How to Enroll in Free Summer School Guide
A Guide for SPHS Students to receive FREE Summer School for credit
The individual pieces of information provided here can all be found on the SPHS website, but it’s not easily stitched together. We’ve put together this guide so that students and parents can fully understand all their options. Please watch the video and read this guide fully to get a complete understanding, if after doing both, you still need some assistance you can reach out to your counselor, or you can reach out to Janna Philpot, if you still need more assistance (email is at the end of the video).
What you should know:
- SPHS allows students to transfer in “No more than three (3) year-long outside courses” from any WASC accredited school. See SPHS Course Curriculum Catalog page 13 “NON-SPHS COURSES’.’ If the course is also fulfilling an A-G college requirement the school should also be UC Certified
- SPHS lists some schools where you can take classes, but your options are not limited to those schools. Any school that is WASC accredited and allows “guest students” would be a good option, but we’ve listed two for you below.
- Two free schools include: Method and Opportunities for Learning (OFL). These are year-round charter schools and they welcome outside students over the summer as “guests” for their July term.
- Just like SPHS, these schools are paid for with daily student attendance by the state of California, again, this is just like SPHS. It is important to understand that you will still be a public school student and as such you cannot be enrolled in TWO public schools at the same time, so this has to be done over the summer and not concurrent with attending SPHS, you can’t overlap by even a day, so be sure to note on your forms that you’ll be at these schools at a time when SPHS is not even in session.
- OFL and Method are both online schools for the summer and as such students who are good at managing their time are well suited for this option. They do provide tools to help the student plan out and manage their time, but this is definitely different than going to in-person summer school.
The Process and the Paperwork
- Apply to become a student for July Intersession at the Opportunities for Learning (OLF) or Method website. There’s a lot of paperwork. Enrollment typically opens in March, they might become full if you wait too long, so best to get your applications in and done while to secure your spot. The application forms are LONG, set aside a good 30 minutes or so.
- Complete a Request Form for Non-SPHS Course and email it to your counselor and to your Assistant Principal (both counselors and Assistant Principals are assigned by the student’s last name) either Vanessa Blackwood or David Santiago-Speck.
- Confirm that your Assistant Principal has approved your form before you embark on your summer studies.
- At this point your counselor will probably (tentatively) still schedule you for World History in the fall and also AP Comp Sci. Once she receives a copy of your transcript from your summer school reflecting your successful completion of the summer school class she will remove World History and add your Study Hall back into your schedule.
- Once you complete your summer school class, take measures to ensure your transcript is sent to your counselor before classes begin in the fall.
Links to useful SPHS Publications
