For parents of high-school-aged students

NOTE re: Valencia College -- 8-24 -- be aware that personnel at this college, and only this one, are not admitting private umbrella school students. Email me to discuss:  Nance Confer at director@floridaunschoolers.net

NOTE re: Pensacola State College -- 5-25 -- this college has been requiring that transcripts be submitted by the school by regular mail instead of the usual email. Email the transcript to me to mail. 

If your child is headed to college or might apply for Bright Futures or wants to use the dual enrollment option. . . things can get complicated.

Note that not all of these complications apply to all students. Most students will need a high school transcript to move forward but if your child is not applying for Bright Futures, they don’t need to meet the Bright Futures requirements. If dual enrollment at the local state/community college is not being considered, no need to worry about that confusing mess.

The form to withdraw or graduate your child from Florida Unschoolers is here: Withdrawal or Graduation.

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Transcripts: High school is 9th through 12th grades. If your child is headed to college of any kind, you will need to work with them to put together a transcript for those years. Find a simple template online or use the sample below. The transcript should be one or two pages, should be titled Official High School Transcript, and should include:

student’s name, address, email, phone number, birthdate

high school name and address : Florida Unschoolers, 8680 SE Eagle Avenue, Hobe Sound, FL 33455 

school code: 3463

graduation date

number of volunteer/community service hours

course names, subject areas, course codes, course credits

(https://sso.osfaffelp.org/BFIEHS/Course/ComprehensiveCourse)

grades received

GPA 

You will need to provide your child's Social Security Number at some point but you don’t have to put it on the transcript.

Many colleges require that the high school submit the transcript. In that case, email the transcript to me at director@floridaunschoolers.net, along with the college's email address. Other colleges will accept the transcript directly as part of your child's application.

Some colleges use the Common App and you can send me the transcript to submit it that way. (Florida Unschoolers is under the director@floridaunschoolers.net email address on the Common App.)

The course information may come from curriculum or independent study or FLVS Flex or dual enrollment courses taken or other activities. You should document the number of volunteer/work hours.

Your child may need a high school transcript in the future, even if they are not immediately entering college. It is easier to keep the information as you go along and save it rather than to trying to pull it all together years later.

There is a transcript template here -- Transcript Template. 

Dual Enrollment: 

This is an option for private school students (usually high school age) to take courses at their local state/community college with no tuition charges (books and some other expenses are usually covered). 

These are the only colleges offering this option to Florida Unschoolers students as of 1-25: IRSC, Polk State, SEU and USF.

 
IRSC: https://irsc.edu/programs/dual-enrollment-for-high-school-students.html
Polk State: Dual Enrollment and Early Admission | Polk State College

SEU: https://seu.edu/ Contact Renee Bell at dualenrollment@seu.edu

USF: https://www.usf.edu/early-university-programs/dual-enrollment/requirements-and-deadlines.aspx     and see: Florida Unschoolers (Umbrella School) | USF & Dual Enrollment -- | Facebook 

You and your child would contact and possibly meet with a Dual Enrollment Advisor at the college campus near you to discuss setting up classes, taking the required PERT (or other) test, and other procedures and requirements. 

Note: For dual enrollment purposes or regular admission after graduation, you can also discuss the state/community college's graduation requirements with their Advisors. The requirements change and are not the same as the requirements to graduate from high school. In particular, foreign language credits done at home, without utilizing an accredited third-party provider like FLVS Flex, can be problematic and may need to be validated with SAT2 or other proficiency exams, when needed to meet college graduation requirements.

Bright Futures: Private school students, like those enrolled with Florida Unschoolers, may apply for Bright Futures, a Florida grant program for college financial aid. You will need to go to the website -- https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/SAPBFMAIN/SAPBFMAIN -- to see the different options. Look under “Requirements for Scholarship Types", pages 3-6 (not home-educated), for eligibility requirements.

This is one of the reasons you need a transcript for your high schooler. You can see if your child has met the Bright Futures requirements and document them on their transcript. Then you email the transcript to me to enter into the Bright Futures system. 

In addition to your child meeting the academic, volunteer/community service/work and test score requirements, you will need to fill out a Florida Financial Aid Application (https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/SAPPRFILE/SAPPRFILE).  I can’t access your child’s Bright Futures application until you submit a Florida Financial Aid Application which can usually be done starting in October of your child's senior year. You will need your income information, tax return, etc., to complete the financial aid applications. 

You should also fill out a FAFSA (https://studentaid.gov/) even though Bright Futures doesn’t require it. You will need it for other financial aid. Note that the school code for Florida Unschoolers is 000003 for FAFSA and other financial aid applications. That is the code for private schools that have not been assigned a school code by the College Board.

After everything is entered, Bright Futures processes the application and provides an initial evaluation report. I will send you a copy of the evaluation report to check to make sure everything is complete and correct, make any changes needed, and then submit the application for final processing. The whole process usually takes less than a week if you have all of the information ready. 

Note that the requirements for county-registered homeschoolers are different from the requirements for private school students. Also note that Bright Futures requirements change so keep an eye on them.

GED: If your child graduates while they are enrolled with Florida Unschoolers, they will be a private school graduate and will not need a GED. But if they leave school before graduating, they may want to pursue a GED. It is not an easy test but there are prep classes and study guides available. For information on the GED, see this page -- Home - GED