What is your intended audience? You said "high school students," and to me this seems great for gifted high school students, but a few sentences seem unclear if directed at average students.

I think this essay is good but would be much improved by a few examples of each point you make, and an explanation of who Paul Graham is (if your audience is average high schoolers outside the Bay Area).

Your last point is also not well explained. Homeschooling is certainly not an option for most people. For highschoolers with only a year or two left, the transition certainly might not be worthwhile given the time they have left. Many of the social advantages (and, admittedly, disadvantages) are lost. I think you need to specify who might want to consider those alternatives, why they would, and how they could go about finding out more.