Online high school graduation

I hear this question a great deal in many different formats, but they all amount to the same:

If I go to an online high school, will I graduate?

My answer is always that, yes, absolutely you will graduate if you do all of the work, complete all of the assignments, and pass a reasonable number of examinations.

Did you get, though, that is not what the student was asking? What they were asking was whether there would be a graduation ceremony. It is fascinating to me that students and the families of students who want to take their education online often want to come back and do graduation in some off-line fashion.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. There certainly is something nice about having your accomplishments recognized.

So do you get the ceremony? Well, it depends on the school. Some schools, like Laurel Springs School that I link and YouTube to down below, feel that the graduation ceremony is important and they make it happen. Other schools do not. It does not mean that they do not value the experience, but many of these programs have students all over the world. The logistics are a nightmare.

However, if having the ceremony is important to you, here is what you want to say to the school:

Do you offer a graduation ceremony?

Usually, that will get their attention.