Enrolling in Public School as a junior. Credit policies help?

[Jillinan]

Hi there,

 

My daughter has decided to go to public school for the first time as a junior next year. We have an appointment with the school counselor tomorow. Our phone conversation to set up the appt. was very discouraging. Our district has a reputation of treating homeschoolers well for activities (she has played volleyball for 4 years in the district) and for dual enrollment (we haven't done it personally but many others have.) The counselor informed me that she would have to enroll as a freshman because she doesn't have any credits. I anticipated this, but figured if she wasn't diploma seeking the whole credit thing wouldn't matter. "But she'll be able to take junior level classes, right?" Long pause. "Uh...it depends on the class."

 

So my attorney husband and I looked up the Idaho Code and school district policy to find anything that would support her statement that she must enroll as a freshman but couldn't find anything. Nothing. There doesn't seem to be any law or policy about non-diploma seeking students. She has test scores from the school standardized testing (it was required for volleyball) to show learning level.

 

So, I know state laws and district policies are all different, but has anyone been in a similar situation? I'm afraid this might end having to testify in front of the school board asking them to adopt a new policy. (Which I really don't have the time and energy for right now.)

 

Thanks,

 

Jill

[jamajo]

WOW! We have an appointment tomorrow morning as well for my daughter to take 2 classes at the local high school as a junior. She is looking to take Chemistry and Algebra II. She isn't seeking a degree either. The counselor didn't allude to anything you just mentioned. I'm in VA and there is language in the school's policy that allow homeschoolers to take tests if they want to re-enroll in public school (full time) after being homeschooled. But this isn't quite what we are doing.

I don't anticipate any problems.

 

Why can't you go to the central school administration building to discuss this policy with your homeschool point of contact there? Do you really have to go straight from the local school to the school board? The individual I have to report my "notice to homeschool" to each year serves as a point of contact for anything homeschool related including enforcing my right to take a max of 2 classes at the public school. Perhaps in your state the school structure is different than here but taking your issue straight to the school board seems so last resortish. KWIM?

[Barbara H]

It does vary widely by area but the first person you talk to may not have the full information. I also, though, would not go into the meeting blind. If you have access to any local homeschool email lists - yahoogroups, etc. I would try to talk to parents who have been through transitioning kids back from homeschooling into the public school and see if they can give you any pointers.

 

I would also arrive at the meeting confident and armed with an official looking homeschool transcript including grades, textbooks, methods of evaluation for each course as well as any records you have with testing or demonstrating compliance with state law. Districts vary in how much information they have on their websites, but if you access any information about the courses they offer, I would try to look at them and use titles as similar to what they use as possible. In other words if their US History course is US history to 1877, that's what I'd call my course (assuming that's an honest description and it is just a matter of semantics).

[Jean in Newcastle]

Here you would have to enroll as a freshman as well. That is why we made sure that when we committed to homeschooling high school that it would be for the full 4 years or would be looking to private school (which is more forgiving on credits).

[Ellie]

Hi there,

 

My daughter has decided to go to public school for the first time as a junior next year. We have an appointment with the school counselor tomorow. Our phone conversation to set up the appt. was very discouraging. Our district has a reputation of treating homeschoolers well for activities (she has played volleyball for 4 years in the district) and for dual enrollment (we haven't done it personally but many others have.) The counselor informed me that she would have to enroll as a freshman because she doesn't have any credits. I anticipated this, but figured if she wasn't diploma seeking the whole credit thing wouldn't matter. "But she'll be able to take junior level classes, right?" Long pause. "Uh...it depends on the class."

 

So my attorney husband and I looked up the Idaho Code and school district policy to find anything that would support her statement that she must enroll as a freshman but couldn't find anything. Nothing. There doesn't seem to be any law or policy about non-diploma seeking students. She has test scores from the school standardized testing (it was required for volleyball) to show learning level.

 

So, I know state laws and district policies are all different, but has anyone been in a similar situation? I'm afraid this might end having to testify in front of the school board asking them to adopt a new policy. (Which I really don't have the time and energy for right now.)

 

Thanks,

 

Jill

 

This is why it is so strongly recommended that people carefully think about whether or not to homeschool through high school; although there are exceptions, it is most common for public (and private) schools not to accept credits earned at home.

 

Why wouldn't your dd be wanting a diploma? I have never heard of students enrolling and not wanting a diploma. o_0

[Luanne]

Here she would have to start as a freshman. They wouldn't want her as non-diploma seeking because they'd have her enrolled but she wouldn't graduate. That's a big no-no in ps land.

 

It is exactly the same way here. My daughter talked about going to school starting her sophomore year, but she would have had to repeat her freshman year. They don't take homeschool credits at all around here.

[AngieW in Texas]

They don't take hs credits here either. In fact, I have heard of them not taking dual credits from the cc or AP credits from AP tests if they were earned while hsing.

 

Where I live, once you have started hsing for high school, you need to finish hsing for high school because they have to start over as freshmen if they go to the ps.

 

An exception is that I know of one charter school that has accepted hs credits. I don't know what kind of hoops they had to jump through though.

