High School Enrollment Options

PRS offers two enrollment options for high school students; Diploma Program and Cover Only. Both choices include private school enrollment and record keeping. You will specify each year whether or not you will enroll in the Diploma Program and submit high school credits when registering or renewing enrollment for your child.

The Diploma Program includes approval of submitted course credits, which are then applied to an official PRS transcript and PRS graduation. If you choose to submit high school credits, an annual Diploma Program fee applies.

Cover Only enrollment provides legal cover and basic record keeping, but reported grades are not applied toward an official PRS transcript or diploma. A semester summary may be submitted each semester to meet PRS reporting requirements. Upon your child’s completion of high school, you may create your own homeschool transcript and diploma. Do not pay the annual high school student enrollment fee if you choose this option.

*Note: Diploma Program enrollment is required to submit early high school credits in 8th grade.

Read about the Cover Only enrollment option for high school students who are not seeking a PRS official transcript and diploma.

How to Assign High School Credits

In traditional public schools, 1 credit represents 120-180 hours of work. A typical, full-time high school course is 0.5 credit per semester or 1 credit per year. Do keep in mind that if your student covers the same amount of material in less time, there is no reason not to award them the credit. It is up to you to use your judgment. Visit the recommended links below for more information about how to assign credits for high school courses.

• Homeschool.com: Guide to Giving High School Credits
• HSLDA: 3 Ways to Determine my Teen’s High School Course Credit

Credits for College Courses: PRS recommends assigning 1.0 high school credit for a 3-5 credit college course. Of course you may adjust this based on your own judgement. Proper formatting for a college course is shown below.

Reporting College/Dual Enrollment Courses

For college classes, select the high school credit category and then check the “Other” to enter the course name. The name should include the abbreviated college name, the college course number, and the course name. Include high school credits only. College credits will be transferred to a future college based on your child’s college transcript and should not be included on the PRS high school transcript. Remember to select “College” for the course weight.

FRCC ELE480 FINANCIAL LITERACY

The example above shows how to enter the course name in the Semester Grades form. In this example, the course was taken through Front Range Community College (FRCC), the course number is ELE480, and the course name is Financial Literacy.

Early High Schoool Credits

Students may be enrolled with the option to report early high school credits in 8th grade.*

• This option is for students working ahead of grade level, completing explicitly high-school-level courses during 8th grade. If the course is not high-school-level, do not report high school credits.
  
  
• 8th grade credits are approved only for the following high school level core subjects unless other arrangements have been made with PRS: English, math, and science.
  
  
• Courses typically completed during middle school, such as pre-algebra, are not eligible for high-school credit during 8th grade.
  
  
• A maximum of 1.0 credit total for the semester and 2.0 credits total for the year will be approved for high-school-level courses completed during 8th grade unless other arrangements have been made with PRS.
  
  
• Non-credit 8th-grade courses will be listed in your student’s grades, but will not be included on their high school transcript.

*Note: Diploma Program enrollment is required to submit early high school credits in 8th grade.

High School Credits Approval

PRS reviews all courses and credits submitted for high school students who are enrolled in the Diploma Program. Once approved, credits are applied to the student’s official PRS transcript and graduation requirements. To avoid surprises, PRS highly recommends creating a high school plan for PRS to review and approve. To create a high school plan, go to your student’s records page, click on “High School Plan,” and enter courses and credits. You may edit your plan and request a PRS review at any time.

Semester Credit Approval Process

PRS reviews all high school credits entered each semester. The two reasons for the review and approval are to make sure that your child’s transcript will present them the way they wish to future colleges or employers and to allow PRS to confidently issue an official transcript and diploma with PRS administrator’s signature. If everything looks fine and there are no questions or concerns the credits are approved right away. This is what happens for almost all credits submitted to PRS.

Credits Pending Approval

If there are any questions or anything seems to have been entered in error, the credits will be marked as pending and you will receive a detailed explanation of anything that needs to be clarified or adjusted. Some reasons for grades to be marked pending are a very high or very low number of credits for a semester, courses assigned to unexpected credit categories (electives, math, science, etc.), or a missing requirement as your child approaches 12th grade. Once PRS is sure that everything is entered the way you want it and the number of credits is reasonable based on your child’s situation, the credits are approved and applied to your child’s official PRS transcript and diploma.

Unapproved Credits

This is a very uncommon situation but is included here to clarify that PRS retains the right to reject submitted credits if necessary.

If reported credits fall well outside of the typical range of hours of study and the explanation given does not explain the number of credits submitted, additional documentation may be required to allow PRS to confidently sign off of those credits. PRS will make every effort to approve credits. However, if PRS determines that submitted courses and/or additional documentation do not adequately demonstrate that a student has completed the requirements for graduation the student will not graduate or receive a diploma. In this case, unofficial high school grades may be submitted and the family may transfer these courses to their homeschool and create their own transcript and diploma.

Parental Reponsibility for Credit Approval

Although PRS will notify you if there is any concern about submitted credits, it is the sole responsibility of the student’s parent or guardian to make necessary changes and verify that reported credits will be accepted toward a PRS diploma. If you have any questions or concerns about your student’s progress toward a PRS high school diploma, please Contact PRS for assistance.

PRS High School Graduation Requirements

To be eligible for a Poudre River School high school diploma, students must complete the minimum credit requirements listed below. Course Recommendations are provided for students planning to attend a 2- or 4-year college or university. These are only recommendations based on what colleges typically expect to see. The best way to find out what courses your student should complete before applying to college is to contact several colleges of interest and ask them what they want to see on their transcript.

Subject	Credits
English	4.0
Math	3.0
Science	3.0
Social Studies	3.0
Health & Wellness	0.5
Physical Education	1.0
Personal Finance	0.5
Electives	7.0
TOTAL	22.0

High School Course Recommendations

The following recommendations are provided as guidelines based on what colleges and universities typically require. Students should choose coursework based on their individual goals and interests. Students are encouraged to seek additional guidance from colleges and potential employers if they have specific goals or plans.

For more information about planning for high school, visit HSLDA’s Guide for Homeschooling Through High School page and Sample Plans.