Effective tomorrow, my oldest daughter is going to become a high school dropout. She has decided that she no longer wants to go to high school. Nicole just turned 16 years old, and in Florida at the age of 16 a student can drop out of school, so long as they have parental permission. Tomorrow my wife and I will be signing the permission paperwork that will allow her to drop out.
Wait a second, though... this isn't as terrible as it sounds. Yesterday I told you about my daughter's desire to move away from the brick and mortar classroom to a completely online high school program. In Florida, I've learned that there is no publicly funded totally online high school offering. Students who attend high school online must also be enrolled in a traditional classroom program as well. That didn't seem to be acceptable, since she has been rapidly growing restless in attending the physical school to earn her high school diploma.
I spoke at length to her guidance counselor who was very helpful in getting a handle on my daughter's current situation. She felt that because of her motivation and high capacity for learning, she may be limited by the demands of the currently overcrowded classrooms at her school. She told us that our daughter might be better served at a private school that offered a flexible program which would allow her to challenge herself more and to move along in her studies at a faster pace.
I did a lot of research, and spent a lot of time reading a great deal of the information posted here at eLearners, and together the three of us (myself, my wife, and my daughter) have devised a solution:
My daugher is now, officially, enrolled as a student in the Penn Foster High School. You can get more information on the Penn Foster High School diploma program here at eLearners.
All of us, including her guidance counselor, are very excited about this opportunity. My daughter is extremely anxious to begin the program, and we've all been impressed by the large volume of positive information out there about Penn Foster. I can't wait to help her get into her online classes, which she can actually begin any time now, since she's already been issued her student credentials. While she's "officially" a high school dropout, she's in reality transferring to another school. Penn Foster will allow her to transfer all of the credits she's already earned directly into their program.
Best of all, she may be able to complete her diploma in a year and a half, versus the two and a half years remaining for her local high school diploma.
Folks, I think this is going to be great.