Local Resource: Elite Prep San Jose

Photo credit: Yelp

Overview

Elite Prep is a private college prep school with worldwide branches, including one in San Jose. The school offers full-time as well as part-time enrollment options - this post focuses on offerings which homeschoolers might find helpful.

AP Courses

EOS offers blended courses - AP coursework is written by Apex Learning, a provider of asynchronous* (with some exceptions) online courses which have been AP approved by the College Board. Most courses are also UC and NCAA approved.  * Some courses are synchronous: AP Research, AP Seminar and AP world languages (Chinese, French, Spanish) since they require feedback throughout the year. 

Students will watch lesson recordings on their own, and submit their work to the portal for grading. An EOS teacher will check-in periodically to ensure students are keeping up with recommended pacing and they are ready for the AP exams in May. If labs are required, students can schedule an appointment to do the lab onsite during business hours, while an EOS teacher supervises. Science labs usually take two hours, so EOS recommends doing the labs as they occur in the pacing guide, rather than accumulating them in a week of intensives. 

Since the courses are asynchronous, students can start a course in fall, spring or summer. Prior to enrolling, EOS staff meet with families to ensure readiness, taking into account the student's workload and level of preparation (e.g. AP science courses usually require a year-long regular course). 

Pros

• AP exam availability: EP is a test site, and students get a discount on AP exam fees.
• Flexible schedule: students can start an AP course in summer, or take a break mid-course to travel so long as they maintain pace. Signups occur in July (for fall), September (for Spring), or March (for summer).
• EP provides a space and supervision for hands-on labs . 
• External accountability with EP staff - good for students who are learning to be independent.
• Can be used by charter schools since Apex is UC-certified to provide a-g courses
• Offers AP Capstone Diploma: students take AP Research, AP Seminar and 4 AP exams. This option is usually not available for homeschool students since teachers must be trained for AP Research and AP Seminar.

Cons

• Cost: Tuition ranges from $1450 (as of 2024) which is more than some synchronous/live online AP providers. Families still need to pay for books, lab kit and exam fee (though discounted).
• Quality: APEX learning is asynchronous, which students may find less effective compared to live classes. 

AP Exams

EP offers limited seats for paper and digital AP exams. Families should email sanjose@eliteprep.com in early October about availability - first priority for exam seats is given to students in EP courses. For 2024, most exams are $250, though some exams cost more ($350: Music Theory, $550: world languages). EP also offers late testing. 

Dual Enrollment

EP offers dual enrollment courses including Psychology and English. The courses are WASC accredited so they can often be transferred into colleges. For 2024, college courses were upward of $1525. 

High School Courses - Honors, College Prep and Career Technical Education

EP Honors courses are UC-approved, meaning they qualify for an extra point on UC's GPA calculation. However, note that extra points are capped for 11th and 12th grade; also the calculation applies for charter school students but not for private homeschoolers (who apply by exception). 

Other courses include college prep and CTE. Some college prep courses are approved as UC electives, meaning they meet requirement "g" for charter homeschoolers applying to UCs. CTE courses may be specialized (e.g. learning Adobe Photoshop or Unity game programming) or broad (Career exploration courses). 

For 2024, high school courses were upward of $1225. 

Summary

Elite's strengths are in its wide variety of course offerings, and blended model which allows students to do hands-on labs under supervision. Since EP has WASC accredition and/or approval from College Board or UC, it can be a convenient building block for charter school students. 

Since EP is located in San Jose, it is a 40 minute drive for San Mateo county residents; however there is ample parking so it could be an option for weekly visits combined with other South Bay errands.