Updated: 27.07.2025 by Hanlie Wentzel
Here are several reasons why Acellus Academy is my top choice for an accredited American online school to earn an American High School Diploma.
ND-FRIENDLY ONLINE PLATFORM
The online learning platform is very user-friendly for a neurodivergent child, it is not too busy or distracting, but provides enough structure, clear goals, predictability and "sameness". It provides a lot of autonomy and cultivates independent learning. The Gold Coins is a great feature to add some rewards and extra motivation.
ENGAGING CONTENT FOR VISUAL LEARNERS
The lessons are pre-recorded videos that are presented by qualified teachers.
ADMIN MADE EASY FOR MOM
All the learning material, quizzes, tests and exams are available in one place. Parents can generate reports of student grades and progress in Acellus Academy as needed. The parent can also request an official transcript of your child's progress and completed courses. The Parent Portal allows you to adjust courses, edit steps, add another student and track your child's learning progress.
SPIKY PROFILE & ASYNCHRONOUS DEVELOPMENT
It is self-paced and allows for asynchronous development and a spiky profile. It is mastery-based and allows you to take subjects on different grade levels at the same time and meet your child where they are at, in terms of mastery and interest-led learning. NO need to hold your child back to stay on "grade level" and keep in step with their peers, let them dance to the beat of their own drum.
PARENTS CAN MONITOR PROGRESS & ARE KEPT IN THE LOOP
The parent can check in and monitor their child's progress in real time and even observe their activity, without being intrusive.
REMEDIAL SUPPORT
If your child needs more repetition to master a concept then they can rewatch a video or re-take a lesson to improve their score. Acellus Gold Edition includes a new feature where students can review videos from previous lessons. The option to re-take a lesson or re-watch a video is located under the Lesson List (Select the class >> ☰ >> Lesson List). You may scroll through your completed lessons and select the pencil icon to re-take a lesson assessment, or select the video icon to re-watch a video lesson.
SPECIAL NEEDS & LEARNING DIFFERENCES
The parent can create a nurturing neuro-affirming environment at home to accommodate their child's support needs. Acellus core courses have been optimized for students with specialized learning needs. These courses strike a balance between adhering to rigorous standards-based curriculum while setting achievable goals for students with special needs.
LEARNING GAPS & VECTORED INSTRUCTION
I personally love this feature and that it makes this platform adaptive and child-centered because learning gaps are identified and fixed on the go. When a foundational deficiency is diagnosed, Vectored Instruction goes as far back as necessary, even pulling from prior grade-levels if required, to fill in the missing foundational knowledge. Once the student has restored that requisite foundation, they resume the course where they left off, better prepared for success.
WRITING TUTOR
We love that the writing tutor is mastery-based and actually shows you where and how to improve your writing and to effectively master creative and essay writing. It provides enough structure and prompts and it fosters a sense of achievement even for reluctant writers. The Acellus Writing Tutor® is designed to tutor students as they write, giving immediate feedback on grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and even writing style.
GOAL SETTING & DAILY STEPS
You can set your own goals and adapt the amount of steps your child aims to complete in each subject by changing the setting on your parent app, this allows them to accelerate where needed, or slow down if they need more processing time. In Acellus Gold, students can now view their daily goals directly within each course. While studying in a course, the daily goal will be located under the Course Menu (☰) on the upper-right corner of the screen.
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION PLAN & SUBJECT CHOICES
When you enroll for high school, you are guided to complete a High School Graduation Plan. This helps you map out what courses your student needs to take in order to graduate over the course of usually 4 years (grades 9 to 12). You can also import credits from Power Homeschool or other accredited American schools or service providers.
AFFORDABLE QUALITY
It is affordable at only $79 pm for the Scholarship option of their Basic Plan and this include all the learning material, exams and tutor support.
MATRIC EXEMPTION (RECOGNIZED BY SAQA AND USAf)
Acellus Academy is recognized by SAQA as an accredited school if you want to do a SAQA conversion at the end of grade 12. It is also accepted by USAf as an American High School Graduation Diploma (keep in mind you need to meet all USAf's requirements for matric exemption and that they will consider applications for exemption on a case-by-case basis).
