For about the last ten years I have had the pleasure of talking to quite a few mothers trying to plan for their child’s high school program. One of the common misconceptions I have heard is that a child must have a Dogwood certificate to graduate. This is not true.

Let me explain what a Dogwood certificate is and what a child must do in order to receive it. A child must attend a certified high school in BC, do Distance education or be enrolled in a DL school. They need to take specific courses and receive at least 52 credits with the old graduation program and 80 credits with the new program. These courses must follow the BC learning outcomes and be supervised by a BC certified teacher. The child must also write the Provincial exams. The exams with the new program are English 10, Science 10, Math 10, Socials 11, and at least English 12. They can write other exams in grade 12 but they don’t need them now to graduate.

If your child is planning on going to a University such as UBC then I would really recommend your child look at doing a Dogwood Certificate.

About 10 years ago, while I was working as a home school coordinator with Campbell River Christian School, I had a number of parents who approached me asking for help with their high school children. At that time DL schools weren’t invented so my advice was if you want your child to graduate he must either take Distance Education or enroll in a local high school. Neither of these two options appealed to the parents so I started doing some research. I discovered that a child can graduate with an equivalency certificate. I started doing this for children at that time. These children now have a variety of careers from pilots, carpenters, Political Science degrees, music degrees and the list goes on.

Basically, the equivalency certificate is similar to the Dogwood certificate but with a few significant differences. The child can be registered as a traditional home school student. The child must take the courses specified by the government and receive the number of credits mentioned for a Dogwood. However, these courses do not need to meet the BC learning outcomes but the curriculum used must be generally recognized as high school equivalent. They also do not need to be supervised by a BC teacher. For example your child could do Saxon Algebra 2 for grade 11 Principles of Math 11, but they wouldn’t have to add the extra units that are required to meet the learning outcomes from the Government. The child’s work does needs to be authenticated by a BC Teacher through a portfolio of work and test samples. Another significant difference is that your child does not need to write the provincial exams. Upon completion the child would receive a transcript of marks for grade 10, 11 and 12. The child can get a job requiring grade 12 completion or enter a local college or trade school. Once they attend college for 2 years they can transfer to a University. Any transcripts I have done for students with the Campbell River school have said they are a transcript of home school marks. You will need to explain to the college that your child did not write the provincial exams. They may require your child to write an English or math placement test. If you have a done a great job of home schooling your child like most of the parents I have worked for, these exams are not too difficult. It is common to ask a child to write these exams if the have been out of school for 2 years even if they graduated with a Dogwood certificate.

The equivalency certificate may not be available through every school that registers home school students. You will need to check on that. This year as I looked at resigning from the job of home school coordinator for Campbell River Christian School I worried about what to do with the students I have been helping get their equivalency certificate. I approached Greg Bitgood about allowing me to do the same certificate program for home school students registered with Heritage Christian Online School. As a result I am happy to say that now your child has 2 choices for a graduation program with Heritage Christian Online School. If you have any question regarding these two certificates please email me at jrainbow@onlineschool.ca.