When normal school is not enough: Aussie kids sign up to new online high school.

Karin Rezkalla is a clever kid. She excels at school, raises money for refugees, plays multiple instruments and speaks three languages.

But that’s not enough to keep the 15-year-old from Wagga Wagga challenged, so she has also signed up to study accelerated maths at a new private, online high school that is offering British school-leaving qualifications to students around the world - and particularly Australia.

Crimson Global Academy was founded last year by 26-year-old New Zealander and Harvard graduate Jamie Beaton, who modelled the idea on the Stanford Online High School for gifted students in the United States. Last month, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd joined former New Zealand prime minister Sir John Key on the school’s advisory board.

“I saw [the online high school concept] had really great potential,” said Mr Beaton, who also runs an organisation that helps students apply for admission to British and American universities. “Outside America, it is really non-existent.

“What we’ve seen is this rapid adoption. I think the drivers are more related to the school system, where there’s a portion of talented students that aren’t catered to.”

There are now 370 students aged between 10 and 18 from more than 20 countries, including Japan and Kazakhstan, he said. New Zealand is the biggest market, followed by Australia. Teachers come from all over, including Australia.

Almost half of the classes are accelerated, and more than three quarters of students attend CGA on top of their physical school.

The students can work towards international versions of Britain’s GCSE and A-Level school-leaving qualifications, or the American Advanced Placement exams, opening doors to universities in the United States and United Kingdom.

Continue reading at the Sydney Morning Herald, article written by Jordan Baker.