Welcome to the American School's blog. You will see our last thirty blog posts on this page. View the ten most recent blog posts here. View some of our favorite blog posts from the past decade here.
- Today’s Birthday: N.C. Wyeth - It's October 22, and artist Newell Convers Wyeth was born on this date in 1882. He was a fine artist in his own right, but you might be more familiar with the works of his son, Andrew Wyeth, or his grandson, Jamie Wyeth. They are also painters, and Jamie Wyeth is an American School graduate. ... Read More
- Today’s Anniversary: The Chicago World’s Fair - It's October 21, and dedication ceremonies for the Chicago World's Fair were held on this date in 1892. The fair was held on the south side of Chicago near the University of Chicago, and a few years after the fair ended, American School moved to that part of town. We stayed there until 1996, when... Read More
- Christopher Paolini Pens New Book - American School graduate Christopher Paolini recently wrote To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, and the novel appeared on many best seller lists shortly after its release. We are proud to call Christopher our graduate and recall the time he visited our building while on a book tour promoting his Eragon series. Under normal circumstances,... Read More
- National Dropout Prevention Month - We're about halfway through National Dropout Prevention Month, so today's blog will focus on how American School can help prevent students from dropping out. For starters, we offer an independent study high school program for students in grades 9-12. These students attend a traditional high school but take our high school correspondence courses or online... Read More
- Today’s Special Occasion: Boss’s Day - It's October 16, and today is Boss's Day. The first boss of American School was R.T. Miller. He founded American School in 1897 and remained a school leader until 1945. Since that time, only a handful of people have followed in R.T. Miller's footsteps and become American School President. In 2017, Valerie J. Riley became... Read More
- Testimonial Thursday - It's Thursday, and so our blog is back with another testimonial from one of our students. Jasmine from Illinois writes, "I loved the whole package. American School helped me a lot. At first I didn’t know where to start, but I read the study guide carefully and it made me understand. I’m very happy I... Read More
- New American School Web Site Coming Soon - Today's blog announces that American School soon will have a new web site. This project has been a long time coming, but the end result will be a new web site that is more modern, better organized and more user-friendly. Among the biggest changes you will see is a new way to enroll in full... Read More
- Today’s Birthdays: George and Marie Osmond - It's October 13, and George Osmond was born on this date in 1917. He was the father of Donny and Marie Osmond (who shares her father's birthday) and their siblings, many of whom were American School students. The fact that George's children took our high school correspondence courses is proof that he and his wife... Read More
- American School Closed Monday, October 12 - American School will closed Monday, October 12, in observance of Columbus Day. We will reopen with regular business hours on Tuesday, October 13, and look forward to serving students in our accredited high school program, accredited middle school program and independent study high school program at that time. Thank you for making us your distance... Read More
- Today’s Anniversary: The Great Chicago Fire - It's October 8, and the Great Chicago Fire began on this date in 1871. The fire is believed to have started when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern in a barn, and eventually the fire consumed nearly the entire city. In fact, only a handful of buildings remained, most notably the water tower that... Read More
- Today’s Birthday: Yo-Yo Ma - It's October 7, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma turns 65 years old today. His birthday has us thinking about music, and because we are a distance learning high school and middle school, it is virtually impossible for us to have our own band, orchestra or choir. We do appreciate the arts, however, and are happy to... Read More
- Today’s Anniversary: Instagram - It's October 6, and Instagram debuted on this date in 2010. At this time, American School does not have an official Instagram page, but we are on two other social media sites. We use Twitter to share important news items about new courses, school closings and more, but we use Facebook far more often. Visitors... Read More
- Today’s Anniversary: PBS - It's October 5, and today the Public Broadcasting Service, more commonly known as PBS, celebrates its 50th anniversary. Over the years many shows on PBS have educated viewers. These include Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow and Square One Television for school-aged children as well as numerous specials and documentaties about science, history and... Read More
- American School Nominated for 2020 BBB Torch Award - American School is proud to earn a nomination to receive the Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics presented by the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and Northern Illinois. According to the Better Business Bureau, the Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics is the most prestigious award the Better Business Bureau presents to a business. Being a recipient... Read More
- Testimonial Thursday - Today's testimonial comes from Kimberly from Illinois, who writes, "I like working independently, taking my own notes, and working at my own pace. I was able to do this when I took the Literature IV course. The study guides gave great details and were very good to use for review for the final exam." We... Read More
