Online High

If you are considering a Christian online high school, I would encourage you to read this interview with a parent of a Liberty University Online Academy student.

Liberty University is the largest Christian distance learning university in the world. In 2007, it opened Liberty University Online Academy. LUOA is already getting traction as an online school, particularly with its high school offerings.

We now have up a brand-new Liberty University Online Academy interview in the Article Section for those interested in this school.

Why is Laurel Springs School (and now also Laureate School) so successful? Because they are so good at the marketing thing. Go to MySpace. They are there. Go to YouTube. They are there. Go to BestOnlineHighSchools.com. They are there.

What?

Why do I mention BestOnlineHighSchools.com?

Because after I interviewed Dennis Rice, director of Laureate School for the Gifted and Talented, they made sure to put a link from the Laureate School website back to the interview on the Best Online High Schools website.

Why do that?

It’s all about the added credibility. It doesn’t always have to be your school talking about how spectacular you are. As a matter of fact, increasingly it needs to be other sites and other organizations doing that for you.

And that is why they are so successful.

They get that.

UPDATE: Laurel Springs has also mentioned it on their site as well.

Do you have a child that is classified as gifted and talented? If you do, you have some sense as to how difficult it can be to find a school that serves your child’s unique needs. Up to now, there really was only the small program at Stanford University for those students and admission is incredibly difficult.

Laurel Springs School, long a home for gifted and talented students, has seen that need and has moved to fill it with its brand-new Laureate School for the Gifted and Talented.

You should bear in mind that Laurel Springs School is already in that top-tier of online high schools. Adding a program such as this will provide an even better home for the students who have always gone to LSS.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Dennis Rice, director of Laureate School. He offers a unique perspective on how the school came to be.

I wanted to let you all know that we have a brand-new article up. It is an interview with Greenways Academy. It is located in Missouri and has a particular emphasis on alternative students. It is well worth a read.

I recently offered some advice to a parent about an online high school for his two tennis-playing daughters. Amber Walker of Laurel Springs School happened to read my comment (because online high schools do read my blog) and offered the following:

I was just at a Jr. Nationals tennis event this past week, and met many of our Laurel Springs students. As far as the person who was inquiring about distance learning for her tennis players, I went to Easter Bowl this year and out of 400 players, 55 were laurel springs students. We have a total of about 300 tennis players in our school, and then come the ice skaters, gymnasts, dancers, motocross, snow boarders, surfers, and so on.

Talk about creating a niche for yourself! Certainly there are child prodigies attending other online high schools, but my guess is that Laurel Springs School has the most.

I just purchased two of your books and am looking for some guidance. Our girls are 13 and 11, they are in Iowa public schools, they both rank above the 95 percentile on the Iowa Basic Skills Test, both at the top of their classes.

P.C.

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I think that you have several strong possibilities. Given their academic abilities, I would seriously consider one of the university-based programs, like Missouri, that offers a dual credit program. Your girls could be taking high school courses that are rigorous enough to be counted as college credit. However, that only works for when they get to high school (because Missouri is a high school only program).

One piece of information that you offered was intriguing and made me think of one particular school. You said that your daughters are nationally-ranked tennis players. Laurel Springs School has created a niche for itself in providing a quality education to children who are actors, athletes, musicians, and more, and for whom traditional public school is not a good choice. There is something to be said for this type of specialization. They are quite accustomed to meeting the needs of these types of students.

And should you like to continue this discussion, I would be happy to do so. We can take it into the forum. I think your daughters have some great options available to them.

Today we begin a new column for Online High blog. It’s called Ask BOHS and you can ask us anything that you might like about online high schools and such. In return, we will answer the questions here (while helping you retain your privacy). The first question is below.
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I am a 27-year-old Canadian living in Korea. I have wanted to go back to school for some time now. Unfortunately, since I never finished high school and I live overseas, it’s proving not to be the easiest thing to do. Can you tell me what my best options would be? Would it be best to do the dual credit schools you mention? Would that give me a better stepping stone. I would like to continue my education overseas.

AR

People are often surprised when I recommend certain programs and not others. What is the right choice for one person is not necessarily the right choice for another. In your case, let’s look at some of the facts:

1. You are 27 years old.
2. You live abroad.
3. You plan on completing a college degree.
4. You want to do the college degree overseas as well.

Given those parameters, I think you are exactly right that, given your age and your situation, a dual credit program like MU High School (at University of Missouri, Columbia) would be a good choice for you. Even if you elected to go elsewhere after getting the high school diploma, the college credit should easily transfer.

I should tell you that in the second edition of Complete Guide to Online High Schools: Distance learning options for teens & adults we will be including we are going to add a chapter on dual credit programs. This seems to be a growth area and for people in your particular situation it often is a good choice.

I would like to point out that we have a brand-new interview with Liberty High School. It is located in Vermont (and elsewhere) and is approved by the Vermont State Board of Education. School interviews are a new feature of BestOnlineHighSchools.com.

Liberty High School interview