Online High

Open High School of Utah is an online charter high school. And, importantly, that means it is free for Utah residents.

One of the greatest challenges for students and parents seeking a legitimate online high school is whether it is a real school with real accreditation. Here’s a little advice:

1. Don’t trust Google to help. Google does little to differentiate between good and bad options in this field.

2. Don’t trust how high a school shows up in listings on Google, Yahoo, Bing, and more. When I do a Google search, on the very first page, I discover schools that I would never recommend because I believe that, at best, they lack any reliable recognition and, at worst, are out-and-out fakes. That’s on the first page.

3. Fake schools are very good at getting good page rankings. They spend much time working to make sure that they are one of the top options available.

How can you fix that? If you ask about a specific school in the forum, I am happy to help.

It seems simple and it seems like the place where you should start, but so many don’t even make the attempt. What is it?

Get referrals.

How do you get referrals? You can:

1. Ask people you know.
2. Ask your local school district (but don’t be surprised if they don’t know much; it varies widely).
3. Ask in our Forum.
4. Ask on other websites.
5. Ask current students by finding them using Google.
6. Ask former students by finding them using Google.

Importantly, don’t just sign up for a school without doing your due diligence. Even when an online school is free, time is not. Best to determine if a school will be a good fit for you right up-front.

The following online high schools are all in the state of Arizona:

Blueprint Education

iQ Academy Arizona

Agave Distance Learning

Arizona Connections Academy

Arizona Virtual Academy

HavasuOnline

Hope High School Online

Humanities and Sciences Academy

Phoenix Union Cyber High School

Pinnacle Virtual High School

Primavera Online High School

Regina Coeli Online Academy

Sequoia Choice High School

The following online high schools are available in Alaska:

Delta Cyber School

North Slope Borough School District

SOAR Alaska

The following online high schools are available in Alabama:

Access Distance Learning

I do check to see where in-bound links to this site come from. I was checking today and discovered that the nice folks at International Association for Distance Learning have selected this site to use if you are looking for an online high school. What a nice thing for them to do. I hope you will wander over and take a look at their website.

As we continue with this series, you are encouraged to post a response on the blog and/or to ask questions in the forum.

Advice #2: Choose an online high school that is accredited and/or approved. This can look a little different from colleges where you absolutely want the school to have regional accreditation.

1. Regional Accreditation that can be verified through a listing at CHEA.

2. National Accreditation that can be verified through a listing at Distance Education & Training Council.

3. Recognition by a state department of education.

4. Recognition by a public school district.

We have now reached the problematic schools. There are certain schools that are legitimate endeavors, but, for whatever reason, do not possess any one of the four types of recognition above. If you come across such a school, I encourage you to ask about it in the forum. That way others can benefit by your experience.

Montana Digital Academy brings to that state the ability to offer courses online to its high school students. While Montana did have an earlier program, it was phased out. Beginning in the 2010-2011 school year, the University of Montana will offer this new program.

Christa McAuliffe Academy is now CMA School of Arts and Sciences. It is now located in Oregon. Rest assured, though, it is still the same program.