Hi everyone. We are Mexican/American family and have dual citizenship. My kid is on track to get his high school diploma, and he is finishing up his high school. He learned about his friend in Mexico who is starting high school online from a Mexican online school.
My son is doing Florida Virtual School, and while he is finishing up 10th grade, he has almost all the credits needed to graduate. He proposed a plan. He can finish early and get his diploma early, so that means getting it right after his junior year. And he said after that, he can take Mexican high school and since high school is 10th-12th grade, the Mexican school says you can finish in 1-2 years if you’d like.
He likes the idea of having two different high school degrees from two different countries. I don’t know whether to support this plan. Is it worth it to have a Mexican high school degree? Will it look bad if he takes, I guess, a “gap year” if he finishes Mexican high school in 2 years instead of 1? He speaks fluent Spanish. Thank you!
Is it rigorous? Plenty of US kids might be able to finish minimal grad reqs at the end of 10th but have the options of AP/IB/DE for rigour. Is he going back to Mexico for college and work?
Kind of. He takes mostly honor classes, but he didn’t know AP classes existed until this January. He plans on taking 5 AP classes this coming year. He is considering Mexican university.
Having two different diplomas is not going to help his cause.
I agree with @Sybylla that it serves no purpose to have 2 diplomas that are lacking in rigor and fulfill the minimum graduation requirements.
He would do better to get one diploma, that has depth and breath especially in math and science (does not necessarily have to be a STEM kid). Consider AP courses (full complement of English and Math), or dual enrollment with your local CC vs getting a second diploma.
Make sure that he does well on SAT/ACT exams so that he can have as many options as possible…
You state that he is considering Mexican Universities. What is his long range plan?
He needs to find out what the requirements for enrollment in the Mexican universities are. If they will not recognize the US diploma, then his only option may be to complete a Mexican high school program if he wants to keep the option of a Mexican university open. However, if they do recognize the US diploma, then there is no need for the Mexcian diploma.
Is there a particular reason for the online educational choice? If he gets serious about a Mexican university, a year in live classrooms where the instruction and daily interaction is in Spanish would be a better way of guaranteeing that his language skills are fully ready for university level reading and composition.
I think this is a great idea, but don’t have him graduate at the end of junior year - since he’s homeschooled, have him registered as ‘studying abroad, 11th grade’ then ‘studying abroad 12th’, and you submit his diploma by then. If you live in Florida, it’s important for the Bright Futures scholarship.
If he qualifies for Bright Futures, he’d have to start using it within 2 years of graduating from high school.
I don’t see the point of graduating from a Florida school and then going to a Mexican high school if they’d even let him; another US school wouldn’t let a graduate attend and he’d either have to go to college or do a post grad year.
^that’s why he should NOT graduate from FLVS - he’s homeschooled (FLVS is an online, homeschool program) so his parents have a lot of leeway in deciding when he graduates.
Attending a Mexican High School would mean
- becoming bilingual
- discovering new approaches to subjects already studied
- discovering new aspects to some subjects (ie., Mexican History not US History, Spanish-language literature, etc)
- discovering entirely new subjects that are taught in Mexican high schools but not US high schools
Then, the students declares ready to graduate to the State of Florida when Mexican 12th grade is completed.
(Homeschooling in Florida is pretty undemanding).
At this point, s/he’ll know where s/he attends, US or Mexico.
That being said, with Mexico being a dangerous country, especially for college students, it’s probably safer to attend college in the US, and the facilities+name recognition+opportunities will be greater for most US institutions.
In addition, FLVS is not super rigorous (limited number of AP classes because students are expected to take classes through DE at a local community college + only 6 classes possible per semester - which can, of course, be complemented with DE classes.) However, adding the Mexican high makes a previously average schedule stand out and if the student manages to pull it off at the Mexican high school his/her application becomes really interesting for adcoms.
FLVS is not only a homeschooling program. Some do use it that way, but many just take a class or two while attending a traditional school, or mix and match. It is required that FL high school students take at least one online class during high school, so many take one from FLVS (there are a lot of other options too).
^I know, but OP specifically said their child is “doing Florida Virtual School”, which doesn’t mean FLVS as a complementary class but as a sole course provider. In that case, the student can take 6 classes per semester and a few more over the summer.