s/o....Is homeschooling high school all or nothing where you live?

[umsami]

In the Texas homeschooling thread, a few posters have commented that in their state, if you begin homeschooling high school you have to finish...or else your child will have to go back to the 9th grade.  I find that shocking/disturbing/and just plain weird.

 

 

Is that the case where you are?  Is there a resource that lists the states that are like that?

 

 

(Of course, it's quite possible that I totally misunderstood.  I hope so.)

[SparklyUnicorn]

Yes, it is all or nothing.

 

 

[Matryoshka]

Yes and no.  Practically most places, I'd say yes, but I do know that there was a lawsuit brought in a nearby city that the homeschoolers won that said that the schools had to accept credits and place kids appropriately, which I think they won based on the fact that this is an approval state - so how can the school say your ed plan and progress reports have been approved as equal to that grade's level of work, but then not accept the credits if they transfer in??

 

But... this state is also very local / district by district.  Some towns might be okay with it just because they're friendlier.  But if they didn't want to let you in/give you credit (and I'd bet the vast majority wouldn't), I'd bet a zillion dollars that no other town knows of this decision, and there would have to be a brand-new lawsuit against the town you want to go into.  

[MEmama]

I assume so but I'm not sure how to find out for sure without contacting the school directly.

[SebastianCat]

It's all or nothing here in FL.    If a student takes a class as a part-time public school student, at a community college through dual enrollment, or through the Florida Virtual School, those credits could transfer to a public high school.   But otherwise, in order to receive credit for any "unaccredited" classes completed at home, students must pass the end of course exam(s) for every single class - OR start over in 9th grade.

[LisaKinVA]

Essentially, yes. There is actually more flexibility than you will learn at first. If you push them, and have test scores, curriculum, samples of work, and jump through various hoops with additional testing, it is possible. This is true in VA, and in the DODEA school here. It is not something they make easy.

[clementine]

All or nothing is pretty much a given in our state.  We have friends who had to send their 11th grader to public school and 4 of his classes were not accepted at the high school.  It's up to the school to decide what they deem worthy of a class/credit.  

[itsheresomewhere]

Up to the district but where I am it is all or nothing.

[BlsdMama]

From what I understand, here is all or nothing.   Very few public schools want to accept mommy grades and mommy classes.  I can understand why - there is no set scope or sequence and no one but the mama determines grades with no set rubric.  I'm very surprised to hear there are some states that would accept and "count" mommy grades/credits for high school.

[Lori D.]

No.

 

Low regulation state here, and it is NOT all or nothing here. The high schools are fine with parent-awarded grades and transcripts. In fact, our city has about 6 school districts and they are all so desperate for the per-student state funding that they are happy to take anyone at any stage of high school. ;)

 

The only issue I've seen crop up (not us, a homeschooling friend) is at least one school district was unwilling to count the 4-unit community college Spanish classes from dual enrollment as 1 credit each -- they counted by classroom hours only, and so only awarded 1 semester of credit for each. So instead of being able to move on to the high school's Spanish 3, the student had to take the high school's Spanish 2, which was a repeat of the community college Spanish 102 course. sigh.

 

 

But really, it really only matters what your own state, or school districts, or individual schools allow/don't allow. Which could mean either "huzzah" or "alas", depending on where you live and what your needs are. ;) I've seen people post about other states in which it is totally up to the individual school districts. Different cities, different school districts, even different schools, can have very different policies. So your best bet is to check with any/all schools you might be interested in and find out what their individual policies are.

[JenneinCA]

Yes.

 

It is more that you can't get the a-g requirements done for admission to a UC or CSU as a freshman. You can still go to a community college or someplace that doesn't have that requirement, though.

[mamaraby]

Low regulation state and my school district is all or nothing. You can take a few classes at the high school, but if you want to go to high school full-time it's all or nothing.

[FriedClams]

.

[skimomma]

I don't really see it as "all or nothing" if test-out is possible.  How else is the school supposed to know what grade a student should be placed in?  Testing would be a pain but it certainly does not mean everyone has to be in 9th grade no matter what.  

