ADVANCED OPPORTUNITIES WEBSITE 

The Advanced Opportunities (AO) program provides every student attending an Idaho public school an allocation of $4,625.00 to use towards Advanced Opportunities in grades 7-12. The program was expanded by the Legislature in 2016 through the passing of House Bill 458.

State Dept. of Ed Parent Resource Toolkit on Dual Credit - Additional Parent Information.

The funds can be used for: 

Dual Credits
Dual credit courses are taken by high school students. These courses are transcribed on both their high school and college transcripts. The Fast Forward program can pay for up to $75.00 per credit. Dual Credit courses can also be taken online, by virtual conferencing, or in some cases students can go directly to the college/university campus. All dual credit courses must be transcribed on the students’ high school transcript. 

Overload Courses
An overload course is a high school level course that is taken in excess of the student’s regular school day. These courses are offered online, during the summertime, and after school. In the event that student incurs a cost for such courses, the Fast Forward program can pay up to $225.00 for the cost of the course. Overload courses must be above and beyond the full course load offered by the student’s local school.

• West Ada high school students should have a 3.0 or higher GPA and must be taking a full course load of 8 credits per semester. This means no release periods of any kind can be taken currently or in the future.

• West Ada middle school students should have a 3.0 or higher GPA and must be taking a full course load of 7 classes per semester. This means no release periods of any kind can be taken currently or in the future.

• If a student take an overload course and fails to take a full course load the following semester. The student will not have access to fast forward funds until an additional overload course is taken and paid for independently.

• Fast Forward funds may not be used for repeated or remedial course work.

Participation Form:
The Fast Forward participation form is now located exclusively in the PowerSchool parent portal, under the "Update Student Information" section.  You will fill out and submit the form directly in PowerSchool. This can only be done under your parent login, not the student login.

 Students who fail to request AO funds will be financially responsible for payment to the college or educational institution sponsoring the course! 

AO INFORMATION

• Dual Credit / AP & CTE Exams / IDLA / Overload Classes

• Portal Opens for Fall Semester: January 13th.

• Deadline to Request Fall Funding: February 14th.

AO STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS

STEP 1: Parents must complete a AO Participation Form on the Parent PowerSchool Account.

• Only Need to Complete 1 for all 4 years of high school per student

• Cannot be completed in student PowerSchool account

STEP 2: Create an Advanced Opportunities Account HERE. 

• Use your Legal PowerSchool Name (No Nicknames or short versions of your name)

• Use your School (WestAda) email

• Our district is : JOINT SCHOOL DISTRICT #2, you will NOT see WESTADA school district

STEP 3: Verify your AO Account

Verify your newly created AO account by going to your school email and looking for a message from a NOREPLY@sde.idaho.gov, in the body of the email click on "VERIFY" to activate you account and send it to the Counselor for approval. If you don't see the email immediately, check your Junk/Spam folder. 

A Counselor must approve your account before you can request funds, approval can take up to 24 HOURS

STEP 4: Request funding through the Advanced Opportunities Student Portal. Login to your account HERE to request funding for each class and / or Exam.

STEP 5: Register with the University for EACH Course / Exam

Students must register with the college issuing the college credits. Be sure to check with your assigned concurrent credit teachers for details, registration dates and deadlines. 

AO RESOURCES 

• FAST FORWARD STUDENT PORTAL Link

• FAST FORWARD GUIDE HANDOUT

• FAST FORWARD FAQ

Step 1: Must have a AO participation form on file .

Step 2: Must have an active advanced opportunities approved account. If you don't, refer to step 2 above, referencing "Creating a AO Account".

Step 3: Click HERE for AO website, once logged in, Click on Request Funding > Request Exam.

Step 4: Complete page for exam you are taking, must repeat if taking multiple exams.

• Transferology

   

• Course Transfer Idaho Guide

• BSU Dual Credit Transfer Guide

   

• BYU Dual Credit Transfer Guide

• Utah State University Dual Credit Transfer Guide

   

• University of Utah Dual Credit Transfer Guide

Need College Transcripts for Dual-Credit courses?

College Transcripts are separate and different from MVHS High School Transcripts.

MVHS does not have access to college transcripts!

MVHS COUNSELORS DO NOT TRACK COLLEGE CREDITS 

Once students are accepted into a college, they will require an OFFICIAL college transcript after graduation.

Request OFFICIAL college transcripts through the college can be located below:

College of Western Idaho / $7 Each - Once grades are submitted, you can request official transcripts. The cost of requesting a transcript through MyCWI is $7.00.  

Boise State University / $10 for Mail or $11 Electronic - Students with myBoiseState access should order and pay for their official transcripts online through their myBoiseState account. To order an official transcript through myBoiseState:

1. Log in to your myBoiseState account,

2. select Student View (or select Student at the top of the page),

3. select Student Center in the right sidebar,

4. in your Student Center, select My Academics, and

5. then select Request Official Transcripts.

Northwest Nazarene University / $10 Each - Before ordering a transcript, please verify that your high school teacher has posted your grades to the NNU portal.  You may contact us at (208) 467-8548 or contact your high school instructor. 

College of Southern Idaho (CSI) - $7 - Students will need to utilize and setup their MyCSI account to order transcripts.

Below is the information needed to complete commonly asked questions regarding college applications and concurrent credits.

• To see what concurrent credit classes you have taken, login to your AO Account HERE. Once logged in, you will click on "Previous Course Applications". This will give you the following:

Colleges/Universities that you took credits through

Course Name

Status*

Date funds are requested

*Status must say PAID, that means that you completed both the request for funds and the University registration. 

For Dates Enrolled or Start/End Date: For Yearlong Courses you can use the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year. All of our courses are yearlong BUT the following:

• Personal Finance / FINAN 208

• Accounting I / ACCT 205

• Microsoft Office / ITM 104 & 109

• Microsoft Programs / ITM 105 & 106

• College Speech / COMM 101

For the semester long courses above, you can use start date based on the start of the semester that you took the course and end date would be the end of the year or mid semester.

If you have questions about this process, please come see Mrs. Walton in the Career Center. 

College Transcripts
Once you know your credits, you might need to then send College Transcripts. Click HERE, for the page with those directions.