FAQ

Enrollment and Records Transfer

What is required for me to enroll?

You create an account, provide student information, upload previous school records or fill out a record request from and pay the fees.

When do I have to enroll? Is there a deadline?

We offer year-round open enrollment. Your enrollment will cover you for the full 12 months, beginning either August 1 or February 1, depending on your country’s local school year. We recommend that you enroll by the time school starts in your area.

Is there a minimum or maximum age to enroll?

There is no minimum or maximum age to enroll. We recommend that you enroll your child when your state or country’s laws require children to be enrolled in a public or private school. There is no maximum age to enroll. We can even enroll adults who wish to get their high school diploma.

When does my enrollment begin?

Your enrollment begins either on August 1 or February 1, depending on where you live and when school begins in your country. Your enrollment period is for 12 months, so your country’s academic year can be accommodated within this period.

Can I enroll in the middle of the year?

Yes, you may enroll at any time of the year. If you take your child out of school mid-year, we can transfer in courses completed. Annual fees apply.

Can I talk to someone before I enroll?

We are happy to offer you a free 15-minute consultation to help you understand how West River Academy can benefit you and see if we are a fit for your family.

I have a special needs child. Can you help?

Yes! Special needs students are welcome and will find a loving environment to support their development with no stress. We offer consultations if and when necessary to help you negotiate this path with your child.

Can my child skip grades or complete two grade levels in one academic year?

No, students must enroll in the grade level corresponding to their age and advance one grade level per academic year.

To graduate from West River Academy, students must have all four years, Grades 9-12, on their final transcripts.

Contact us for more information.

Can we enroll in West River Academy if we travel from state to state or country to country?

We enroll many traveling families. Our official confirmation of enrollment letter can be presented to any state’s or country’s officials to prove enrollment in a private U.S. school to show compliance with compulsory attendance laws.

How do I withdraw my child from the previous school?

If your child has been attending a US school, you will fill out that school’s contact information while enrolling. We will then contact the school to inform them of your withdrawal from that school and request that they send us the school records. When we receive the records, either digitally or by mail, we will let you know that we have them.

As a courtesy to the school, you may wish to let them know that you are enrolling your child in a private school effective immediately or on a certain date and that they will be receiving a request to transfer records shortly. Be sure you have no outstanding fees or other loose ends to tie up or the school will not release the records.

If you live outside the US, you will be responsible for withdrawing your child from the school. We can assist by emailing the school a request to transfer records if you fill out the record request form when enrolling.

What if my child wants to transfer to another school?

We can issue a transcript that covers the time the student was with us. We will send the transcript to the next school when we receive a request for records from the new school.

What if I change my mind about enrolling after I have paid the fees?

Our refund policy states that no refunds will be issued after payment is made unless a prior agreement is in place. Please be sure to read all the FAQs and do your research before you enroll. We invite you to a free 15-minute consultation to help you decide if we are a fit for your family.

Fees and Services

What does it cost to enroll a student for one academic year?

Our fees are:

• Onboarding Fee: $125 per student for the first year only. This fee is also applied after a gap in enrollment years.

• Annual Enrollment for Grades K-11: $450 for one student plus $75 per sibling

• Annual Enrolment for Grade 12: $945 for one student or $570 for a sibling, includes Graduation fees

What additional services do you provide?

In addition to enrollment, you may request:

• Transcripts

• Document Notarization and Apostilles

• Consultations

• Custom Documents

Group Enrollment

In addition to individual student enrollment, we offer group enrollment. You may apply to affiliate your microschool with us if you operate one. You may also request enrollment through one of our affiliated groups. Contact us for more information.

What if I live outside the United States?

Can I enroll if I live in a country outside the U.S.?

You are invited to enroll with us from any country in the world. You can also travel from country to country and be covered by West River Academy to show proof of enrollment in a school.

We have representatives in the following countries that can help you understand more about us and local legal requirements.

  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Bosnia
  • Brazil
  • Bulgaria
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • France
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Taiwan

You are responsible for understanding the laws in your country and complying with them. We can request that records be sent from your previous school to us to help you withdraw from that school.