[Farrar]

No, not for the regular public schools. In fact, one of the big things right now is a huge changeover in the high school credit system which includes schools taking alternative credits and giving credit for alternative experiences such as online learning. None of this has been fully settled - I only became aware of it because the way the original proposal was written included some weird language about homeschoolers and there was some objection. It's since been cleared up. However, some version of it is likely to go through and I think it will probably be very good for homeschoolers who go in and out of the system.

 

However, my not-a-state is a little unique in the prevalence of charters and magnets and other special high school options. I'm pretty sure for those it's up to the individual school. It's rare for students to start those schools midstream since they're not forced to take those students. I'm not sure what policies they all have. I know that at least a couple of them have very different systems - for example, one that my boys' neighborhood friend just started at has a big self-designed project component that I don't fully understand. Anyway, that means that the above is probably only true for 60-70% of the public schools and not the ones that we would necessarily consider.

 

I know that Virginia, to our south, is all or nothing.

[sassenach]

Yes, in California it is.

[Guest]

Essentially, yes. There is actually more flexibility than you will learn at first. If you push them, and have test scores, curriculum, samples of work, and jump through various hoops with additional testing, it is possible. This is true in VA, and in the DODEA school here. It is not something they make easy.

I think it's like this in MD, too. It is not all or nothing, but public schools make it appear to be. Friends I know of have had to jump through hoops to have proper credit applied for high school homeschool work.

[Violet Crown]

I didn't think that was the case in Texas. My understanding is that, prior to high school, a student transferring in from anywhere goes automatically into their grade by age. From 9th grade, though, they have to test in or provide credits that the ISD recognizes, or else start at 9th grade. I know international students in the Texas ISD where I grew up did it that way.* Now I wouldn't be surprised that homeschoolers wouldn't have credits automatically transfer, and therefore would have to take placement tests, as our "private schools" are unaccredited under the law. I admit I never looked into it, as it didn't affect our family.

 

*One boy in my year, who transferred from an Indian school, was nearly forced to go back to 9th grade, as he was "from a third-world country" and so couldn't possibly be up to the level of a Texas high school. His parents raised cain and he was allowed his school credits. He graduated Valedictorian.

[redsquirrel]

half and half.  I know that's not what you asked but that is how I see it.  In NY we do have to submit paperwork every year and update ever quarter.  And kids have to be tested every year in high school.  There are also state tests in NY and if you don't pass them you can't graduate from a NY public high school.  There are some that homeschoolers are allowed to take.  For my friends that are keeping their kids home for high school, some of them have their kids take the tests in case their kid wants to attend high school in the future.

 

For example, the high honors kids take Algebra and the Algebra regents in 8th grade.  I knew my son was attending public high school in 9th grade so I jumped through every stupid hoop to have him take the Algebra regents test in 8th grade, just like his friends in public school. They couldn't legally prevent him from taking the test, but they were annoying about it, that is for sure.  Only because he had taken, and passed, the state Algebra exam as a home schooler was he allowed to take geometry as a 9th grader.  If he had not taken the exam he would have had to start with Algebra no matter how much documentation I gave them that he took algebra, he took AoPS algebra in fact. 

 

A friend whose child was enrolled in a private school was not given credit for having taken algebra because she had not taken the test as a private school student.  I was told by other people that lots of area private schools have their students take the test at the high school, so there is a procedure for it.  My her daughter didn't take it and had to 'retake' algebra.

 

It's a bigger problem with the sciences.  As a homeschooler you have to bring in a lab book with all the labs you did at home and it has to be approved by the science department.  The state has a certain number of labs that must be completed in each subject. They are all over the internet so it isn't a problem for homeschoolers to find them or get the paperwork etc. But it might be a problem to get the materials. But if you do the lab work properly, the state cannot prevent you from taking the exam.  The school takes lab work very seriously.  My son works very hard on his science labs and they have to be kept by the teacher.  The state can inspect the labs for up to 2 years (?).  If the state doesn't think the labs are good enough the school is in big big trouble. 

 

Science is one reason why I was sort of relieved to send my son to public high school, TBH. I wasn't sure I could meet their standards and I have been told that colleges are fairly stringent when it comes to homeschool and science. I really wanted those science exams, and of course and AP or two on his transcript.

[Matryoshka]

I don't really see it as "all or nothing" if test-out is possible.  How else is the school supposed to know what grade a student should be placed in?  Testing would be a pain but it certainly does not mean everyone has to be in 9th grade no matter what.  

