Some NARHS students (who want to enlist in the US military) fall into two general categories. Transfer students and homeschoolers. Students who have been official, legal homechoolers will have very few issues enlisting. There is a specific process for homeschoolers applying for enlistment. Transfer students (those who have all or nearly all of their high school credits), WILL encounter resistance with enlistment -- the military wants stability, seat time, and commited students who do what's expected of them when assigned. Students who transfer to NARHS after they are ready to graduate present special problems for the military evaluation process. To properly prepare for enlistment, please speak to your NARHS-assigned advisor. We have access to the current information on enlistment options. NOTE: simply HAVING a high school diploma does NOT guarantee enlistment..there are many other criteria. Good scores on the military's ASVAB test, positive results from your interview with the recruiter, your academic history, and many other factors play a part in enlistment.

Parent's choice, Private Schools, and Maine Law (730 words) From the Sun Journal to the Boston Globe to the Miami Herald, why all the media about our Lewiston private school? Because resourceful high school seniors in Florida found a way to avoid exit exams by transferring their credits to our Maine high school. Maine families can learn a lesson from this. As flattered as we are, when news travels, the issues can become clouded. So, as the founder and administrator of the school, please allow me set the perspective.

My disclaimer: The Bible tells us to not be tied up with "endless genealogies". I personally don't think researching my family history falls into that category, but some families may. Use your own discernment & enjoy the endless history you uncover about your family tree. My sister began our family tree research years before the computer was commonly used. She interviewed relatives, mailed off payments for vital records, and wrote her research by hand. As I picked up where she left off, my job was much easier...most records can be obtained free from the Internet or swapped among cyber-relatives via genealogy message boards. I've dug into the Mayflower branch we have on my mother's side, finding wills, relationships to Presidents, and even arrests! My father's family came to Vermont from Canada, and many French-Canadian records are on the web, unfortunately not always in English. My husband's Jewish family emigrated to NYC from Russia in the early 1900's, and is my most challenging tree to date. Doing research, I've met unknown or long-lost relatives, discovered historical facts I never knew (or cared to!), and developed a respect for these old families who wanted to make the best life possible for their children.

God works in mysterious ways! Agree? I always envisioned myself a career person, but...

We teach our kids many subjects, some of which they will never use again once they have graduated from high school. Money is the one subject we can teach that will be used or misused every day for the rest of our child's life. So if money is such an important subject, why aren't we doing a better job of teaching our kids about its creation and care?

I was nine and my sister was seven when my parents decided to homeschool us. At the time, my father owned a manufacturing company and my mom was a school nurse. Each morning we would get ready for the day and begin by doing devotions and then reading. My mother would read us things like "The Chronicles of Narnia" for an hour or so, then we would do our other subjects. At first we used Alpha Omega's LifePacs, because the private school that Steph and I went to used them and it seamed like the simplest way to get started. At the time, the only way to get them was to order them through the school along with their order. There was no BookmobileOnline or Amazon, heck there was no Internet! There were no conventions, no used book swaps, no catalogs. It was much different back then.

My parents got to thinking about the time Steph and I had spent with them while we were sick. At the time, my sister an I were going to a private school that was 45 minutes away. Our schedule was rigorous, it was up at 6:00AM and off to school at 7:15AM. Then we'd get picked up at 3:30PM and return home around 4:15PM. We'd play for a while, eat dinner, do home work and go to bed at 8:00PM. The more my parents discussed this, the more convinced they became that homeschooling was a real option for our family. At the time only three families were homeschooling in our state of Maine. The idea that our family could re-claim at least eight hours per day seamed worth it, not to mention the flexibility and educational advantages!

My sister and I would finish our dealings with the chicken pox after both having had them TWICE! By the time we were done with the chicken pox she and I had missed over a month at school, each. Yet, even with all that time away from school, we were right on track. We hadn't missed anything! After we were healthy and had returned to school, my dad asked my mother how much time per day she had spent with my sister and I on our school work. The answer: "About an hour and a half."

I returned to school, and wouldn't you know it, my sister comes down with them. She was six when she missed two weeks of school because of the chicken pox. So, each day the school would send me home with her assignments. When she returned to school she hadn't missed anything either!

It all started with the chicken pox. I was eight when I missed school for two weeks. Each day the school would send my assignments home with my sister. When I returned to school two weeks later I was right on track. I hadn't missed anything!

We decided to unschool about five years ago. Our daughter was sick all the time, because instead of paying day care the parents sent their kids to school sick! Our daughter had two thirds of her left lung removed, and is catching everything. Soon after we pulled her out, we took our son out of the public school system. Reason being he'd bring home illness' to her. Our son was sick. He told the teacher and she told him to get a drink of water! His temp. was 103. All we needed. He was now going to be unschooled as well.

Are the SATs as important as they used to be? In this age of the Internet and Pentium processors, is a multiple choice test taken on a single Saturday morning still one of the best ways for colleges to weed out applicants? It depends who is answering the question. Many colleges say SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores are maybe the fourth or fifth most important measure of a student's suitability for college, after course level, grades and class rank. Some 300 colleges nationwide don't even require applicants to submit standardized test results. The argument against SATs is that they can be biased toward certain types of students, and are generally not good indicators of how a student will do in college.