You can enroll beginning August 1 or February 1, depending on your country’s academic year. The enrollment period is for 12 months, so your local school year can be accommodated within your 12-month enrollment period.

What documents do I have to submit when I enroll?

If you have attended a school before enrolling with us, we will need to review the school records to confirm placement in the appropriate grade.

Can my studies be certified?

At the end of the year, we can issue a transcript. It can be notarized and/or sent for an Apostille. Express Mail is required for addresses outside the U.S.

What should I do if I live outside the U.S. and want to go to a university in my country?

We cannot guarantee that your preferred colleges will accept you, as their admissions policies are up to them. However, we do have a good track record of having our transcripts accepted at private and public universities in the United States and many other countries. A list of some of the institutions our graduates have been accepted into can be found on our Graduation page.

If you live outside the U.S., your diploma and transcript can be sent for Apostilles.

After you receive your Apostilled documents, you will have to present them to the Ministry of Education of your country to request that they be validated.

Community, Support and Resources

What support do you provide after we enroll?

• You will attend an Orientation meeting to acquaint you with your account portal, additional services and resources.

• Each month you will receive a newsletter with information on monthly Q&A sessions and Social Hours in multiple languages.

• You may schedule calls as needed to assist with individual program development.

• Our Mentorship Program offers teens additional support with goal setting, mental health and life after graduation.

Can you recommend any resources?

After enrolling, you will find a page in your portal dedicated to Resources We Love, which we add to as we find new ones that inspire us.

Reporting

How much record-keeping is required?

Students and parents should keep a record of their daily progress. An annual report must be submitted at the end of the academic year.

Transcripts and Graduation

Will transcripts be issued at the end of each year?

Yes, transcripts can be issued as needed–annually or at the end of primary, middle or high school.

A transcript can include years from other schools if we receive official transcripts from those schools.

How do I graduate and receive a high school diploma?

To be eligible to graduate, you will need to be enrolled with us for all 4 years of high school or have on file approved transcripts for years completed at other schools.  You must be enrolled with us for at least Grade 12. Then you complete the Graduation Project.

Is there a deadline for submitting my Graduation Project?

Yes, the Graduation Project must be submitted by the last day of your enrollment period. If you are enrolled for the academic year that begins in August, the project must be submitted by July 31. If you are enrolled for the academic year that begins in February, the project must be submitted by January 31. If the project is not submitted by the deadline, you will have to pay a fee to extend the deadline.

Is my West River Academy diploma and transcript accepted by universities in every country?

Our graduates have been able to enroll in colleges and universities in a growing number of countries. A list of some of the institutions our graduates have been accepted at can be found on our Graduation page.

We recommend that you work with the university you wish to apply to before enrolling with us and that you apply to multiple colleges or universities so you have options. If you enroll in a community college and receive your Associate Degree, you can then enroll in a 4-year college as a transfer student.

What should I do if I live outside the U.S. and want to go to a university in my country?

The diploma and transcript can be notarized and/or sent for Apostilles. Please allow 4-6 weeks for this process. Then you can present them to the Ministry of Education of your country to request that they be validated. Once validated, you can present them to the university. We strongly recommend that you check with local officials before you enroll in West River Academy to check on the likelihood of your documents being validated and, if not, what your course of action would be.

Will you send my transcript to the universities I apply to?

Students applying to a US university should create an account with Parchment. We will upload your transcript to Parchment so you can have it sent to any university at any time. We can also submit it to the Common App.  If you live outside the US and the university does not accept transcripts via Parchment, we can work with you on another method.

Accreditation and Legalities

Are you accredited?

We are accredited by the National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools (NALSAS), an organization that accredits alternative schools in the U.S. Their website is nalsas.org.

Do I have to file any documents with my school district before or after enrolling in West River Academy?

We are a private international school, so by enrolling with us, you are in compliance with your state’s compulsory attendance laws and do not have to contact or inform your school district.  We will notify them and request a records transfer if applicable. If you live outside the US or need more information, please contact us.

What is your status in California?