 

I'm pretty sure what would happen in our district it that they'd test and put you in appropriate level classes, but not give you any credits for the classes that went before, and you'd still need four years of credits at their school to graduate from it, so functionally you'd still be a freshman. 

 

There was a thing this year that some people in town were trying to get their previous homeschooling credits approved to go into dual enrollment for senior year, but under the ps high school's umbrella, and getting their diploma.  I'm not sure if anyone managed it.  I think the school was being more open to that, as the kids would not be taking classes at the high school, but at the CC.  Need to follow up and see if anyone actually got approved.  We bailed when they wouldn't accept dd's Spanish credit, even though she got a 4 on the AP (???)

 

But maybe this is a sign that they would be open to it if you had classes really well documented...  they were happy to give credit, of course, for the classes dd took at the CC.

 

[HomeAgain]

Yes, it's always been that way no matter where we live.  It was part of our decision to transfer our 8th grader to an accredited online school for high rather than have him repeat a year if he chose to transfer in (he did, and the school was very relieved we had done it this way!)  At the time, his other option would have been to complete End of Course exams for each class, but given that those are based on the textbooks the school uses, it wouldn't have worked for content subjects. 

The private school here would *possibly* have taken him, but their usual cutoff for new students is age 12.  Each candidate has to sit through a long interview to see if the school would be a good fit for them, and since they don't do credits the same way as the public school, it may have been fine. 

[QueenCat]

Here, the district decides which credits to accept. And our district leaves it up to each school. Those from accredited programs are automatically accepted. Others are at the discretion of the guidance counselor reviewing your file. They can require you to take the final exam for the course to get credit for it, should they choose to do so.

[Tap]

Washington:

 

Nope, you can do any combination of homeschool/traditional/hybrid/dual enrollment etc.

 

Ds21 homeschooled 9th, public school 10th, dual enrollment 11th/12th

DD17 private school part of 9th, public school full time, and a combination of home school (math only) and public school.  

 

 

[Butter]

More or less it is the case in Texas, however if you want to test for proficiency in all the subjects and take and pass the required STAAR End of Course exams, you can enter at the appropriate grade level.  I've heard of families who have done that with their kids entering 10th grade +.  When we moved here my daughter was actually 8th grade age, but they put her in 9th because of her CAT scores and the fact she had done Calvert 8th (but with no grades since we didn't use the advisory testing service).  Florida is supposed to be all or nothing, but my uncle's granddaughter entered high school just for her senior year.  She testing proficient for all the required 9th through 11th grade classes and got her diploma at the end of the year.  It's a pain to do that, but if you really want to you can.

[Amira]

We've had to check into this in 4 different places in the last couple of years and all five schools (two high schools in Utah, one in northern Virginia, one in Mexico, and one in Saudi Arabia) have been flexible, but I'm not sure if it helped that we were moving and they saw that homeschooling was the only option for us sometimes.  I was pleasantly surprised, although I wouldn't assume that I'd find that flexibility everywhere.

 

 

[ktgrok]

It's all or nothing here in FL.    If a student takes a class as a part-time public school student, at a community college through dual enrollment, or through the Florida Virtual School, those credits could transfer to a public high school.   But otherwise, in order to receive credit for any "unaccredited" classes completed at home, students must pass the end of course exam(s) for every single class - OR start over in 9th grade.

 

Not true anymore. They now only have to pass the EOC in a certain few courses...math courses, Biology, and I think US History. Of course, it changes year by year, so that may change again by the end of the year. 

A LOT depends on how homeschool friendly the individual school is. My sister is a vice principal at a highschool and they have no issue with homeschool kids transfering in. They take what classes they want, and can get caught up on the EOC exams as needed. 

 

Edited to add: Some homeschool students go ahead and take the EOC exams while homeschooling. This is allowed and free. That way, if they do transfer back to public school there is no issue. 

[KungFuPanda]

My daughter transferred in the second semester of 9th grade. They accepted my first semester transcript, but gave her placement tests for English and math. I think they treated her like any other transfer student.

