While most schools are familiar with and extremely supportive of the academically talented youth program, others may need help understanding how to accommodate your needs. Below you will find a list of situations you may encounter and some tips for how to handle them. You may find that there is not a solution to your particular situation listed, but these answers may spark you to find a solution on your own. Our staff are working hard to make sure all our participating schools understand what we do and what your needs are in order to minimize confusion and to strengthen cooperation between our program and your home school.
Do I need to be participating in an English class at my home school if I am taking ATYP English?
(Same question regarding math, etc.)
No! Our program not only covers appropriate grade level content for the year, it will exceed it. You may need to show your counselor, teacher, or principal a course description. Your school should understand that taking a class in the same subject area for which you are enrolled in the program is redundant. You will have far too much homework and not enough time to do it properly in that subject area. You may be signed up for an English or math class for pupil accounting audit purposes, but the rest of the week when you are not at ATYP should be spent doing the program work during that time—not work assigned by your home school. If you encounter an issue, call our office right away and allow us to contact your school on your behalf.
Some schools will require you to take a final period/fourth block class.
We advise that you have a seminar/study hall for your last class period to cut down on missing non-ATYP classes. However, this may not always be an option and we may not be able to cement an agreement with your school to provide you with a seminar/study hall for final block. This will put you in the position of being responsible for materials covered in that particular class. Some teachers might not understand why you will be leaving their classes once or twice a week. We recommend that you share your course description with your teacher and get written verification that you will not lose participation points for days you are out of the class for the program (be aware that you may be responsible for work missed during the program). Make sure your counselor is involved in the agreement. We have had unfortunate instances in the past when a student thought he had an agreement, yet later found a C on his report card due to missing participation points. This program is working very hard to contact every counselor in every school to try to ensure that this will not happen; however, protect your interests by taking proactive steps.
If you encounter issues with accommodating your ATYP schedule, it might help to explain your needs in such terms as a dual enrollment student. Schools are familiar with how to honor the needs of dual enrollees. Again, if you need help explaining—call our office and let us work for you.
What if I complete ATYP AP classes by sophomore year?
One choice would be to be a dual-enrolled student. Your public home school is required to pay a portion of the fees for dual-enrolled students' classes. The total amount differs depending upon your school’s per pupil allowance and the number of classes offered each semester at your school. If you do not wish to dual enroll, we recommend signing up for junior or senior honors classes as a sophomore since it isn’t legal to compel parents of public school children to pay for classes. Your school’s honors course should be a good review and it may cover material different from your program courses. Your counselors should make this accommodation. If you run into any roadblocks, contact our office as soon as possible and let us clear the way for you.