Berrien Springs Virtual Academy Partnership
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  • Program Basics
  • Registration
  • Classes
    • Berrien BookShark
    • Field Trips: In-Person Bonus Experience
    • Virtual Classes >
      • Virtual Class Guidelines
      • The Animation Course: Animation or Drawing Courses
      • Bonus Virtual Classes
      • Michigan Virtual
      • Middlebury World Languages
      • Typing Quest
      • Login Sites
    • Animal Husbandry >
      • Birchbank Farm: Art of the Small Family Farm
      • Circle C Stables
      • Ground Zero: Exploring Equine Education
      • Ground Zero: Mounted Archery
      • Patsy Little: Horse Care and Management
      • Spring Creek Equestrian Center
    • Art Classes >
      • Architecture
      • Birchbank Farm: Art Classes
      • Buchanan Art Center
      • Ceramics/Pottery >
        • Birchbank Farm: Historical Arts
        • Ceramics with Jill Dodge
        • Niles STEAM Room: Ceramics
        • Wheel Fun Pottery!
      • Creative Design with Robert Ritzenthaler
      • Mixed Media and Collage
      • Design Street in Plainwell
      • Jon Whidden: Collage
      • Drawing and Painting Classes: see tabs >
        • Niki McNeil: Art Classes
        • Jill Dodge: Elementary Art
        • JLN Studios: Acrylic, Watercolor and Pastels
        • Starlight Studio
      • Jewelry/Leather >
        • Chainmaille with Kim Bollman
        • Jill Dodge: Leather Tooling
      • FLC: Art and Culture Around the World
      • GVNCP: Art Classes
      • Krasl Art Center
      • Photography and Videography >
        • Adventures in Photography with Katie
        • For Robert Ritzenthaler Photo or Video, see Technology Category
      • Glass >
        • Jill Dodge: Glass Fusing
      • Water Street Glassworks >
        • Water Street Glassworks
    • Business and Finance >
      • Personal Finance
    • Chess >
      • Chess: Niles
    • Dance: Fine Arts >
      • Benton Harbor Dance Studios
      • Decatur Dance Studios
      • Coloma Dance Studios
      • Dowagiac Dance Studios
      • Niles Dance Studios
      • Sawyer Dance Studios
      • South Haven Dance Studios
      • St. Joseph Dance Studios
      • Stevensville Dance Studios
    • CTE: Career and Technical Education
    • Drama >
      • CMW: Children's Music Workshop
    • Family Adventure Trips >
      • New River Gorge
    • Foreign Languages >
      • Lotus Chinese
      • Dos Mundos Spanish
      • I Heart Spanish
    • Humanities >
      • Re-enactment Arts >
        • Ground Zero: Archery
    • Life Skills >
      • Cooking and Baking >
        • Birchbank Farm: Gluten Free Cooking
        • Joel Bennett: Beginning and Advanced Baking
      • Crochet: with Niki McNeil
      • Sewing and Textiles >
        • Robin English: Sewing and Quilting
        • Adventures in Textiles
        • Birchbank Farm: Sewing
    • Music >
      • Music: Intensive Project-Based Study >
        • Cello
        • Guitar
        • Percussion
        • Piano
        • Violin
        • Voice
        • Other Instruments
      • Music: Group Project-Based Study >
        • Berrien Springs Public School - Band or Choir
        • Lake Michigan Youth Orchestra
        • The Music Academies - Niles
        • West Michigan Homeschool Fine Arts
        • Shoreline Music Classes
        • Trevor Jones: Songwriting & Music Production
    • Nature/Environment >
      • Birding and Beyond
      • Loonling Learning: Natural Acts Hiking
      • Love Creek: Outdoor Explorers
      • Homesteading
      • GVNCP: Nature Classes
    • Physical Education >
      • Gymnastics >
        • Elite Sports Academy
        • Branch Gymnastics
        • Infinite Gymnastics at Andrews
        • Power In Motion
        • The Club for Gymnastics
      • Martial Arts
      • Physical Fitness & Sports >
        • Basketball >
          • Basketball: Andrews Jr. Cardinals
          • Basketball: Niles with Dan Oates
        • CrossFit
        • Fitness Classes at the BH/SJ YMCA
        • Hockey: Youth League
        • Ice Skating: Learn to Skate: Garden Ice Arena
        • Life RX: Teen Strength/Conditioning
        • Midwest Performance Academy
        • Homeschool Nexus- Rock Climbing and Running
        • Soccer: Andrews Jr. Cardinals and Red Arrow Soccer Club
        • Softball: Dugout Dolls
        • Tennis and Pickleball: Group Lessons
      • Swim and Gym Locations
      • Swim Lessons/Swim Clubs >
        • Group Swim Lessons: various locations
        • Swim Clubs
    • Technology >
      • FLC Tech Classes
      • Niles STEAM Room
      • Photography or Videography with Robert Ritzenthaler
      • Jon Whidden: Recording Studio and Electronic Music
    • Vocational Education >
      • Tom Hurst: Woodworking
      • Bicycle Mechanics
      • Lifeguarding or WSI Certification and Junior Lifeguarding
  • Dual Enrollment / CTE
    • What is Dual Enrollment?
    • Andrews University
    • Glen Oaks Community College
    • KVCC - Kalamazoo Valley Community College
    • Lake Michigan College
    • Southwest Michigan College
    • CTE
  • Meet your Mentor
    • Mentor Bios
    • Mentor Evaluation Tools
  • Contacts / Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Homeschool Links of Interest
    • Social Networking & Homeschool resources
    • Standardized Testing Opportunities
  • Calendar
  • Field Trips: Virtual Options
Homeschool Links of Interest:
*The following links & resources are provided solely as as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply our affiliation, endorsement, or adoption of any site or any information contained therein.


