Financial Policy for High School Students

The following rates are annual rates spread over the 12 months of the year. By charging twelve months of the year, instead of ten or eleven months, we are able to keep our monthly rates lower. If you check prices at other private schools, you will realize that our rates are a bargain. Moreover, we expect students to continue learning even in the summer months. Our fee is assessed every month, 12 months of the year, until the student graduates or is withdrawn from enrollment; we expect 30 days advance notice of withdrawal, though we can usually process a withdrawal with much less notice. Home schooling students may enroll and still maintain their home school status.

Our rate is $185 per month. This rate assumes that the student will do nearly all work at home, coming in only to turn in work, to take a test, or to get help on an assignment. This option is much less costly than typical private school tuitions. With rare exceptions, our students work well on their own, even if they didn't at other schools. Parent monitoring of daily work (and regular encouragement) will make a huge difference in the student’s success and is expected. State law requires that students put in a minimun number of hours in school. In the case of distance learning students (like ours) and homeschool students, it is the parent's responsibility to monitor this requirement. We can assist you in developing your skills at maintaining oversight of students who work at home.

Most of our students slow their pace somewhat during the summer, with the consent of their parents. This is acceptable if the student is earning credits at an average rate or better.

We close the school for short vacation and holiday periods during parts of the year; common holidays are observed, and vacation periods are published in advance, usually by telling the students or posting a sign. Since our students mostly do work at home, school closure has little impact on their education and is generally not a problem.

Some families do not want to be involved in their child’s schooling; they want to believe that as long as the child is in the custody of the school and its personnel, they don't have to worry about anything. This is a myth: you can and must remain involved daily if you expect your child to get a decent education. As a minimum, you must be aware of what your child does each day, and you must periodically be aware of what grade your child is averaging in each course and how rapidly credits are being earned. Having a child enrolled here is a lot like home schooling, except that we do the hard parts (course design, assessment, records-keeping, and helping with difficulties). Even though we do the hard parts, you must do the important parts: knowing when your child needs some external structure from you and being a constant source of encouragement.

All payments are made by Direct Debit. This is an electronic transaction that is the same as your writing a check. An arrangement will be made between your bank and ours for your fee to be sent automatically on the date due. Your monthly tuition will be charged on the 1st or the 16th of the month (depending on when you enrolled), with the debit occuring a few days later (usually either the 5th or the 20th). It is your responsibility to make sure your payment clears on the date of the Direct Debit; if your account does not clear for any reason (1) nothing will be sent, (2) your bank will charge both you and us a fee, (3) we will charge you a fee and suspend your enrollment until we have met with you and come to an agreement.