- Edmentum Updates Course Path View - Students who take online high school courses and online middle school courses with us soon will see a new way to monitor their progress. Edmentum is adding target dates so that students can have a better idea of how to pace themselves. The look and feel of the course path will change from a series... Read More
- Older Alumni - It's September 29, and within a couple hours of each other, we heard great stories about two alumni who graduated more than 60 years ago. One worked for NASA and was a professor at Stanford and the University of California at Santa Cruz. The other migrated from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression and... Read More
- About Duplicate Diplomas and Duplicate Transcripts - Today's blog is about duplicate diplomas and duplicate transcripts. All requests for duplicate diplomas and duplicate transcripts should follow the instructions listed on our FAQ page. Following the instructions listed on the FAQ page is the quickest way for us to get you the documents you need. We look forward to helping you receive... Read More
- Last Day to Enroll in AP Courses - Today's blog is a reminder that today is the last day to enroll in Advanced Placement Courses for the 2020-2021 academic year. Students normally can enroll in any of our courses at any time, but AP courses are different. That's because students in AP courses can take AP exams offered in the spring and need... Read More
- Today’s Anniversary: 60 Minutes - It's September 24, and the very first episode of 60 Minutes aired on this date in 1968. The title of the long-running news program got us thinking about time and brings up the question of how many minutes a day students should work on their American School courses. The answer is that students can create... Read More
- New Horticulture Course Available - American School is pleased to announce that a new Horticulture course has blossomed and is now available to students. This course provides an introduction to horticulture and covers such areas as plant science, landscapring, floral design, lawn maintenance and more. We are happy to count it among our high school correspondence courses and happy to... Read More
- Today’s Special Occasion: The First Day of Fall - It's September 22, and today is the first day of fall. When we think of fall, we might think about the leaves changing colors, football, pumpkins, cooler temperatures and much more, but fall can also be associated with going back to school. If you've wanted to earn a high school diploma at home but have... Read More
- Today’s Anniversary: The Hobbit - It's September 21, and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was published on this date in 1937. The novel is featured in our Classic Adventure Literature course, which is a popular elective choice among our students. We know that some students struggle with reading in general, while others might love to read certain genres of literature but... Read More
- Today’s Special Occasion: The 2000th Blog Post - It's September 18, and right now you're reading the 2000th post by the American School Blog. We started this blog in 2006 as a way to communicate with our students on a regular basis, and unless circumstances dictate otherwise, we publish a new blog post every day American School is open. Sometimes our blog promotes... Read More
- Today’s Anniversary: The United States Constitution - It's September 17, and the United States Constitution was signed in Philadelphia on this date in 1787. The National Constitution Center has resources for celebrating Constitution Day and is a great place to visit if you're in Philadelphia. The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and a good comparison is the... Read More
- Smithsonian Virtual Adventures - Today's blog is about Smithsonian Virtual Adventures. The Smithsonian is a wonderful collection of museums in Washington, D.C., and we encourage you to visit the Smithsonian if you are able. Right now, however, we are in a time when people are staying close to home. The Smithsonian Virtual Adventures series is a way for you... Read More
- Looking Back at 22 Years at American School - It's September 15, and today the person who regularly writes this blog celebrates 22 years of employment at American School. Like today, September 15, 1998, was also a Tuesday, but American School has evolved quite a bit since then. Back in 1998, the American School was strictly a distance education high school. We didn't add... Read More
- Less Than Two Weeks to Enroll in AP Courses - Today's blog is a reminder that you have less than two weeks to enroll in Advanced Placement Courses for the 2020-2021 academic year. The deadline to enroll is September 25. We have this deadline because these online high school courses are advanced and students need plenty of time to study the material before taking the... Read More
- Remembering September 11, 2001 - Today is September 11, the 19th anniversary of the tragic events in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We pause and remember those who lost their lives that day and the survivors who still mourn them. Almost a generation has passed since 2001, and many of you who are on our web site... Read More
- Happy Grandparents Day - Today's blog celebrates Grandparents Day, which is happening this coming Sunday. Over the years we've worked with many grandparents who have assumed responsibility for their grandchildren's educations. Although you may not think it, many grandparents are adept at technology and have an interest in our online high school courses and online middle school courses. Others... Read More