We operate as a private school and file a Private School Affidavit with the California Department of Education each year.

What is your status in Colorado?

West River Academy is a Colorado corporation and a private school.

Are you an online school?

No. We do not offer online courses.

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Privacy Policy

What information do we collect?

We collect information from you when you register on our site or place an order. When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your: name, e-mail address or mailing address.

What do we use your information for?

Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways: To personalize your experience (your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs) To improve our website (we continually strive to improve our website offerings based on the information and feedback we receive from you) To improve customer service (your information helps us to more effectively respond to your customer service requests and support needs) To process transactions Your information, whether public or private, will not be sold, exchanged, transferred, or given to any other company for any reason whatsoever, without your consent, other than for the express purpose of delivering the purchased product or service requested. To administer a contest, promotion, survey or other site feature To send periodic emails The email address you provide for order processing, will only be used to send you information and updates pertaining to your order.

How do we protect your information?

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you place an order or enter, submit, or access your personal information. We offer the use of a secure server. All supplied sensitive/credit information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our Payment gateway providers database only to be accessible by those authorized with special access rights to such systems, and are required to?keep the information confidential. After a transaction, your private information (credit cards, social security numbers, financials, etc.) will not be kept on file for more than 60 days.

Do we use cookies?

Yes (Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computers hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information We use cookies to help us remember and process the items in your shopping cart, understand and save your preferences for future visits, keep track of advertisements and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business. If you prefer, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via your browser settings. Like most websites, if you turn your cookies off, some of our services may not function properly. However, you can still place orders by contacting customer service. Google Analytics We use Google Analytics on our sites for anonymous reporting of site usage and for advertising on the site. If you would like to opt-out of Google Analytics monitoring your behaviour on our sites please use this link (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/)

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.

Registration

The minimum information we need to register you is your name, email address and a password. We will ask you more questions for different services, including sales promotions. Unless we say otherwise, you have to answer all the registration questions. We may also ask some other, voluntary questions during registration for certain services (for example, professional networks) so we can gain a clearer understanding of who you are. This also allows us to personalise services for you. To assist us in our marketing, in addition to the data that you provide to us if you register, we may also obtain data from trusted third parties to help us understand what you might be interested in. This ‘profiling’ information is produced from a variety of sources, including publicly available data (such as the electoral roll) or from sources such as surveys and polls where you have given your permission for your data to be shared. You can choose not to have such data shared with the Guardian from these sources by logging into your account and changing the settings in the privacy section. After you have registered, and with your permission, we may send you emails we think may interest you. Newsletters may be personalised based on what you have been reading on theguardian.com. At any time you can decide not to receive these emails and will be able to ‘unsubscribe’. Logging in using social networking credentials If you log-in to our sites using a Facebook log-in, you are granting permission to Facebook to share your user details with us. This will include your name, email address, date of birth and location which will then be used to form a Guardian identity. You can also use your picture from Facebook as part of your profile. This will also allow us and Facebook to share your, networks, user ID and any other information you choose to share according to your Facebook account settings. If you remove the Guardian app from your Facebook settings, we will no longer have access to this information. If you log-in to our sites using a Google log-in, you grant permission to Google to share your user details with us. This will include your name, email address, date of birth, sex and location which we will then use to form a Guardian identity. You may use your picture from Google as part of your profile. This also allows us to share your networks, user ID and any other information you choose to share according to your Google account settings. If you remove the Guardian from your Google settings, we will no longer have access to this information. If you log-in to our sites using a twitter log-in, we receive your avatar (the small picture that appears next to your tweets) and twitter username.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We are in compliance with the requirements of COPPA (Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act), we do not collect any information from anyone under 13 years of age. Our website, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years old or older.

Updating your personal information

We offer a ‘My details’ page (also known as Dashboard), where you can update your personal information at any time, and change your marketing preferences. You can get to this page from most pages on the site – simply click on the ‘My details’ link at the top of the screen when you are signed in.

Online Privacy Policy Only

This online privacy policy applies only to information collected through our website and not to information collected offline.

Your Consent

By using our site, you consent to our privacy policy.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page.
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