What I Learned Doing EFP12 Online Through NIDES: A Parent’s Honest Guide
It was 10:17 p.m. at our kitchen table, the overhead bulb buzzing, half a container of cold Kraft dinner congealing in the middle, when my 17-year-old Sam pushed his crumpled grade 11 report card across the Formica. Three Fs, two Ds, and a note from the vice principal that read “consistent non-attendance due to anxiety.” We’d tried everything: in-person alternative school, part-time attendance, weekly meetings with the school counselor. Nothing stuck. Sam would wake up with a panic attack on school days more often than not, and by the end of the year, he hadn’t stepped foot in a classroom for three weeks. That’s when a friend whose kid also struggled with social anxiety mentioned her son had done EFP12 online through NIDES, and we decided to look into it.
I’d never heard of NIDES or EFP12 before, so I spent a week scrolling through old parent forums and calling every local education worker I knew to ask if it was legitimate. NIDES is the North Island Distance Education School, a public distance learning provider in British Columbia that’s been around for decades, so that checked out. EFP12, or Employment Foundations Program 12, is an alternative graduation program that requires 50 credits instead of the 80 credits needed for a regular Dogwood Diploma. It’s designed for students who don’t fit the traditional high school mold, who want to graduate faster to get into trades, work, or other post-secondary that doesn’t require a full 80-credit diploma.
We filled out the application online, and got a call back from a NIDES admissions coordinator three days later. She didn’t rush us, didn’t judge Sam’s attendance record, and told us we could start whenever we wanted, no hard deadlines to hit a graduation date. Sam picked a start date two weeks later, so he had time to adjust to the idea. His assigned teacher reached out the first week, and when Sam told her he couldn’t do video calls – he still hated being on camera back then – she said a weekly 15-minute phone call at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays was totally fine. I’ll never forget Sam hanging up that first call and saying, “She didn’t ask me why I was behind. She just asked what I wanted to do when I graduated.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing. For the first three months, Sam went weeks at a time without opening a single module. I’d walk past his room and see him playing Minecraft instead of working, and I’d have to bite my tongue to not start nagging. I tried nagging the first two weeks, and he just closed his laptop and refused to talk about school for three days. So I switched to one small thing: every Sunday, I’d leave a sticky note on his laptop that said what his goal for the week was (usually finish one 2-credit module, that’s all) and I didn’t mention it again unless he brought it up. That worked way better than any lecture I could have given.
One thing I wish more people talked about with online EFP12 through NIDES is how flexible it actually is. We took 18 months to finish the whole program, instead of the 12 months a lot of people aim for, and there were no extra fees, no penalties for taking longer. The teacher only sent one gentle check-in email if Sam went more than two weeks without reaching out, no angry calls to me or threats of failing. I also learned early on to confirm that EFP12 would work for Sam’s goal: he wanted to do a carpentry apprenticeship, so I called the Industry Training Authority ahead of time to confirm they accepted NIDES EFP12 graduation certificates, which they do. That’s a step I tell every parent considering this to do first – whatever your kid wants to do after graduation, call the admissions office or program coordinator and confirm EFP12 is acceptable, so you don’t waste time.
Sam hit a rough patch around month 10, when his grandma got sick and he spent two weeks staying with her to help out. He didn’t do any school work at all during that time, and when I mentioned it to his teacher, she just said “Family comes first, we can push all deadlines back. No problem.” That’s the kind of flexibility you just can’t get at a regular in-person high school, especially for kids dealing with stuff outside the classroom.
If you’re considering this for your kid, there are two concrete things I’d tell you to keep in mind. First, it’s not for kids who need constant daily structure or in-person help to stay on track. It’s self-paced, so your kid has to be able to motivate themselves even on bad days. Sam could do that once he got used to it, but I know other kids who’ve tried it and struggled because they missed the daily routine of class. Second, don’t treat this like a backup plan or a punishment. I made that mistake at first, I’d catch myself thinking “if you can’t handle regular school, this is your last chance.” That just made Sam feel like a failure. Once I started framing it as a different path that works better for him, things got a lot better.
Sam finished his last module back in April. We got the official graduation certificate in the mail a couple of weeks later, no big ceremony, no caps and gowns, which Sam was happy about – he hates being the center of attention. He applied for a carpentry apprenticeship last month, and has an interview next week. We don’t know if he’ll get it, and even if he does, there’s a lot we still don’t have figured out. This wasn’t the path we planned for Sam when he started high school. We pictured him walking across a stage at graduation, going to university, all the usual stuff. But after everything we went through with traditional school, this works. Sam feels good about what he’s done, he’s excited about the future, and that’s more than we had two years ago. It’s not perfect, and it’s not for everyone, but for us, EFP12 online through NIDES was exactly what we needed.
Please indicate: Thinking In Educating » What I Learned Doing EFP12 Online Through NIDES: A Parent’s Honest Guide