As a young single mom, Tamara Esquivel-Hernandez aspired to a successful career. But having a baby at an early age didn't leave her with many options for pursuing her education, which was interrupted before she could finish high school. James Madison High School offers a high school diploma for adults program that enabled Tamara to finish high school and get her diploma on her own terms and on her own time.

Taking online high school classes during the summer is a great way to catch up or get ahead for the upcoming academic year. Consider these tips for making test­-taking a breeze:

Molly Marie Svrcina, a JMHS graduate and former American Idol contestant, knows that hard work and initiative can equal success. As you get closer to achieving your JMHS high school diploma, use Molly Marie's drive as a source of inspiration.

School is much more than listening to lectures, memorizing dates and absorbing facts. After graduation, the lessons that often benefit you most are the ones you didn’t learn from a academic advisor or teacher. Sure, the information you gain in classes will certainly be useful to you as you further your education and start a career, but particularly as a student earning your high school diploma online, it’s the subtle life lessons you learn along the way that will be important to you as you move ahead. For instance…

You know your child. You know she's resourceful and smart. You want the best for her and that includes an education that will prepare her for success in college and in the real world. But, she's not thriving and meeting her potential in a traditional high school class setting. Maybe she's a right-brained learner and needs creative ways to process and retain information. Maybe she's a victim of incessant bullying. Or, perhaps she now has the responsibility of raising her own child, and finishing her education. An estimated 1.8 million students were enrolled in distance education courses for the 2009-10 school term: well over half (74%) were enrolled in high school online