked out wonderfully. Good to hear! We have a number of students that take band at the local ps, also some involved in choir. The ps doesn't get any funding unless the child is taking two classes, so after they accept them for band, the ps starts pushing. We have a private school here that regularly has the kids half time with them and half at the ps starting in 7th-8th grade. It seems to work well. The private school doesn't go past 8th, so most folks are looking for a transition back to the ps. We've found for music, it's worked better to have private lessons and then move to the college orchestra or band at about 6th grade. That's another route you might want to investigate. The level of the ps band is so low that it would just be frustrating here. For a child to progress in a group, he's got to be taking private lessons somewhere. This info about funding was interesting to hear. I've never heard of homeschoolers taking band (or other classes) in our school district before so I don't think we'll get pushed to enroll for more, but I could be wrong. We want to start her at the ps, if possible, simply because of finances. At some point I would love to get her private lessons, but it will have to wait. I know that accomplished musicians from the community can play in our local college band so that is a good reminder to keep in mind for the future. I'm hoping that ps band will get her started on the instrument; and I think some independence in this form will be good for her too. This is what we did from 7th-12th grade and it worked out great for us. The schools were always very welcoming and it was a nice arrangement. We live in a small town and there was really no other option if my kids wanted to play in a band or sing in a choir. They were still considered independent homeschoolers, and being in the band or choir didn't require them to do anything else in the ps system. It is nice to hear another positive experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Building Up Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 (edited) Here in NH, homeschoolers are not assigned a "pupil identifier" number for database tracking at the state and local levels. Many homeschoolers believe it is an invasion of privacy, and also have concerns about technological security. But if you enroll in public school you get one whether you want it or not. Thank you so much for sharing this. This is exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about! I've never heard of a "pupil identifier" number. I wonder if this is pretty standard in other states also. Edited July 24, 2012 by Building Up typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 We will be doing the same thing next year. Dd wants to try the school band for high school. In Michigan, they get partial funding no matter how many classes, so it's win-win for them and us. I can see why you have to enroll, because band is an academic subject, not an extracurricular. I see no down-side, but some homeschoolers have beliefs against public school systems in general, so they would refuse any enrollment. He's probably had that experience of peoiple wanting to show up but not be enrolled, so he was making sure up front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labst60 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Since he would be technically enrolled, I would just confirm whether PSSAs would be required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 My child attends the middle school for band. I just don't like the commute because is can mess up our day but it is first in the morning which is better then right in the middle of the day. She's enrolled and get the free testing too. She is allowed to go on trips but they seldom let me know about them so she didn't go on many because of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Building Up Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Another thought on private lessons--we fed a trumpet major dinner once a week or so in exchange for lessons. Just something to think about! Excellent idea! This is actually a good possibility for us! Thanks! We will be doing the same thing next year. Dd wants to try the school band for high school. In Michigan, they get partial funding no matter how many classes, so it's win-win for them and us. I can see why you have to enroll, because band is an academic subject, not an extracurricular. I see no down-side, but some homeschoolers have beliefs against public school systems in general, so they would refuse any enrollment. He's probably had that experience of peoiple wanting to show up but not be enrolled, so he was making sure up front. I know some homeschoolers don't want to be involved in the system at all, but he seemed to be referring to people who had first approached him about participating and then declined when partial enrollment was stipulated. It just made me wonder why people who feel that way about public schools would ask in the first place, or if there was something else I was missing. Since he would be technically enrolled, I would just confirm whether PSSAs would be required. Hmm...I wondered if it would change any reporting requirements. I should confirm that it would not. Thanks. My child attends the middle school for band. I just don't like the commute because is can mess up our day but it is first in the morning which is better then right in the middle of the day. She's enrolled and get the free testing too. She is allowed to go on trips but they seldom let me know about them so she didn't go on many because of that. Thankfully this school is even within walking distance, so the commute doesn't need to be a big disruption. I also wondered if this would end up increasing our likelihood of finding out what other things were going on for kids in the community. Since we live in such a small town, outside youth organizations tend to send all their flyers through the schools thinking that everyone will get them that way...But it can be very hard to find out about those things if your child isn't enrolled in school. However, I suspect it might not help much at all since they probably don't get passed out during band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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