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Graduates of University of Miami Online High School Headed to Top Universities Around the Country

Posted on: Thursday, 24 May 2007, 09:00 CDT

Some are tennis players who managed to study even while competing in international tours, some are students who found the pace and order of traditional schools uninspiring, and others are aspiring ballerinas who were able to devote hours to their art at prestigious dance schools.

But they all have one thing in common; they are members of the 2007 University of Miami Online High School (UMOHS) graduating class. UMOHS will celebrate the high school graduation of 34 students during a commencement ceremony at the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, FL, today. The graduates are from 12 states and six countries. Dr. Peter Smith, the former Assistant Director General for Education at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, will serve as the 2007 commencement speaker.

UMOHS, part of Kaplan Virtual Education, has been offering online high school education since 2001. UMOHS' students are ambitious high school students from all over the world who seek a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum coupled with the flexibility offered by an online platform. Many UMOHS graduates have been accepted to some of the nation's most prestigious universities, including Stanford, Duke and New York University.

Mitchell Gurevich is one of them. The Westport, Conn., teen was bored at his traditional high school and didn't like the rigid pacing of the course work. He also spends 30 hours a week working for his father's Manhattan-based financial firm, which made it impossible for him to attend a traditional school. So, he looked online for a high school that would allow him to manage his course work on his own time.

"I'm the kind of person who may not want to do a course for three weeks and then may want to spend a week plowing through it," said Mitchell, 17, who took physics, calculus and Advanced Placement courses in English and U.S. History this year. "[Online high school] is better for me."

In the fall, he will attend New York University.

Another graduate, Sarah Wenzel of Indianapolis has spent the last year at the Washington (D.C.) School of Ballet, where she is pursuing her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. The 17-year-old was invited to stay for the school year after spending the summer training there. The local private schools were too expensive and didn't offer schedules that would accommodate her training, so she too turned to the Web.

"Learning on the Internet appealed to me because of the flexibility. I like that you can go at your own pace," said Sarah, who is graduating a year early having taken a panoply of honors and Advanced Placement courses online. Sarah will stay with the Washington School of Ballet next year to train and audition for professional dance companies and college dance programs.

Christopher Price of Houston also began attending UMOHS because of the flexibility it afforded him. The 17-year-old has been playing competitive tennis since he was 7 and travels around the country competing in tournaments. He was missing 30 to 40 days of school when he decided to attend online classes three years ago.

"Going to school online helped me reduce a lot of stress," said Price, who is an officer in the National Honor Society. "I didn't have to miss anything and could be in school seven hours a day."

Plus, he's made friends, particularly among the Honor Society students who perform service projects together like sending letters and care packages to the troops in Iraq. In the fall, Price will attend Duke University.

About UMOHS

UMOHS (www.umohs.org) is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and by the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA). It is a leader in providing high-quality, individualized online learning experiences to high school students.

UMOHS is part of Kaplan Virtual Education, which also includes Virtual Sage, a highly-regarded online high school course developer. Kaplan Virtual Education is part of Kaplan Higher Education, a business unit of global education leader Kaplan, Inc. Kaplan is a leading international provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Kaplan, which had 2006 revenue of nearly $1.7 billion, is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). For more information, please visit www.kaplan.com.

Source: Business Wire

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