[Loowit]

It would really depend on the school district.  If you start homeschooling 9th grade and change your mind it is up to the school district to determine if they are wiling to accept any or all of your classes you did homeschooling.  IME, our school district would not being willing to accept homeschool classes.  DD took one class last year through the local high school, so that would be the only class that they would accept her grades for, everything else she would have to start over again.

[Lara in Colo]

I also live in Colorado, Like Margaret, but in my county they do an evaluation of the students records and any proof you have (like homework samples) and then they determine where to place the child--they can also test into a level.  Basically they treat the student as if they had transferred from another school.  I could potentially put my children in fairly seamlessly.  But that is this district, that has a good relationship with the homeschool community

[Lara in Colo]

Here is also is determined by the classes they took--- Bible for 4 years?  Well, if they can fit that class into a box called "historical literature" or something then they might get one semester-- but lose a lot of homeschool credits.

[Tammyla]

It was here the last time I checked.  

[Tammi K]

It was where we lived in Pa. We were told out 10th grader would have to enter public school as a freshman even though she had proof of schooling in Australia.  (She ended up at a Catholic School which enrolled her correctly so it wasn't an issue.)

 

But, here in Alaska, there are as many options as there are people to create them.  I know kids who do half public school/half home school. I know two kids who recently went back to school after less than stellar homeschool experiences and they just enrolled a grade lower. I know kids who've transitioned smoothly from home to full time school with full support of the district.  In fact, at the beginning of the year, we considered putting my daughter in the local high school and it just took a phone call to get the ball rolling. There would have been no problem with it, although we ultimately made a different choice.

[TKDmom]

It's all or nothing here in FL.    If a student takes a class as a part-time public school student, at a community college through dual enrollment, or through the Florida Virtual School, those credits could transfer to a public high school.   But otherwise, in order to receive credit for any "unaccredited" classes completed at home, students must pass the end of course exam(s) for every single class - OR start over in 9th grade.

 

I would have never known that (I'm in FL too). I've always assumed that I could put dd in to whatever grade she is actually in if I needed to have her go back to school. Of course she wouldn't get a diploma, but..so what?

[umsami]

I would have never known that (I'm in FL too). I've always assumed that I could put dd in to whatever grade she is actually in if I needed to have her go back to school. Of course she wouldn't get a diploma, but..so what?

 

Yes, I'm in Florida too.  That's one of the reasons I have my kids take the FCAT.....but with the mess up with last year's FSA test, I'm not sure what will happen.  I guess we'll have to do as much dual-enrollment as we can, because I really don't like the FLVS options for middle and high school.

[Guest]

Our state isn't like that, but it is difficult to transfer back and forth cleanly and without weird transcript issues. Dual enrollment is popular here and that helps.

 

Yay Alaska.

[TKDmom]

Yes, I'm in Florida too.  That's one of the reasons I have my kids take the FCAT.....but with the mess up with last year's FSA test, I'm not sure what will happen.  I guess we'll have to do as much dual-enrollment as we can, because I really don't like the FLVS options for middle and high school.

 

I am so anti-FCAT... But I do have my kids do standardized testing most years. Last year I tried to put my ds in a school that has admission by lottery, and they looked at his test scores and asked our zoned school to test him in math and reading. But that wasn't high school, and it was a wired situation, so it's totally beside the point. ;)

[K&Rs Mom]

It is here, but as far as I can find out that's a district requirement, not a state law.  We can do part time (I have a 9th grader taking one PS class right now) in any grade, but they won't issue a diploma unless the child has done all 4 years there or transferred from another outschool with proper paperwork.

[Mimm]

In my state, it's up to the principle at that particular school. I've heard some will accommodate, some will not. I told my kids to treat the decision to homeschool as an all or nothing decision, just in case.

[Sandwich in Wi]

This is so interesting!  I had no idea!  My dd's (who attended our local PS full time from 6-12th grade) boyfriend transferred in from homeschooling as an 11th grader.  I think he said they didn't count his grades toward his GPA, but they counted the credits, apparently, because he graduated.

 

On the other hand, a teenager where I work just moved here from Minnesota (to WI) and he had to retake Algebra!  Maybe his grades were bad, but he seems like a smart kid.

 

I know things do vary between districts.  The district in which we live wouldn't take my son for speech once he was school-age, but the district where my dd went to school would.  Only we couldn't because we didn't live in that district.  Silly.