Learning Differences / 2e / Gifted Students
🎓GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
In order to earn an accredited American High School Diploma and graduate, a student must meet the following criteria:
✅Earn a total of 24 high school credits (Standard Pathway) or 26 high school credits (Honors Pathway), including the minimum requirements in each subject area. ✅Complete a minimum of six credits through Acellus Academy, including one credit in each of the four core subject areas (math, science, language arts, and social studies) and two elective credits. ✅Be enrolled and active in Acellus Academy for a minimum of twelve months. ✅Be at least 16 years of age. ✅Meet all outstanding financial obligations with Acellus Academy.
📒UNITS OF CREDIT
Graduation from Acellus Academy’s high school is achieved through the earning of credits as specified in this policy. Credits for all high school courses and for graduation requirements will be awarded on a “unit of credit” basis. One “1.0 unit of credit” is equal to a year of instruction within a course. Some courses are offered to students with half credit, “0.5 unit of credit”, is equal to a semester or half a year of instruction within a course.
👩🎓👨🎓GRADUATION PATHWAYS
Two graduation pathways are available to full-time students. A standard pathway aligns to the minimum credit requirements for graduation set by the State of Missouri. This option is recommended for students that plan to attend a community college or directly enter the workforce after high school.
A more rigorous program of study is recommended for students that plan to apply to competitive four-year colleges with more stringent admissions requirements.
🎓1st Pathway: Standard High School Diploma
– English Language Arts (4.0 credits) – History / Social Studies (4.0 credits) – Mathematics (3.0 credits) – Science (3.0 credits) – Fine Arts (1.0 credit) – Health & Physical Education (1.0 credit) – Practical Arts (1.0 credit) – Electives (7.0 credits) Total: 24 credits
🎓2nd Pathway: (needed to apply for matric exemption in South Africa) High School Graduation with Honors
– English Language Arts (4.0 credits) – History / Social Studies (4.0 credits) – Mathematics (4.0 credits) – Science (3.0 credits) – Fine Arts (1.0 credit) – Language Other Than English (2.0 credits) – Health & Physical Education (1.0 credit) – Practical Arts (1.0 credit) – Electives (6.0 credits) Total: 26 credits (Min. GPA: 3.0)
‼️CREDIT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE HONORS PATHWAY:
Acellus Academy’s High School Graduation with Honors pathway is recommended for students who plan to apply to competitive four-year colleges with stringent admissions requirements. This is also recommended to qualify in South Africa for a matric with exemption (per USAf’s requirements) to study a degree course at a SA university.
📚SUBJECT AREAS
A. CORE REQUIREMENTS:
1. English Language Arts (Core) Course Options: 📒4.0 Credits Required:
– English I (1.0) – English II (1.0) – American Lit. – English III (1.0) – British Lit. – English IV (1.0) – College Prep – English IV (1.0) – AP Eng. Literature & Comp. (1.0) – AP Eng. Language & Comp. (1.0)
2. History/Social Studies (Core) 📒4.0 Credits Required:
☆Required:
*United States History (1.0)
*US Government and Civics (0.5)
*Personal Finance (0.5)
☆Course Options:
– United States History (1.0)* – AP US History (1.0) – World History (1.0) – World Geography (1.0) – AP World History (1.0) – US Government and Civics (0.5)* – Economics (1.0) – AP European History (1.0) – Personal Finance (0.5)* – Psychology (1.0) – AP Psychology (1.0) – Epic Moments in World Hist.(1.0)
3. Mathematics (Core) 📒4.0 Credits Required:
☆Required:
Algebra I (1.0)*
Geometry (1.0)*
Algebra II (1.0)*
☆Course Options:
– Pre-Algebra (1.0) – Algebra I (1.0)* – Geometry (1.0)* – Algebra II (1.0)* – Trigonometry (0.5) – College Exam Math Prep (0.5) – Pre-Calculus (1.0) – AP Calculus AB (1.0) – AP Calculus BC (1.0) – AP Statistics (1.0) – Business Math (1.0) – FUNdamental Math – Spanish(1.0) – Algebra I – Spanish (1.0)
4. Science (Core) Course Options: 📒3.0 Credits Required:
– Physical Science (1.0) – Intro to Physics & Chemistry (1.0) – Biology (1.0) – AP Biology (1.0) – General Chemistry (1.0) – AP Chemistry (1.0) – General Physics (1.0) – Honors Physics (1.0) – AP Physics I (1.0) – Environmental Science (1.0) – AP Environmental Science (1.0)
Honors or AP level courses are recommended for this pathway.
