Name of your homeschool on high school diploma

[Peaceseeker]

Ok so I admit I have never been into 'naming our homeschool' something fancy and official sounding. I may have even rolled my eyes discretely when someone else mentioned theirs (ok a name maybe, but a school crest and t-shirts made for all the kids for field trips is just taking it too far for me 😀) Let's just say I was very relaxed about such things.

 

Now high school is staring me down and I am asking myself if we are doing this all the way through the home stretch. I think we are going to homeschool high school. If we do, am I really going to print a diploma that says "Insert last name Homeschool?"

 

I never really cared before and when I ask my kids they suggest something very goofy and off the wall because that is just the phase they are in. Everything is hysterically funny lately.

 

But one day they may care (or maybe they won't). What did you name your homeschool, if anything? What were your kids opinions about naming it or the diploma they received? If anyone has any super awesome name ideas they would like to share I am open to that as well!

Edited April 7, 2017 by CaliforniaDreaming

[EKS]

We used [name of extremely local geographic feature] Academy.

Edited April 7, 2017 by EKS

[Julie of KY]

(Against the advice of some) We named our school Last Name Homeschool.

[Angie in VA]

We chose a name based on where we lived. It sounds like it a "real school name" so in our homeschool profile for college apps, I simply wrote, "Blah Blah Blah is the name of our homeschool." 

 

We all just agreed on the name and the dc were adamant about keeping it when I thought about changing it several years ago. Their reaction surprised me. 

Edited April 7, 2017 by Angie in VA

[Garga]

I've been thinking this over, too, and think I'll go with Lincoln High School, just because one of the characters in Groundhog day went to Lincoln High School and I liked the name of it.

 

One of the local schools is named StreetName Middle School, so I might pick a street name and go with StreetName High School.

 

I don't like the idea of drawing a lot of attention to the name, and I don't want it to sound cutesy. I want it to blend in with all the other High School names so that my students don't have to answer a lot of questions if/when they're asked about the name on the diploma.

 

I had considered using a "rich" sounding name like Worthington Academy or something. I still might go in that direction. But it won't be too far off the wall.

[desiree77]

We named our homeschool Five Star Academy because we have five kids and they are all stars in our eyes. We actually brainstormed and came up with two names and then everyone in our family got to vote. We waited to name our school until we'd been homeschooling 10 years.

[Garga]

We named our homeschool Five Star Academy because we have five kids and they are all stars in our eyes. We actually brainstormed and came up with two names and then everyone in our family got to vote. We waited to name our school until we'd been homeschooling 10 years.

I won't bother with an official name until I'm writing up the materials to send to colleges. :). Still have a couple more years to go to come up with a name.

[Melissa B]

[Last Name] Homeschool  

 

No issues, thus far.

 

 

[elegantlion]

Ours was [street name] Academy. We had a mascot and school colors (orange and red) and a yearly motto. I never wanted ds to feel like we were just "playing" school. In the beginning I wanted to make it professional. I'd worked for over a decade in outside jobs before ds was born, I needed it to feel legit and a name was part of that for me. 

 

I picked something that would sound good on an application and look good on a diploma - it really does. His diploma is almost more fancy than mine. 

[klmama]

Anytime I needed a name for our homeschool (usually for ordering something), I had always used "Section of our city Academy."  When graduation neared, my oldest dc thought that made it seem like we were trying to hide that we had homeschooled, so we compromised on "Last name Academy" for the transcript and diploma.  

[Lori D.]

"Homeschool High School Diploma".

 

I do wish now that we had used a school name, just in case DSs ever need a more "formal sounding" high school diploma... Probably will never come up, but, it is one of the very few regrets I have.

[Seasons]

We recently chose a homeschool name to use on his diploma and to use when he just wants a quick response to the "where do you go to school" question.  Atworth Academy - meaning: Farmstead Academy. Needless to say, we live and school in an 1890 farmstead.

[Carrie12345]

I haven't given it much thought because I'm better at panicking at the last minute.  :lol:

 

For all our less formal stuff, I use Full House Homeschool.  (See avatar.)  Before kid #5, we were Keaton Academy.

 

We happen to live on a street named Colonial, in Pennsylvania, so that could work very nicely.  People usually don't know how to pronounce our last name, so I would want to avoid it for that reason alone.  With the additional factor of our last name paired with Academy sounding entirely racist!

Edited April 7, 2017 by Carrie12345

[Sunshine State Sue]

I did not use a school name on the diploma or transcript.

 

When I had to submit report cards (for basketball) to PS or AAU, I used Rivendell Academy.  Ds rolled his eyes at that one, so I never used it on the diploma.

 

Since I presented ds with his diploma on graduation day, it has been housed in a box in my bedroom.  I suspect ds will never ask for it.   :sneaky2:

 

[Rosepetal]

Excelsior Learning Academy

[Guest]

We used Last Name Academy because no one in my family would agree on anything else. Lol

 

I wanted Olive Shoot Academy for Boys, based on Psalm 128:3. I was outvoted. Lol

Edited April 7, 2017 by Kinsa

[regentrude]

Streetname academy

[8filltheheart]

My kids don't have the same name on their final high school transcript bc we have lived in different states with different laws.

