For parents of high-school-aged students
If your child is headed to college or wants to use FLVS for some high school courses 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, you 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. If you don’t want to use FLVS, you don’t have to.
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.
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.)
Other colleges ask you to include the transcript in your application in some other way -- mail, email, etc.
The course information may come from FLVS and/or dual enrollment courses taken or independent study or activities -- either using a curriculum or not. You should document the volunteer 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 than to try to pull it all together after 12 years of homeschooling.
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).
See the list below for community colleges that are currently offering the dual enrollment option to Florida Unschoolers students and those which have chosen not to.
You and your child would meet with a Dual Enrollment Advisor at the college campus near you to discuss setting up classes, taking the required PERT test and other procedures and requirements.
One thing to discuss with the Dual Enrollment Advisor are the college graduation requirements. They 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.
If you want to use this option at a college that does not currently have an articulation agreement with Florida Unschoolers, contact the Dual Enrollment office at that college and ask them for the contact information for the person who sets up articulation agreements with private schools. Send me their email and I will contact the college about connecting with a program like this at the community college near you.
This is a list of the current articulation agreements at some community colleges: Articulation Agreement Info. as of 3-23
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 -- http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/bf/ -- 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 send the transcript to me and I enter it 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 I can access an evaluation report, usually the next day. I will send you a copy of the evaluation report to check to make sure everything is complete and correct, we’ll make any changes needed, and then I will submit the application for final processing. The whole process usually takes less than a week if we have all 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 -- http://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/hse
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Remember, you don’t need to memorize any of this or learn everything about the items that do not apply to you. Many homeschoolers go right through their school years never concerning themselves with any of these options.
This is my understanding of where things stand today but things can change so be aware that these options and issues exist and get the latest information ahead of the time when your child will need it.