Online K-12 School Built for McKenzie County Families
A nationally accredited private school that works around shift schedules, new construction, and a town that has quadrupled in size without slowing down.
Quick Answers
Is High School of America a legal schooling option for a family in Watford City, ND?
Do Watford City students take North Dakota’s grade 4, 6, 8, and 10 standardized tests through HSOA?
Can a student in the Bakken oil patch finish high school on an irregular schedule?
How North Dakota Nonpublic School Law Applies in McKenzie County
North Dakota families sometimes confuse home education with nonpublic school enrollment, and in a fast-growing county like McKenzie that mix-up is common because so many households are new to the state. High School of America operates under N.D.C.C. Title 15.1, Chapter 06, the nonpublic school statute, which is a separate legal path from the home-education statute in Chapter 15.1-23. HSOA holds its own approval from the North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction and handles the school’s attendance reporting and ACT/WorkKeys participation reporting at the school level, so a Watford City parent is not the one filing that paperwork. North Dakota also requires that nonpublic and public schools alike teach English language arts, math, social studies, science, physical education, and health, and meet a 182-day calendar under N.D.C.C. § 15.1-21-01 and § 15.1-06-04, standards HSOA’s curriculum is built to satisfy. For general reference, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction publishes information for nonpublic schools operating in the state.
A Town Building Faster Than Its Own Blueprints
Watford City is the seat of McKenzie County and the closest thing North Dakota has to a boomtown that never quite stopped booming. What was a quiet farm town of under two thousand people in 2010 is now home to thousands more, with new subdivisions, a rebuilt hospital, and a school district that has added buildings just to keep pace. McKenzie County still pulls a huge share of North Dakota’s oil out of the Bakken formation, and the rigs, man camps, and truck traffic on Highway 85 are simply part of daily life here, not a novelty. Families move to Watford City for work in the oil field, in trucking, in the trades that support it all, and that often means parents on rotating hitches, kids who’ve changed schools more than once, and household schedules that don’t match a traditional classroom’s 8-to-3 day.
Outside of the industrial pace, Watford City sits close to the badlands scenery that draws visitors to Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s North Unit just south of town, where bison range along the Little Missouri River breaks. It is a place with genuine natural quiet a short drive from some of the busiest oil infrastructure in the country, and that contrast shapes how families here think about school. Many want flexibility that matches a workforce town’s rhythm without giving up a real, structured education for their kids. An online school that lets a student keep working through coursework whether the family is settled in town or temporarily relocated for a parent’s job fits how McKenzie County actually lives, not how a traditional district calendar assumes it lives.
HSOA Online School vs. Traditional Schooling in McKenzie County
Families in a fast-growing oil-patch community often need a schedule that survives shift work, moves, and crowded local school buildings.
| High School of America | Traditional Local School | |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule flexibility | Self-paced coursework that fits around rotating shift and hitch schedules | Fixed daily schedule tied to district bell times |
| Enrollment capacity | No waitlist tied to local building capacity | Subject to space limits in a rapidly growing district |
| Mobility support | Coursework continues uninterrupted through in-state moves or temporary relocation | Re-enrollment and records transfer required with each move |
| Mid-year start | Enroll any time during the year | Typically tied to semester or term start dates |
| Class size | One-to-one pacing with certified teacher support | Class sizes affected by rapid local enrollment growth |
Who We Serve in Watford City and McKenzie County
HSOA works for the kinds of households that make up a modern oil-patch community, not just the traditional nine-to-five family.
Grade Levels and Programs Available
HSOA offers a full K-12 pathway for McKenzie 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 McKenzie 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 Watford City Families
Here’s what a McKenzie County family actually needs to do to get a student started, and what HSOA already takes care of on its end.
- Confirm the student’s current grade level and gather any past school records, especially if the family recently moved to Watford City for work.
- Know that HSOA’s own approval as a North Dakota nonpublic school covers the state-level requirement, so there is no separate county or district filing for your family to complete.
- Schedule a call with an HSOA enrollment counselor to talk through the student’s schedule needs, including any household shift-work or hitch patterns.
- 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, accounting for any temporary housing situations common in the area.
- 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 parent work schedules rather than a fixed school-day clock.
- Keep in touch with the assigned teacher regularly during the first weeks to make sure pacing and subject placement fit the student.
Serving Families Across McKenzie County and the Bakken
HSOA enrolls students from Watford City and the surrounding oil-patch communities of western North Dakota and eastern Montana.