At Forest Lake Academy, international students attend classes with their American peers in an immersive English environment. We offer an ELL academic enrichment program for students who desire a stronger foundation in the English language.

In addition to a rigorous high school curriculum, FLA offers a number of honors-level classes as well as dual enrollment classes in partnership with Adventist Health Sciences University.

Almost all of our international students desire university admission. We provide each student with support throughout the college application process. Graduates of FLA's international program go on to attend universities all over the United States.

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Application and Admission Process

There is a $250 application fee for all International students. International students will be considered for admission after the following has been completed.

1. Fill out the International Student application
2. Provide school transcripts
   • If transferring to FLA from a school outside of the US, transcripts must be evaluated by one of the companies listed below:
     
     Joseph Silny & Associates, International Educational Consultants
     (305) 273-1616
     www.jsilny.com
     
     World Education Service (WES)
     www.wes.org
     
     
3. Complete a Skype/Wechat Interview with the ELL coordinator or with an FLA administrator (this can be coordinated by emailing Alison.Prusia@forestlake.org)
4. Secure a home stay/host family. The Home Stay family must be verified by the school before FLA can send the I-20 form.
   
   There are four agencies that FLA recommends that can help you with the Home Stay family process:
   • American Academic Placement
     1-352-978-6324
     Americanacademicplacement@gmail.com
     Floyd Fincher – Director
   • California Education Corporation
     321-946-8534
     Teri.CEC.Florida@gmail.com
   • JDX Education
     Cathy Wang
     510-415-1701
     cathy.wang@usajdx.org
   • NorthShore Exchange Organization
     Audrey Chu (Chinese / 中文)
     +1-224-425-2792
     audrey@ns-exchange.org
     Joann Seralde (English)
     +1-630-384-9304
     www.ns-exchange.org
   You may use any agency you choose. These are recommendations; however, whichever agency your use must send verification of the Home Stay to FLA before the school can release the I-20 form.
5. The admission committee will then evaluate the student's application and interview results and make a determination with regards to acceptance.
6. Once the student is notified of acceptance, the student must then wire payment to the school business office.
7. Upon receipt of payment, Forest Lake Academy will then issue and send the I-20 form necessary for the student to obtain a student visa.

Desired English Proficiency

Forest Lake Academy recognizes that in order to be successful and take advantage of the opportunities available at our school, it is important that for our students to feel confident in both written and spoken English. Our expectation is that once accepted, students will dedicate themselves to improving their English by immersing themselves in all aspects of school life, i.e. participating in classes, extracurricular activities and attempting to utilize English in all conversations. In order to be academically successful as a student, it is recommended that International students demonstrate the following minimum iBT(internet Based TOEFL) proficiency:

• 09th grade:     50
• 10th grade:     60
• 11th grade:     70
• 12th grade:     80

Students who are unable to reach the recommended minimum score may still apply to be a student at Forest Lake Academy, however, it is important to understand that reduced English proficiency may make it difficult to be academically successful in all classes.

International Student Guide (PDF)