Online K-12 School for Beulah and Mercer County Families
A nationally accredited private school built around the shift schedules of Coal Country’s power plants, mines, and farms.
Quick Answers
Is High School of America a legal schooling option for a family in Beulah, ND?
Do Beulah students take North Dakota’s grade 4, 6, 8, and 10 standardized tests through HSOA?
Can a student in Beulah pursue college coursework while still in high school?
How North Dakota Nonpublic School Law Applies in Mercer County
Families in Beulah sometimes assume North Dakota’s home-school statute is the only alternative to the local public school, but that’s not quite right. High School of America operates under N.D.C.C. Title 15.1, Chapter 06, the nonpublic school statute, which is legally distinct from home education under Chapter 15.1-23. HSOA holds its own approval from the North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction and takes care of the school’s annual attendance and ACT/WorkKeys participation reporting, so a Mercer County parent isn’t the one submitting that paperwork. State law requires nonpublic and public schools alike to teach English language arts, math, social studies, science, physical education, and health under N.D.C.C. § 15.1-21-01, on a calendar of at least 182 days under § 15.1-06-04, standards HSOA’s curriculum is built to meet. For general reference, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction publishes information for nonpublic schools operating in the state.
Beulah anchors what locals call the powerbelt, the Mercer County region built around lignite coal and the plants that turn it into electricity and fuel. The Great Plains Synfuels Plant just outside town is the only commercial-scale coal gasification facility in the country, converting lignite into synthetic natural gas around the clock, and Freedom Mine nearby is the largest lignite coal mine in the United States. Together with the Missouri and Knife River bottomlands, this is a landscape shaped by both heavy industry and deep farmland, and most families in Beulah have some connection to one or the other, a parent on plant shift work, a family running cattle or grain ground, or both at once.
Beulah shares its stretch of Highway 49 with Hazen just nine miles up the road, and together the two towns support schools, hospitals, and a shared identity as the heart of North Dakota’s energy economy. It’s a steadier kind of growth than an oil boomtown, built on decades-old plants rather than a sudden rush, but the shift schedules are just as real. Plant and mine work often runs rotating or overnight shifts, and harvest season pulls kids into fieldwork on family operations. Lake Sakakawea recreation draws families west of town in the summer, and the pace of life still bends around planting, harvest, and plant turnaround schedules more than a standard school calendar. A schooling option that flexes around a rotating shift or a harvest week, without asking a family to choose between the farm, the plant, and the classroom, fits how Beulah actually runs.
HSOA Online School vs. Traditional Schooling in Beulah
Families balancing plant shift work, mining schedules, or a farm operation often need more flexibility than a fixed school-day calendar allows.
| High School of America | Traditional Local School | |
|---|---|---|
| Shift-work flexibility | Coursework adjusts around rotating plant or mine shift schedules | Fixed daily schedule regardless of household work hours |
| Harvest and planting season | Self-paced coursework can flex around fieldwork demands | Attendance expectations continue through harvest and planting |
| Mid-year start | Enroll any time during the year | Typically tied to semester or term start dates |
| Individual pacing | One-to-one pacing with certified teacher support | Whole-class pacing regardless of individual readiness |
| Weather and travel disruption | Coursework continues through winter storms or rural road closures | Local travel and weather can affect attendance |
Who We Serve in Beulah and Mercer County
HSOA fits the households that make up Coal Country, from plant families to farm families to everything in between.
Grade Levels and Programs Available
HSOA offers a full K-12 pathway for Mercer County students, from elementary foundations through diploma completion.
Nonpublic School Enrollment
- HSOA is approved by the North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction as a nonpublic school under Chapter 15.1-06, a separate legal track from home education under Chapter 15.1-23.
- That state-level approval, along with annual attendance and ACT/WorkKeys participation reporting, is handled by HSOA at the school level, not filed individually by Mercer County families.
- North Dakota requires instruction in English language arts, math, social studies, science, physical education, and health, per N.D.C.C. § 15.1-21-01.
- The state calendar minimum is 182 days (175 instructional plus holidays, conferences, and professional development days) under N.D.C.C. § 15.1-06-04.
- The grade 4, 6, 8, and 10 standardized testing requirement in N.D.C.C. § 15.1-23-09 applies only to the separate home-education statute and does not apply to HSOA’s nonpublic-school enrollees.
Enrollment Checklist for Beulah Families
Here’s what a Mercer County family actually needs to do to get a student started, and what HSOA already handles.
- Confirm the student’s current grade level and gather any past school records.
- Know that HSOA’s own approval as a North Dakota nonpublic school covers the state-level requirement, so there is no separate county filing for your family to complete.
- Schedule a call with an HSOA enrollment counselor to talk through the household’s work schedule, whether that’s plant shifts, mine hours, or farm season.
- Choose a start date. Because enrollment isn’t tied to a fixed semester, a student can begin mid-year without waiting for the next term.
- Set up a stable internet connection and a device for coursework, particularly important for families further out toward Lake Sakakawea or rural Mercer County.
- Review the American curriculum scope for the student’s grade level so parents know what subjects and pacing to expect.
- Establish a household routine for coursework hours that works around shift schedules or seasonal farm demands.
- Keep in touch with the assigned teacher regularly during the first weeks to make sure pacing and subject placement fit the student.
Serving Beulah, Hazen, and Mercer County
HSOA enrolls students from Beulah and the surrounding Coal Country and Missouri River communities of west-central North Dakota.