Need to receive therapy or special services from your resident district? You may need to register your homeschool with the state.  Check HERE.

Homeschooling through High School
As a homeschool family, you decide not only which classes your children will take in order to fulfill state graduation requirements, but grade and assign credit as well.  
Michigan Guidelines for homeschooling: 
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/home_schools_122555_7.pdf
Michigan Merit Curriculum: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Complete_MMC_FAQ_August_2014_467323_7.pdf

What does your student need to graduate?
Generally speaking, 1 credit = 1 year of coursework/class time.  Some high schools grant 1 credit for one semester of a college level class, some do not.  For example, you are required to have 4 credits of Math, which normally equals 4 years of Math - you can see that they stipulate that a student has to show that they have taken math in their senior year. The foreign language 2 year requirement doesn't apply until the graduating class of 2016.  Many schools will allow foreign language taken in 8th grade to count if it was a high school level class, plus one year during their high school career.

Terrific website for general beginning homeschool information and resources: www.fiscaltiger.com

Transcripts:
There are a number of great resources for making your own transcript, but here is a recommended resource:
Setting the Records Straight by Lee Binz, copyright 2010, available on Amazon and elsewhere.

This is a template Bethel College has generated for Homeschoolers enrolling in their programs.  It is an Excel document and if you load it as such, it will do the calculations for you. Transcript template - click on the Bethel Template which will bring up an Excel template

College resource links (not supported or provided by the Partnership):
Arizona State University Online: https://asuonline.asu.edu/admission/home-school​
Parents may find this  useful to home schooled students who wish to pursue a college education. Since ASU Online offers hundreds of accredited online degree programs, transitioning to college from a home school environment is easy and natural.

Additional educational resources: 
Business/Math/Economics:

https://online.rider.edu/online-masters-degrees/masters-business-administration/business-money-math-games-k12-students/.  Rider University
TestingMom.com
​

Can homeschool or private school students participate in competitive public school sports?
No. Disqualification from competitive sports is a decision made by the MHSAA, not the districts.  Decisions regarding choir and band are up to the district since they are considered elective classes.  Gym class is an elective.  Homeschool students are allowed to take any elective a school offers in their resident district.  Sports are not an elective, they are an after-school offering that parents pay for in part.  Public school competitive sports cannot be an option for homeschoolers unless the student is taking 4 daily classes at their resident school building, which qualifies them to be counted by the school enough to satisfy MHSAA requirements.  Alternative education students (those full time through the Virtual Academy and Discovery Academy) are also disqualified from school competitive sports. 

Fun camps and other things to do during summer.....
  • GBSRD - Greater Berrien Springs Rec Dept: gbsrd.org   Offers a host of sports opportunities
  • Citadel Dance and Music Center: 925-1099, www.citadelDMC.org: private lessons and Summer Strings Group Classes
  • Jaier Soccer Camp... http://www.jaier.com/soccer-camp---2012.html​
  • Bridgman Aquatic Center swimming (free to Bridgman/Lake Twp residents)... http://www.bridgmanschools.com/aquatic-center/index.html
  • Bridgman offers (as do many of the neighboring communities) many sport camps... http://www.bridgmanschools.com/athletics/summercamps.htm
  • Library summer reading programs are great too!! (ie: http://www.bridgmanlibrary.org/bridgman/summerreading.asp).   www.lincolntownshiplibrary.org
  • Five Pines: http://www.fivepines.org/daycamp/index.html​
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