Alternatives to studying at Drake

Sir Francis Drake High School is very good at doing what public high schools do, which is to provide a quality education to a lot of students efficiently and at no cost to the student. (Trust me - I've seen a few that aren't so good.) But Drake can't be all things to all people. Many students are happy here and some aren't. As a teacher at Drake I want you to be happy here. If you can't be, I want you to be happy somewhere!

You need a high school education or its equivalent to prosper in modern life, but there are ways to obtain that besides studying at Drake for four years. Especially after your sophomore year, your options widen considerably.

One reason not to leave Drake is that you think you have nothing more to learn here. We offer so many advanced courses and electives in science, art, English, etc. taught by excellent instructors that there is no way to take them all. There are some classes at Drake I wish I could take.

If you want to get out of Drake early, here are some ways to do it:

OPTIONS FOR STRONG STUDENTS:

• Graduate early from Drake: Every year a few Drake students graduate at the end of their junior years and several more stop attending Drake halfway through their senior years. This is possible since you only need to accumulate 220 credits to graduate, which takes about three years to do. Since you need four years of English and social studies, you have to double up in these subjects. Most of these students also take some courses at College of Marin for high school credit. Your counselor can tell you how. You also need to discuss your college plans with your counselor, since college admissions officers will want you to demonstrate that you are as well-prepared for college as possible! Courses at College of Marin can help persuade them of this.
  
  The students I have known who graduated early went on to well-known 4-year colleges. They managed it by hard work, courses at COM, careful planning, and the support of their counselors and parents. They did it mostly out of a desire to get on with their adult lives.
  
  
• Early entrance college programs: There are a few 4-year colleges around the country that accept teenagers younger than 18 who don't have high school diplomas. Bard College at Simon's Rock in New York may be the best known of these. Here is a list of others. In this option, you just go directly to college without ever finishing high school. I don't know anybody who has done this.
  
  
• Private schools: You could transfer to a private high school like Branson, Marin Academy, or Marin Catholic. This option would apply to families of strong students who expect more individualized attention from teachers and administrators than Drake can provide, and are willing to pay a lot for it. (Or maybe not! I know an ex-Drake student who got a scholarship to go to San Domenico.)

OPTIONS FOR ALL STUDENTS:

• Tamiscal High School in Larkspur is our district's school for independent study learning. You can transfer to Tamiscal from Drake - ask your counselor how. At Tamiscal you meet with your teachers in core subjects for an hour or two per week. Some of these meetings are small classes and some are one-on-one appointments. The teachers collect your homework and give you new assignments. Most of the academic work is done at home. The Novato Unified School District has a similar program called NOVA Independent Study, and Drake students are eligible.
  
  Tamiscal is good for self-directed students who can't or don't want to spend 6+ hours per day at school. You still do all the work, though. Tamiscal also offers an experiential 1-year program called TEAM for 24 juniors in the Tamalpais Union High School District. They do a lot of wilderness adventures, community service, career explorations and ropes courses. All of the students I have known who went into TEAM have been really nice people! Some were "straight-A" students, some otherwise. Ask your counselor about TEAM.
  
  
• You can take the California High School Proficiency Exam (it is not that hard), leave Drake and study at College of Marin, travel, and/or work.

  I know a student who did this, spent six months traveling in India, and still ended up at the University of California at Santa Cruz a whole year ahead of his classmates who stayed in high school. He essentially combined his last two years of high school with his first two years of college by taking courses at COM. He never graduated from Drake, but as long as he graduates from UC Santa Cruz, does it matter?
  
  In other words, this person showed that instead of: (4 years high school) + (4 years college) = B.A. Degree,

it is possible to do this: (2 years high school) + (2 years community college) + (2 years college) = B.A. Degree.

It is much less competitive to get into the University of California system if you do two years at a California community college first.

• Redwood High School in Larkspur and Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley are in the same school district as Drake, so it isn't very hard to arrange a transfer to one of them. Talk to your counselor. However, Redwood and Tam are so similar to Drake in terms of size, curriculum, the social scene, etc. that if you're unhappy with Drake you would be unhappy with them too.
  
  
• San Francisco's School of the Arts (SOTA), a public magnet school has programs in writing, dance, film, music, theater, art and voice. You have to submit a portfolio or audition to get in, but it costs nothing to attend. I know a Drake student who transferred to SOTA.
  
  
• There is also home schooling. I don't know much about this, and it would depend on having a parent who is willing and able to become your teacher. (It would be pretty hard for any one parent to match Drake for rigor and subject matter competency in math, science, English, social studies, languages, arts, technology and PE, or to teach skills like public speaking, teamwork and time management. Home schooling works better in the lower grades.)
  

OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE HAD TROUBLE AT DRAKE:

• San Andreas High School is our district's continuation school. That means it is for students for whom regular high school hasn't been working out (very low grades and/or personal problems.) It's not as hard as Drake, there's little homework, and you get more one-on-one help. It is in Larkspur.
  
  
• Oracle Independent Study , Phoenix Academy and County Community School are three high school prgrams run by Marin County. They are located in San Rafael. Phoenix is for students who have been dependent on drugs and/or alcohol. Oracle is mostly for students who have been absent too often at their regular high schools. County Community is a continuation school, like San Andreas.
  
  

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