Addressing My Concerns About Online High School

Taking the leap to have my child receive her high school education through online schooling is not a decision that I took lightly. I had a long list of concerns and reasons that I felt this might not be the right path for her. How would I decide such an important matter?

Some of the biggest concerns I had about enrolling her in a virtual high school included:

I am not qualified to teach at the high school level

For one thing, my own education and my ability to educate her and prepare her for college were not areas I felt confident about. I did not finish my own college education. I certainly was not equipped to step in as the role of a teacher and prepare this kid, who already studied subjects that were “above my pay grade” for a rigorous high school education.

American High School came to my rescue on this concern. They had teachers for every single subject. Well-qualified teachers that my daughter would have access to for each one of her classes. Teachers graded her work, they were available for Skype or phone calls when she needed them, and very responsive via email.

I wanted her to have a diploma, not a GED

First, let me say there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a GED, I just preferred that we not go that route if we did not have to. I wasn’t familiar with how a GED would match up with her college expectations and just preferred to stick with what I knew.

She had a lot of friends the same age as her that attended our local public schools. Ideally, we wanted her to be able to “graduate” with her peers and be ready to enter college at the same time. Would doing an online school make this impossible?

American High School does issue diplomas! They even send their graduates a graduation cap! And, most important, I was delighted to find out that American High School issued diplomas that were recognized nationwide. No worries that our state would not recognize her diploma.

I needed guidance moving through the final years of high school.

I needed a “guidance counselor” or something equivalent that would be able to guide us on what classes she needed to take in each grade to be on target for graduation. I was very nervous that moving her to an online high school would mean I had to be the one making sure she was meeting each grade level requirement and would have what she needed to graduate.

 Classes needed to be academically rigorous

Most important to me in all of my concerns was that the curriculum she would be using through an online high school would be as rigorous as our honors curriculum in our local schools and that it would prepare her for entering college. The people I spoke with at American High School assured me that I would be pleasantly surprised at just how rigorous the courses were. I was also delighted to find out that American High School offered AP level classes for their students.