[Kathy in Richmond]

We're another "[last name] Homeschool" family. Ten years out & no issues at all!

[JoJosMom]

I did not use a school name on the diploma or transcript.

 

When I had to submit report cards (for basketball) to PS or AAU, I used Rivendell Academy.  Ds rolled his eyes at that one, so I never used it on the diploma.

 

Since I presented ds with his diploma on graduation day, it has been housed in a box in my bedroom.  I suspect ds will never ask for it.   :sneaky2:

 

This cracked me up!  We're Rivendell Academy, too!  Only here we're Rivendell Academy at DD's instigation. She picked it after her first run through the LOR.  Now on time EIGHTEEN and in high school, she is still adamant that we remain Rivendell Academy! :laugh:  

[Heather in VA]

My kids don't have the same name on their final high school transcript bc we have lived in different states with different laws.

 

This is good to know.  I have used "Last name" homeschool for my older two but I don't worry about it because they are both going to have college degrees as well so if there is ever any question about them having a "real" education they can just whip out their college degree. But my last one may take a different educational route so I've considered putting a different name on her diploma that doesn't reference 'home school'. I wasn't sure if it would be weird to have different names for different kids. We live in VA who doesn't care at all about what we call our school or even if we call it anything but I want her to be able to show a potential employer or post-high school educational place down the road the diploma without opening a can of homeschool worms. I have not found any colleges who have a problem with homeschoolers but I don't know about employers or if colleges will care if she tries to enter when she's older. 

[....]

My kids are begging to name our homeschool Xavier's School for the Gifted.  I wonder if anyone would notice that on their transcript...

[mirabillis]

[City Name] Academy. 

 

Think it will serve us well come college app time.

 

Never thought twice about it as we use it only once a year when we fill out the private school affidavit - until my son got called as a finalist for Mathcounts in middle school. And from _____, so-and-so. I about died hearing that! LOL

[Peaceseeker]

I really like the idea of 'Street name academy'. Unfortunately I live on a state hwy and State Hwy xyz academy just doesn't sound very nice!

Edited April 12, 2017 by CaliforniaDreaming

[MerryAtHope]

I used "Street Name Home School."

[MamaSprout]

Local geographic feature Independent School

[Mom22ns]

My kids diplomas both say HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA in big letters across the top. They do say in smaller print farther down graduated from the LastName Academy. It is what we always called our homeschool if we felt the need to call it by name. We discussed the idea of GeographicalFeature Academy instead which would have worked, but they decided to stick to LastName. We do have a last name that is a common noun, so it is still a bit ambiguous. Ds's orthodontist once commented about his last name and school name being the same and what an interesting coincidence that was. Ds told him he homeschooled and the look on the orthodontist's face was priceless. He clearly hadn't realized  :lol: . 

[winterbaby]

I would be concerned about anything too fancy, or with the word "academy," coming off as a cheesy attempt to divert attention from the fact that it's a homeschool, but I don't know if that's a reasonable fear. I can't use anything geographical because we'll be moving at some point, and it would kind of give me the same (perhaps unreasonable) fear of being caught out trying to seem something that it's not, especially the name of one's city or town. Maybe insert a descriptive word between Lastname and Homeschool, like Lastname Classical Homeschool? Or maybe Lastname Independent School? Heather in VA has a good point about why you might not want "homeschool" or the child's own last name on there, but I lean heavily toward "school" over "academy."

 

There's also the option of a patron saint or admired historical figure.

[Janeway]

I like the name of our street so originally, I named our school <street name> School. Then I was told because there was another private school in the state by that exact name, THSC won't print a diploma for us. I know that was not a big deal, so we went to that name and Academy.

 

We have a mascot, well, a couple of them sort of, so that one is up for changing. We used to also have colors and a logo. It was royal blue and silver.

[Janeway]

Try this

 

http://eclectic-homeschool.com/homeschool-name-generator/

[Janeway]

Thing is, our colors were blue, silver, and white, and my husband hates the Cowboys. He suggested black and gold, LOL 

 

Our mascot was either the shoot stars or unicorns. Neither seem right. 

 

If the kids all agree, perhaps we will go over to red for our color. But oldest son is suggesting orange.

Edited April 10, 2017 by Janeway

[katilac]

We had a shared name for primary school, but my kids get to pick their own high school name (which makes sense, because their 'schools' are quite different). 

 

Oldest picked Bronson Alcott High School. 

 

Youngest is a junior and has not picked yet. She doesn't have to choose until college apps go out. 

 

The wording "approved home study program" is also on the diploma. 

[mom2att]

I did not use a name at all. It never came up, never was an issue. Colleges didn't care.

[Heather in VA]

I did not use a name at all. It never came up, never was an issue. Colleges didn't care.

I didn't either on the transcript and yes the colleges don't care but many of us provide high school diplomas upon graduation which may be requested at some point in their life. I know I personally had to show mine a few years ago for something job related which was stupid because I offered to show my college diploma but the box to check said high school so I had to dig that up. So people wonder about a diploma that says homeschool on it, especially those whose kids might not go to college.