 

Blessings,

Sandwich

[Ellie]

I don't really see it as "all or nothing" if test-out is possible.  How else is the school supposed to know what grade a student should be placed in?  Testing would be a pain but it certainly does not mean everyone has to be in 9th grade no matter what.  

 

At the high school level, the concern is more about accepting credits earned at home than what grade someone is.

[LucyStoner]

Maybe. It can be all or nothing.

 

If you want to graduate from a public high school and recieve a diploma, there are only a few programs that will let you get credit for home based instruction to apply towards their credit reqs. To get formal high school credit for home based instruction you generally need to be enrolled in a high school homeschooling resource center from the start OR select an alternative high school program that has some flexibility in their credit contracts. If you homeschool for 9th grade and then want retroactive credit for that at a public school that usually will not be possible. You need to plan ahead from 8th grade on if your plan is PT home and PT school with a public school diploma awarded.

 

If you want to augment a homeschool high school plan with public school classes, extracurriculars or our free duel enrollment program, you may do that pretty easily.

[JoJosMom]

I'm honestly not sure about our standard public high school; that's an "attend over my cold dead body" option.  We have a public charter school that is very homeschool friendly.  I know a number of homeschool families who have sent their children for senior year to get a diploma from a "regular" school.

[Dmmetler]

It's by exam here. I do know one student who was homeschooled for 9th, went to PS for 10th, and is now home and planning to graduate at the end of 11th-because when he went to PS and took placement tests, he ended up placing HIGHER than the credits he was claiming (for example, he'd taken Algebra I and geometry at home, went to PS, and placed into Pre-Calculus). He decided to come back home since he found the classes too slow moving, and when he discussed it with the cover program they register with, the cover school had no trouble granting him credit by exam for those classes the PS had skipped him over-which lets him graduate after 3 years, even though the PS would have required him to take an extra year of something.

[73349]

Grade placement for all grades is at the discretion of the principal.

[Tsuga]

Washington:

 

Nope, you can do any combination of homeschool/traditional/hybrid/dual enrollment etc.

 

Ds21 homeschooled 9th, public school 10th, dual enrollment 11th/12th

DD17 private school part of 9th, public school full time, and a combination of home school (math only) and public school.  

 

Yeah, we get tons of kids going in and out of HS, homeschool, and community college. 

 

 

 

 To get formal high school credit for home based instruction you generally need to be enrolled in a high school homeschooling resource center from the start OR select an alternative high school program that has some flexibility in their credit contracts.

 

What I have seen people do is funnel all the homeschool credits into a program that will take them like a private school, where they take one or two classes, and then transfer in bulk to public school. But that was for small schools. I will bet that the bigger ones may be less likely to do that if they don't have the administrative resources.

[LucyStoner]

Yeah, we get tons of kids going in and out of HS, homeschool, and community college.

 

 

What I have seen people do is funnel all the homeschool credits into a program that will take them like a private school, where they take one or two classes, and then transfer in bulk to public school. But that was for small schools. I will bet that the bigger ones may be less likely to do that if they don't have the administrative resources.

There are some schools that exist just to do that.

 

A lot of young people opt to get their diploma from their adults (based on a hybrid of home and school and college classes) or just go onto college with no diploma.

[ThisIsTheDay]

 

 

I know that Virginia, to our south, is all or nothing.

 

Actually, the law in Virginia leaves it up to each individual district.  They are only required to take accredited courses. Some districts are more flexible than others and will credit the student with appropriate coursework. Others will accept nothing from a homeschool.

 

Of course the way around that can be to have a blend of homeschool and ps courses, and then issue a homeschooled high school diploma following senior year. I'm not sure how favorably that would be viewed by universities, however.

 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

It's all or nothing here in New Mexico.  You can take public school classes a la carte, and have them count for your homeschool, but homeschool classes don't count for high school unless they're taken through an accredited home education program (like, online through a university, K-12, or other program).

[Jackie]

Indiana says it is up to individual districts. Functionally, this appears to mean it is all or nothing.

[scbusf]

In Virginia it is all or nothing.  To graduate from a public school, students must have certain credits.  But those credits must be SOL-certified AND the students must pass the SOL tests for each of those courses.