B. NON-CORE REQUIREMENTS
5. Credits Fine Arts Course Options: 📒1.0 Credit Required:
– Music Appreciation (1.0) – AP Music Theory (1.0) – AP Drawing (1.0) – Collaborative Theatre (1.0)
6. Language Other Than English Course Options:
📒2.0 Credits Required:
– Discover Spanish (1.0) – Discover Portuguese (1.0) – French I (1.0) – French II (1.0) – German I (1.0) – German II (1.0) – Spanish I (1.0) – Spanish II (1.0) – Spanish III (1.0)
Two credit units of a single foreign language are strongly recommended.
7. Health & Physical Education 📒1.0 Credit Required:
– High School Health (1.0) – High School Social Development – Level 1 (1.0) – High School Social Skills – Level 2 (1.0) – PE, Social, & Emotional Education (1.0)
8. Practical Arts Course Options: 📒1.0 Credit Required:
CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION
– Business Management (1.0) – Electrical Technology I (1.0) – Electrical Technology II (1.0) – HVAC-R I (1.0) – HVAC-R II (1.0) – Info Management I (1.0) – Info Management II (1.0) – Medical Terminology (1.0) – Plumbing Technology I (1.0) – Plumbing Technology II (1.0) – Intro to Accounting (1.0) – Accounting I (1.0) – Accounting II (1.0) – Business, Marketing, & Fin. (1.0) – Investigating Careers (1.0) – College & Career Readiness (1.0) – Instructional Standards in Edu.(1.0) – Mastering Microsoft Excel (1.0) – Principles of Agriculture (1.0) – Agriculture I (1.0) – Agriculture II (1.0) – Fundamentals of Design (1.0)
TECHNOLOGY
– STEM 1: Intro to Coding (1.0) – STEM 2: JavaScript (1.0) – STEM 3: Electronics and Coding (1.0) – Introduction to Java (1.0) – AP Computer Science A (1.0) – AP Computer Science Prin. (1.0) – Fundamentals of Design (1.0)
9. Electives 📒6.0 Credits Required:
At least 1.0 credit within a core content area.
High school courses from any subject area may be used to fulfill the electives requirement, including foreign languages.
TOTAL: 26.0 Credits🏆
Note: To qualify for graduation with honors, a minimum GPA of 3.0 is required.
👩🎓👨🎓🎓👩🎓👨🎓🎓👩🎓👨🎓🎓👩🎓👨🎓🎓👩🎓👨🎓🎓👩🎓👨🎓🎓👩🎓👨🎓
📒TRANSFERRING CREDITS
✔Credits earned while attending another high school may be transferable. ✔An official transcript will be required for the transfer of credits. ✔Only credits with a grade of C- or greater (or 70% and above) are eligible for transfer. ✔Acellus Academy reserves the right to decline the transfer of credit(s). ✔As a minimum, students must complete the entire 12th grade through Acellus Academy (minimum of 6 credits).
❗APPLYING FOR GRADUATION🙌🎊🥳🪅
Upon completion of the graduation requirements, the parent may submit a High School Graduation Application by signing in as a parent. The graduation application is located under “Progress Toward Graduation.”
Payment of a graduation application fee will be required to submit the graduation application.
A $100 processing fee is required to submit the application. Additional shipping fees may apply if the diploma will be sent internationally.
Sourced from https://www.acellusacademy.com/graduation-requirements/#honors on 16.08.2021.
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