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Local student graduates from high school at age 14

Page Last Updated: Tuesday January 12, 2010 6:45pm PST

Denise Rosch reporting

Study at home at your own pace. That’s the basic idea behind a virtual school; something still relatively new to the Las Vegas Valley.

Instead of pushing through crowds on a busy campus, students simply fire up their home computers. For one local teen, the high school years flew by.

You’ll most likely find 15 year old Elias Benjelloun in front of his computer or pouring over textbooks. But while the subjects are familiar, his school may be new to many families.

“I just turned 15 January 9th and I just finished high school in December.”

He was a high school graduate at 14.

“He’s not like a regular child,” Elias’s mother, Naima, explains. “He spends sometimes 12 to 15 hours a day studying.”

According to his mom, the secret to his academic success isn’t difficult to determine. It’s strong family support and an emphasis on education. In fact, Elias says he’ll be a brain surgeon one day and eventually pursue a career in politics.

“I’m from the Benjelloun family. And everybody in the Benjelloun family made some kind of accomplishment. My great grandfather learned 16 languages and my uncle is an ambassador to Genova.”

Elias says his next step is to enroll at UNLV. He hopes to start classes in May. If he meets the academic requirements, age isn’t an issue.

“We do have several 14 year olds, not a ton of them, but some who have come in and we have a few young students applying for this upcoming fall,” said UNLV Executive Director of the Office of Admissions Luke Schultheis.

Schultheis says that overall young students integrate easily into campus life and that it’s all about maturity.

The Benjellouns believe their son didn’t miss anything by attending school online.

“You have to look at the child,” stresses Naima. “His personality, the way he is. This (online school) would be a better environment for him.”

The Clark County School District has its own virtual high school wherein students can get ahead in their classes or catch up if they’ve fallen behind.

Connections Academy is a charter school for grades K-12. It is free to attend.

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