Key takeaways
Online education in Ireland is active, well-funded, and mostly aimed at the wrong age group. QQI courses, leaving cert grinds, open college programs, adult distance learning – there's no shortage of options. For a parent looking for a proper K-12 school that runs online, with live teachers and an internationally recognized diploma, the picture changes fast. That category barely exists in Ireland. And for expat families, returning Irish families, or parents who've seen how American private school education works, that gap is exactly the problem Legacy solves.
- Most online schools across Ireland are adult or post-secondary platforms – not K-12
- Legacy is a WASC-accredited private K-12 online school with live daily instruction, not a recorded-lesson platform
- 19 Advanced Placement (AP) courses available and approved by the College Board
- Three learning formats: Live Group (max 15 pupils), One-on-One, and Self-Paced
Contents
We are a US-accredited international online school that coexists with local schooling. Families are responsible for ensuring compliance with any local education requirements applicable to their situation
Who Actually Needs a K-12 Online School in Ireland
Three groups come up consistently. Expat families who relocated to Ireland and want to continue an American curriculum without disruption. Irish families who’ve lived abroad and returned with children mid-way through a US school program. And internationally mobile families who know that moving countries every few years makes consistent schooling genuinely difficult.
The challenge is the same for all three: Irish secondary schools follow a different curriculum, assess through different exams, and don’t transfer US credits. A child who completed Grade 9 in Houston doesn’t slot neatly into Transition Year in Dublin – and Irish schools often stream pupils into Higher or Ordinary level tracks that don’t map onto a US transcript at all. A full-time online school keeps the curriculum intact across countries – whether the child is in elementary school, middle school, or already in high school. The AP track, the teachers, the school year – none of it resets when the family moves.
What Legacy Online School Is
Legacy is a private American online school, founded in 2023, operating in 30+ countries. Classes run live, Monday through Friday – real teachers, real time, not recordings. The curriculum runs on FlexPoint Education Cloud, developed by Florida Virtual School. The school is WASC-accredited and College Board-approved. For families based in Dublin, Cork, or Galway – European hours work.
“Accreditation by WASC signifies that a school meets rigorous standards for curriculum, instruction, and student support – the same standards applied to leading independent schools across the United States.”
— Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Live Group classes run with up to 15 pupils per group – a structured learning environment with a real teacher present, not a forum thread. One-on-One pairs a child with a dedicated instructor. Self-Paced – an equally valid format – includes teacher grading and feedback on every submission, just without a fixed daily timetable.
The AP Pathway From Ireland
Legacy offers 19 AP courses, all approved by the College Board. AP exam scores are accepted as college-level credit by more than 500 universities worldwide. For high schoolers targeting US universities, this is the critical differentiator – a parallel pathway that runs alongside or instead of the leaving certificate, depending on where a child plans to study. College guidance is available for families navigating that decision.
“Advanced Placement courses signal to colleges that a student is ready for the academic rigors of higher education.”
One Family’s Online Learning Experience
Aoife and Ciarán Walsh returned to Dublin from San Francisco in early 2024, their daughter Niamh halfway through Grade 10. The local secondary school confirmed she’d need to enter Fifth Year and restart the leaving cert curriculum – dropping her AP Biology track entirely. They enrolled Niamh in Legacy’s online high school instead. She kept her AP courses, sat her exams in May 2024, and applied to three US universities that autumn.
“She didn’t lose a single credit,” Ciarán said. “That was the whole point.” For families in a similar position, see the full list of tuition and fees we offer. Scholarship and dual enrollment options are available for qualifying families. Virtual clubs and extracurricular activities are also included – the social side of live online schooling that parents most often underestimate.
Want to see what a Legacy class looks like? Join a free trial class – no waitlist, no commitment. Questions? Speak with our admissions team.
Top Tips from Our Expert
Maya Robinson, College Prep Advisor at Legacy Online School
- If your child is targeting US universities from Ireland, AP course selection in Grade 9 determines everything downstream. Don’t wait until Grade 11.
- The leaving cert and AP pathway aren’t mutually exclusive – but they require different planning. Make that call early.
- When evaluating any online school, ask one question: are classes live or recorded? The answer tells you almost everything.
- Legacy’s Self-Paced format is not the backup option. For children with irregular schedules or specific learning needs, it’s often the right primary choice.
- Virtual clubs and extracurricular activities are how online-schooled children build real social connections – families consistently underestimate how well it works.