[creekland]

Here she would have to start as a freshman. They wouldn't want her as non-diploma seeking because they'd have her enrolled but she wouldn't graduate. That's a big no-no in ps land.

 

Same here. Our schools puts a ton of effort into seeing that kids graduate because graduation rate has become incredibly important in more recent years. They would not be happy to have a non-degree seeking student.

 

Is there a private or charter school around you if you don't find acceptable info with your appt this morning? Either of these can sometimes be alternatives as they'll sometimes accept hs credits or allow students to test out.

 

Here, even if my super high scoring (ACT), A student (DE) had wanted to return for his junior or senior year he'd have had to start as a freshman. They don't allow students to test out for credits. It's why we had our youngest return to school as a freshman when he insisted that was what he wanted for his life.

 

It definitely is frustrating. If you have scores to substantiate your courses and you have the gumption to get policy changed in your state, I wish you well!

[Candid]

NA Posted on wrong thread. How do these things happen? Forgive me!

[klmama]

When you say she wouldn't be seeking a diploma, do you mean she will still be homeschooled for most of her coursework and will just be taking a couple of classes at the school? If for all classes, why wouldn't she be seeking a diploma, since you would no longer be in the position to grant her one?

[Prairie~Phlox]

In Indiana it's the same, I always encourage people in considering this when it comes to homeschooling as well. A diploma is really just a piece of paper.

[Trilliums]

My son enrolled in the public high school for grade 10 as a sophomore. Here it is decided by the individual school district. The online school district info was not very helpful. After reading through the guidelines, I thought it was going to be a huge mess, but it ended up working out well, despite all the confusion. Finding the right person who actually knows the answers to your questions was the hardest part.. She eventually placed him into the classes we requested without prior testing. For example, he went into AP Physics, a class sophomores rarely take at the high school.

 

Even though he is currently a full time student and has to take classes THIS year consistent with getting a high school diploma, he does not necessarily have to actually get a diploma from the high school. This is something he is currently debating. In order to get a diploma he has to meet certain requirements, ones that aren't very high priorities for him, such as health which we did on our own in grade 9.

 

Hope your meeting goes well.

 

ETA: The school district here will not accept any of our home school credits either.

[Jillinan]

Thanks for all of your replies. We just got back and the meeting went quite well. She is not seeking a diploma because we know from the beginning the school would not honor our homeschool credits. So when it comes time to apply to colleges, she'll have our homeschool transcript that will list her high school credits as well. We knew this going into high school deciding to homeschool. What I wasn't prepared for was the possibililty that they wouldn't let her enroll in classes at her level if she should decide to go to public school.

 

So the counselor asked us what she had been doing the last two years and all I did was pull out our very unofficial transcript (written in pencil) and she said "What classes do you want to take" That was it. She will still be a freshman "in the computer" but she can take whatever she wants. The counselor didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that my daughter is non-diploma seeking either. Sigh of relief. I was prepared with sections of the school policy printed out and multiple colleges' requirements for homeschoolers. But I didn't need it because we had a binder full of stuff and a transcript that looked like we knew what we were doing. Good lesson for keeping good records!

 

Jill

[jamajo]

Jill,

 

My meeting went pretty okay as well. But I met with the registrar who was just interested in all of my enrollment docs (shot records, birth cert, etc.) She introduced me to the actual counselor who wanted to see her transcript and end of the year test scores. She didn't realize that we were only enrolling part-time not full-time at which she seemed a little unsure on their policies. But I will drop off the end of year Stanford Test and her transcript in the morning. Everyone was really nice and accommodating but I could tell the counselor hadn't dealt with any homeschoolers so she has to check on a few details like whether or not my student needs to pass the SOL test at the end of the year. After the two classes junior year we will finish up senior year at home and with dual enrollment.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thanks for all of your replies. We just got back and the meeting went quite well. She is not seeking a diploma because we know from the beginning the school would not honor our homeschool credits. So when it comes time to apply to colleges, she'll have our homeschool transcript that will list her high school credits as well. We knew this going into high school deciding to homeschool. What I wasn't prepared for was the possibililty that they wouldn't let her enroll in classes at her level if she should decide to go to public school.

 

So the counselor asked us what she had been doing the last two years and all I did was pull out our very unofficial transcript (written in pencil) and she said "What classes do you want to take" That was it. She will still be a freshman "in the computer" but she can take whatever she wants. The counselor didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that my daughter is non-diploma seeking either. Sigh of relief. I was prepared with sections of the school policy printed out and multiple colleges' requirements for homeschoolers. But I didn't need it because we had a binder full of stuff and a transcript that looked like we knew what we were doing. Good lesson for keeping good records!

 

Jill

 

Ah, I think you did very well indeed. I've had friends who couldn't take a higher level math class, for instance, because they didn't recognize the lower level math class taken at home as having satisfied the prerequisite. I'm glad that they accommodated her and will allow her to choose whatever she wants.

[Catwoman]

Jill and jamajo -- I'm glad to hear that your meetings went so well! :)