OP- I attended a huge urban HS where the goal was to avoid any unnecessary interactions with an adult. I was pretty successful at that.
I got to college and quickly saw that the kids from prep schools actually reached out to and engaged adults whenever possible- they went to professor’s office hours and got suggestions for reading lists or movies or recent articles that the professor thought might interest them. They didn’t put up with something broken in the dorm- they met with the housing Dean, presented the list of problems and got it fixed. When the salad bar in the dining hall became a sad and soggy mess of canned corn and wilted green stuff, they asked for an appointment with food services AND the nutritionist and before you knew it- actual fresh, green salad appeared.
In retrospect, I see this as a core skill that I eventually developed in college (watching friends and dormmates) but it really is a survival skill with immediate pay off once you get to college. The first C I got on a paper wasn’t because I was dumb- it was because I picked a topic and never thought to show up at the professor’s office to ask, “I’m thinking about Topic A- can we talk about it?” So I ended up with a dead end topic with limited primary sources and I spent a year after that working harder- not smarter- to overcompensate for my C.
You know your kid. If online school has effectively taught the importance of being able to ask for help, getting interventions, relying on professionals to get stuff done- then terrific. But if not- figuring out an in-person option, even if the DE class isn’t as intellectually rigorous as an online option- might be the better payout in the long term.
I know it sounds crazy in retrospect- but at my HS it was really an “us vs. them” mentality. (we were only a few years past the seniors burning LBJ’s effigy on the front lawn to protest the Viet Nam war and the draft). But “us vs. them” or even “I can get an education without calling attention to myself” isn’t the way to maximize the college experience. The first time a professor invited me to tea I panicked-- how had I messed up? But it was seriously just tea. In his office, chatting about that week’s reading. No agenda. Just a friendly way to let me know that if I ever got stuck on anything, he’d be happy to help. (and I did need him later on- two final exams scheduled back to back, not enough time to get from one to the other, let alone time to go to the bathroom. And he picked up the phone, called his colleague from another department and said “Let’s help Blossom do her best this semester. Shall I give the exam at another time or do you want to?”
Anything that maximizes the personal interactions between teacher and student in this final year of HS is likely a great payout!