Camden County · New Jersey
Pennsauken Online Homeschool
Change direction without stopping.
Pennsauken built the first traffic circle in America so nobody would have to halt in order to turn. The township’s own school path does the opposite: it stops your child and moves them three times before graduation.
The place Pennsauken built so nobody has to stop
In 1927 the township opened Airport Circle, where Route 38 meets US 30 and US 130. It was the first traffic circle in the United States, named for the Camden Central Airport whose terminal stood beside it. A circle exists so that you can change direction while still moving — no halt, no queue, no waiting for someone to wave you through.
Hold onto that for the next ten minutes, because the same township runs a school path built on precisely the opposite principle.
Three full stops on a route meant to be continuous
How to withdraw from a Pennsauken public or private school
Less is asked of you than almost anyone expects, but it is not nothing, and the exception is the one most pages get wrong. Which route you take depends on a single question: is the student already enrolled in a high school program?
Leaving a district school
- Enroll here first. It takes a day, and it means your child is never between two schools.
- Write to the principal of the building your child attends, naming the child, the grade and the withdrawal date.
- Ask for the transcript and any special education records in that same letter.
- If the student is in ninth grade or above, complete the district’s transfer form. Get written confirmation the attendance record is closed.
Leaving a private or parochial school
- Enroll here first, exactly the same way.
- Read the tuition agreement before you write anything. Notice period and refund terms are contractual, and this is where leaving mid-year costs money.
- Write to the school office rather than the district. There is no public attendance record to close.
- Request the transcript in writing and expect a small fee.
Dear [Principal],
I am writing to inform you that [child’s full name], currently enrolled in [grade] at [school name], will be withdrawn from Pennsauken schools effective [date]. My child will receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school, as provided for under N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25.
Please close the attendance record as of that date and confirm in writing that you have done so. I also request a copy of the complete academic transcript, and any special education records on file, sent to the address above.
If my child is enrolled in a high school program, please send the transfer form and I will complete and return it.
Thank you,
[Your name]
[Address]
[Date]
The confirmation is the part people skip, and an open attendance record is the only part of this that ever goes wrong.
What New Jersey actually asks of a Pennsauken family
| Requirement | Below 9th grade | Withdrawing from high school |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of intent | Not required | Transfer form, completed with the school |
| Curriculum approval | Not required | Not required |
| Standardized testing | Not required | Not required |
| Annual paperwork | Not required | Not required |
| Withdrawal letter to the school | Not required. Send it anyway | Send it with the transfer form |
The transfer form exists so the state can count high school enrollment accurately, not so anyone can approve or refuse your decision. It is the one piece of paper New Jersey asks for, and it applies only when the student being withdrawn is already enrolled in a high school program. Both rows come from the New Jersey Department of Education’s homeschool FAQ, question 4.
Records and transcripts
New Jersey is one of the lighter-touch states, which is easier to believe once you have seen how the requirements compare state by state. Request the official transcript in writing, allow five to ten business days, and expect a small fee. If the office is slow, begin anyway. A missing transcript delays the final diploma. It never delays the first day of coursework.
What Pennsauken online homeschool is, and what it is not
High School of America is an accredited K-12 online school. Your child enrolls with us, works through real coursework at their own pace, and graduates with a diploma we issue.
What it is not
Not a box of curriculum you are expected to teach from. There are certified teachers here and you are not one of them unless you choose to be. Not a remote option run by the township. Not tutoring bolted onto an existing enrollment — families who choose this are leaving the district roll rather than supplementing it.
Who is teaching, and how you reach them
Our guide to homeschooling online covers the general shape of this; what follows is how it works here. Certified teachers, reachable by message and by scheduled call. Somewhere between a private tutor and a discussion forum, and the families who find the fit wrong are usually the ones expecting one of those two extremes.
A Pennsauken week with no building changes in it
Where a Pennsauken child joins, by grade band
Subject pages sit under each band — mathematics, grade 4 and science, grade 3 are the two most asked about at the point families here tend to call. Transferring credits and students and parents answer what usually comes next.
The Eagle · Head of School
If your child is in third, fifth or eighth grade right now, they are moving buildings in September whatever you decide. That is the cheapest year to change anything, because the friends and the routine are being reshuffled regardless. Do not spend a whole year waiting for a better moment than the one already in front of you.
Credits, the transcript, and the only honest answer
We issue the diploma. Credits earned elsewhere sit with the school your student is leaving and do not move on their own — request them in writing, including the year in progress, and understand that the receiving school decides what is awarded.
What nobody can tell you over the phone
How many will carry. Not until a counselor has read the document. Anyone who gives you a number before seeing it is guessing, and a wrong guess here costs a semester.
Joining mid-year, and why nobody waits for a term
Why October and February
October, once it is clear the year will not correct itself. February, after a semester closes and credits are clean to move. Locally there is a third: any year the district was going to change your child’s building anyway.
Nothing to be late for
Coursework begins the week enrollment completes. No term to wait for, no cohort to join, and nothing your child arrives behind.
Questions Pennsauken parents ask
What does it cost?
Tuition is per grade level and published on the tuition page. The first conversation with a counselor carries no charge, and nothing about it commits you to enrolling.
What happens to my child’s IEP or 504 plan?
An IEP does not travel with a child who leaves the district roll — it belongs to the school that wrote it. What New Jersey does preserve is the evaluation right: when a district receives a written request for a special education evaluation, it must review that request with the child study team, and the Department of Education states this applies to children educated at home. So put the request in writing to Pennsauken and keep the copy. Tell a counselor what the plan covered before you enroll, because the accommodations we can make are a real conversation and not a form.
Will a diploma from an online school be taken seriously?
It is an accredited diploma issued by High School of America, and admissions offices and employers treat it as one. Worth knowing the distinction New Jersey draws: a child educated at home does not receive a state-endorsed diploma from the local board of education. Ours is not that, and it is not a GED.
Can we go back to the district later?
Yes. The Department of Education FAQ linked above is explicit that a returning child is assessed like any other new or returning student and may not be held to a higher standard than a student transferring from another school. Placement comes from the same assessment every transfer gets.
What about sports and friends?
This is the real cost and we do not solve it for you. Families here use township recreation and the clubs, and the river parks are five minutes from most of Pennsauken.
Do you serve the rest of New Jersey?
The New Jersey hub lists every city page we have built, and New Jersey online high school covers grades nine to twelve.
One phone call, before any decision
You do not have to decide about Pennsauken online homeschool this week. You do have to know what the transcript says, because every real answer depends on it and the document takes a week to arrive. Ask for it now and decide afterwards, with the numbers in front of you.
The circle was built so nobody has to stop in order to change direction. Neither does your child.
Other New Jersey cities: Fair Lawn · Freehold Township · Monroe Township · Ewing Township · all New Jersey