99% of the population thinks homeschooling is mom sitting at the kitchen table teaching everything to her children. In fact, for more than 80% of homeschoolers, their mental image of homeschooling is probably the same. Let me offer a slightly different view, and define it this way: "Homeschooling is parents deciding and directing the education of their children". Deciding and directing the education, not doing all the educating.

The money's being spent, the reform is pending, the discussion is brewing, but have we lost sight of the real goal of educating a child ? I believe the goal is the same as it's always been -- it's never changed, it never will -- and it's simple: to prepare a child to move from childhood to adulthood. That's it. Prepare my child for adulthood. Period. Some would say, "I don't want my child to grow up so fast." I'm not suggesting fast preparation for adulthood, I'm suggesting a truth much simpler -- children grow up to be adults, and they will grow there with us or without us; they will grow up guided by their parents or guided by their peers.

There was a time when I had a list in my wallet of 20-30 advantages of homeschooling. I carried this list tucked in my pocket everywhere for years and used it when confronted by the critics of homeschooling. Occasionally it would come in handy with reporters (especially in telephone interviews when they couldn't see it). But the list was too long, people would not listen to a lengthy treatise. Over time, after consulting with hundreds of families in my office, after attending support group meetings around the country, and after hearing speeches by supporters, I concluded that reporters and the general public really wanted to hear the simple advantages, and they fell into four broad categories.

Ann Arbor: Teaching children at home won't make them social misfits, a University of Michigan study suggests. The detailed study of 53 adults who were taught at home by their parents is one of the first to examine the long-term effects of homeschooling - a practice now followed by as many as 300,000 American families. "One of the major arguments against home schooling is that it deprives children of the peer contacts needed for normal social development," says J. Gary Knowles, U-M assistant professor of education. "Public school educators and other critics also question whether home-educated children will be able to become productive, participating members of a diverse and democratic society.

"Grandfathering" GOOD NEWS:NARS keeps all students on the same tuition schedule for all the years of their continuous, uninterrupted registration in our program. THEREFORE, to AVOID the tuition increases, it is wise to keep your student's registration uninterrupted. Grandfathering means once a student is in and stays in, that student's rate is "grandfathered" for their entire high school career -- their rate never changes.CURRENT TUITION SCHEDULE: as of July 1, 2007, the tuition is:

• A. For the UNDERGRADUATE years: $425.00 per year.
• B. For the GRADUATION year: $525.00
• C. For additional consultations: $40.00 per hour (not often used, but sometimes requested).

NOTE: There is no fee for including high school credits earned in other institutions, only for credits earned during previous homeschooling. Read how:

A high school diploma is the minimum requirement for many jobs. A 21-year-old homeschooled woman came to a NARHS workshop in Massachusetts in 2004 and announced she was a junior at the University of Massachusetts. She had a 3.5 GPA, but could not get a job as a bank teller because their banking regulations REQUIRE a high school diploma. Her two years of excellent college work was NOT an acceptable substitute, she needed a diploma.Fair? No. But it is the rule. When the banking regulators made the rules about the minimum qualifications, they gave no consideration to exceptions or to homeschoolers. So, either you get your diploma, or you will not be considered for some jobs. Simple as that.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics prove that high school graduates earn an average of $7,000 more per year than individuals without a diploma. Estimating a 25-year-old who works full-time for 40 years calculates that having a high school diploma could mean as much as $280,000. in additional pay over the course of your lifetime.

Use YOUR materials in YOUR way and still earn high school credits towards a real high school diploma. Students who have earned the necessary 17-1/2 high school credits (from whatever sources), are eligible to graduate from a real Maine high school with a real high school diploma! No residency required. NO EXIT EXAMS required in Maine. NARS brings all academic pieces together -- wherever they were earned -- making them all count towards your high school diploma from our state-authorized, state-recognized, fully accredited private school. HOMESCHOOLERS: If previous high school course work was completed through a homeschool program, AND IF the family still has the work to prove that the subjects were successfully completed, then those courses, too, can be converted to high school credits. They can then be applied to the graduation requirements. And, you still did it YOUR way. __ Students who are capable may earn high school credits at any age, and you may earn as many as you like to build your high school transcript.

For 18 years NARHS has been a state-authorized private school, recognized by the Department of Education. As of November 2003, we reached "nationally accredited" status. And as of April 17, 2004, we became a "fully accredited" high school. North Atlantic Regional Schools provided 490 pages of documentation, curriculum, credentials, and other support materials over the past year to the National Private Schools Association. Based on that information, and their site visit to the Maine school campus, we have earned full accreditation.Their cover letter states, “...demonstrates your commitment to the educational process and assures public confidence in your well deserved reputation.” The letter goes on to say, “North Atlantic Regional School is an outstanding academic institution whose quality educational program deserves recognition.” And, we have renewed our accreditation each year since, providing updated information each time.