Homeschool, private, and/or nonpublic school students are welcome to Vienna for classes, extracurricular activities, and the Homeschool Seminar Co-op.

Interest Form: Students and families interested can complete the non-obligatory interest form or email info@viennahs.com.

***Participate in Classes

Homeschool, private, and/or nonpublic school students are eligible to take any class(es) of their choosing as long as the student meets the prerequisites for the selected class(es) and space is available in the class(es). The master class schedule can be found by visiting www.viennahs.com and then selecting Resources, Scheduling and Curriculum, and Master Schedule. This document will give details on classes offered, times, instructors, etc.

ISBE Homeschool: The Illinois State Board of Education's (ISBE) website has more information about Homeschooling at www.isbe.net/Pages/Homeschool.aspx.

Board Policy: Vienna High School's local board policy addressing "Nonpublic School Students, Including Parochial and Home-Schooled Students" can be found in the online board policy manual, which is located at www.viennahs.com, select Administration, District Documents, Policy Manuals/Handbooks, and then choose Board Policy Manual, under policy 7:40.

Declaration of Intent Regarding Graduation: Homeschool, private, and/or nonpublic school students will need to complete the Declaration of Intent Regarding Graduation form and return it to the guidance office. This form clarifies who the family wishes to monitor progress toward high school graduation requirements.

Illinois Compiled Statutes: The Illinois Compiled Statutes (105 ILCS 5/10-20.24) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-20.24) contain information on nonpublic school students and part-time attendance at a public school.

***Participate in Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular Activities, Including Interscholastic Competition: Vienna High School's board policy 7:40 currently states:

Extracurricular Activities, Including Interscholastic Competition

Homeschool and nonpublic school students shall be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities, including both athletic and non-athletic, subject to the following conditions:

1. Students must enroll and attend the District for at least one course per semester. If they fail to remain enrolled for a full school year, they will be ineligible to participate for the following full school year.

2. The student's participation must adhere to the regulations established by any association in which the District maintains a membership that provides oversight for the activity.

3. The student is subject to all policies, regulations, and rules that are applicable to the participants in the activity.

4. To maintain academic eligibility, the course taken at the District school must be in a passing status to be eligible.

5. When required, verification of eligibility must be provided in accordance with the expectations of school administration and is the responsibility of the student and their guardian(s).

IHSA Home School Fact Sheet: The IHSA (Illinois High School Association) governs interscholastic sports and activities for high schools in Illinois and provides an IHSA Home School Fact Sheet, which can be found at https://www.ihsa.org/documents/forms/current/HomeSchoolFactSheet.pdf

***Homeschool Seminar Co-op, Connecting Students and Parents

Vienna High School is starting a Homeschool Seminar Co-op. The Homeschool Seminar Co-op will connect homeschool students and families with various resources such as scholarship applications, military recruiters, employers, information about military academies, college and university visits, job shadowing, and other aspects of the school's “Career Connected and Life Ready” (www.viennahs.com/cc) initiatives.

"Over the last several years, Vienna High has developed comprehensive programming to ensure that all of our students are Career Connected and Life Ready. Our goal is to ensure that all students in our community post high school graduation are enrolled, enlisted, employed, or in an entrepreneurial pursuit. Frequently, employers, recruiters, colleges, universities, and the trades recruit students through the high schools in each community. We realize that this approach might leave out homeschooled students who reside in our area. We simply want to work so that all students in our community can be connected to their choice of opportunities," said Joshua Stafford, superintendent.

“Throughout the year, we get homeschool families that stop by the guidance officer to ask about things such as FASFA, scholarship applications, and other items relating to planning for life after high school. Creating the Homeschool Seminar Co-op will allow us to better connect with the families in our community that are interested in receiving this information and allow us to get this information to them as we received it,” said Rhi Slife, guidance counselor.

Leslie Bradley, director of student career service at Vienna, said, "We have come a long way to ensure that the students in our high school and their parents get connected with all of the resources and options that we can connect them with for life after high school. Integrating a Homeschool Seminar Co-op into our Career Connected and Life Ready work only makes sense. We aim to make it as simple or elaborate as each homeschooled student and family might want. If students and families just want information forwarded to them via email, we will be glad to do so, or if they want more intensive one-on-one help planning for their futures or working through any number of items, we're glad to provide that."

The Homeschool Seminar Co-op program is starting in January. Any student and/or family that might be interested can simply email info@viennahs.com or visit www.viennahs.com/homeschool to complete the non-obligatory interest form.

Families are also reminded that homeschooled students can also sign up for any class of their choosing at Vienna High School as long as space permits. They are also eligible to participate in sports. For more information, you can visit www.viennahs.com/homeschool.