I am attempting to get my GED behind my parents back (let's not get into why I need to do that) and I am creating an account at the GED website. It is asking me whether I am "currently enrolled in high school" and I am not sure what that would entail. I am currently being homeschooled under an umbrella school called "Florida Unschoolers". Does this count as being enrolled in high school?
2 Answers
It is asking me whether I am "currently enrolled in high school" and I am not sure what that would entail. I am currently being homeschooled under an umbrella school called "Florida Unschoolers". Does this count as being enrolled in high school?
According to ged.com, these are some of the requirements for getting a GED in Florida:
To get your Florida GED, you cannot already have a high school diploma or equivalent. You must also be unenrolled in any accredited high school. Additionally, you must be at least 18 years of age or, if younger, have a waiver from your local school board.
These are the criteria that the site is interested in evaluating, and in particular, observe that being enrolled in an accredited high school is a disqualifier.
"Florida Unschoolers" is a registered school in the state of Florida, which is a separate thing from accreditation. However, according to the Florida Department of Education,
The Florida Department of Education does not accredit, regulate, approve, or license K-12 private schools. Additionally, the Florida Department of Education does not officially recognize any of the various agencies that accredit private schools.
(emphasis in the original).
As far as I can determine, the GED rules are set by GED, not by the state of Florida. It is plausible that the "accredited" prong of their requirement is boilerplate, and that they would interpret any school registered with the Florida Department of Education to satisfy that requirement. And it is likely that they would consider your school to be a high school if it considers you to be in grade 9, 10, 11, or 12. My guess, then, is that GED would, yes, consider you to be enrolled in high school.
But you should not accept my guess about that. The Florida Department of Education provides contact information for questions about GEDs, including telephone numbers and an e-mail address. Use them. That will give you authoritative answers to your questions.
Without knowing the specifics on Florida Goverment's regulations, the term Umbrella School is used to designate school like organizations that over see multiple homeschoolers and that they are meeting state educational expectations. Often they will hold events which will allow homeschoolers to compete in school sports as well as set curriculums (sometimes), and field trips and social events (A stereotype of Home School Students is that they are poorly socialized compared to those who attend traditional public or private schools.).
They should meet legal qualifications, but it's a bare minimum at best. I would recommend calling a local school administration office for best guidance, but saying Home School (Florida Unschoolers Umbrella School) would likely cover your bases. I'm sure you're not the first person to ask this question.
