PE Waiver

The PE waiver provides the opportunity for students to waive having PE as a required class for graduation.  This option is available to students participating in high school athletics including cheerleading and marching band.  (For ease of explaining and writing this, when I refer to sports or athletics throughout this post, please know that it also includes marching band.)  All students must still earn the full 20 credits to graduate from high school, this waiver would simply mean that what has typically been required (1/2 credit of Physical Education) would not need to be included in the 20 credits earned and an additional 1/2 credit of Elective would be required instead.

The option to utilize a PE waiver is open to all students.  Please be aware that athletic participation during your senior year does NOT count toward the waiver.

In order to utilize the waiver, students must successfully complete two full seasons of athletics.  This can be 2 different sports in one year, it could be 1 sport over two years, or even 1 sport one year and another sport the other year.  So, for example, if I participate in both football and basketball in the same year, I could apply for the waiver.  If I participate in football as a sophomore and again as a junior, I could apply for the waiver.  If I participate in football as a sophomore and track as a junior, I could apply for the waiver.

In order to have your sport counted as one which can be used for the waiver, it must be an approved high school sport.  This means that your club sport participation, like club soccer or club volleyball, is not included in the waiver eligibility.  Also, dance team and the competition cheer team are all club teams and not high school sponsored athletics and so they are not eligible for the waiver option.  Additionally, team managers and statisticians cannot count their involvement as a season toward the waiver.

Students must complete a "full season" in order to have the sport count which is considered from the first practice through the last event or banquet.  If a student is "cut" from a team, quits, or has an athletic/ activity code violation which requires them to forfeit 50% or more of the season, then that season would not be able to be used to meet the two-season requirement.  If you were to get hurt, the injury will not eliminate the option of having the season count if the principal, coach and athletic director determine that the student actively participated and made contributions in spite of the injury.

Many students ask if it can be a partial waiver because they had already completed one of the PE required courses and would only have 1 season of sport eligibility and the answer is no, there is no ability to mix and match.  If you have already completed a PE course, you can still utilize the waiver to eliminate PE as a required course, but you must complete 2 seasons of sports in order to apply for the waiver.  The bottom line is that 0 seasons of sports = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, 1 season of sport = needs PE/ doesn't meet the waiver eligibility requirement, and 2 seasons of sports = meets the waiver eligibility requirement and therefore doesn't need PE classes.

The district has developed a system to track your athletic participation automatically and that happens at the end of each school year.  Even though it should catch your sports automatically, it never hurts to double check at the end of the year to make sure your waiver appears on your transcript.

Students of the Month

Last Friday morning was the ceremony to honor our February Students of the Month.  Students are only eligible to receive this recognition once during their high school years.  Students are nominated by staff in recognition for their outstanding dedication to the school and community.  

A special congratulations to my students who were among those recognized as Students of the Month (pictured from left to right): Gray Beckett, Jimmy Alvarado Dominguez, Thalia Weis and (not pictured) Jamal Addison.  I am proud of you!

Meeting Day CC+ Reminders

Tomorrow I will start meeting with sophomore students before transitioning back to juniors later this week and next week.  One quick reminder to all students who are hoping to participate in CC+ classes at any time next year, you need to bring your completed CC+ forms with you to our 1:1 meeting.

That means you need to have:

- Watched the videos

- Applied to the college(s): Columbus State for English, Psychology, Ethics, Government, or Sociology and Central Ohio Technical College for Math (there are detailed directions to complete this step on the Counselor Website)

- Filled out the Intent to Participate form and full packet (for the CSCC packet, that will include having your Cougar ID number which will come to you via email sometime between 2 days and a week after you have applied.

If you don't have those steps completed by the time we have your 1:1 meeting that is ok.  I will put your desired CC+ classes in as alternates and change your schedule once you have turned your forms in to me.

Earning Credit

Today was a great day of meetings with my freshmen students.  I continue with the second half of my 9th graders tomorrow before taking on the sophomores on Wednesday and Thursday.  One of the most common conversation topics I had during today's meetings was about earning credits.

High school is different than elementary and middle school.  In middle school, you take classes and each year you move on to the next grade and take all the classes for that grade.  In high school, you must earn credits for specified classes and the way you earn credit is by passing each semester of the class. 

So, for example, all students must earn 4 credits of English to graduate.  When you pass both semesters of English 1 during your freshman year, you move on to English 2 during your sophomore year.  If, unfortunately, you failed one of the semesters of English 1 then you are going to have to make that up before you can progress on to English 2.  Students who failed a semester will be able to make up the course either by repeating the class in summer school, repeating the class through credit recovery or repeating the class by retaking it during your sophomore year.  The bottom line is that you must REPEAT the class in some format.

Some classes (like English) have pre-requisites that students must meet in order to move on to the next level.  Other classes, like Science and Social Studies, do not have pre-requisites to move on to the next level so we will allow you to move from Physical Science to Biology or from World History to US History without first repeating the freshman year class.  Don’t misunderstand though, you will have to repeat the class at some point, but if you are not making it up during summer school, then you will likely be taking a freshman year class during your junior year.

In order to earn sophomore status, students must have earned at least 5 credits.  To become a junior you will need 10 credits.  To be classified as a senior, you must have earned at least 15 credits.  And graduation, of course, includes a minimum of 20 credits in all the right categories.

DACC/ Academy/ Linworth

When we are talking about registration for next year, it often leads students to think about some of the other learning program partnerships that are options available to you as Kilbourne students.  I am specifically thinking of the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC), Linworth, and the Worthington Academy.

It is important to remember that the Delaware Area Career Center requires students to apply and even though the priority deadline has passed, they assure us that they still welcome your application.  So, if you are interested in applying to DACC, please get your application completed and submitted online ASAP.  

For current juniors who are already enrolled as students at DACC, as long as you are in good standing with your program then you are automatically eligible to continue in your program next year.  So, when you register online you will select the 1/2 day or Full day option that you prefer and register only for the classes at WKHS that you plan on taking.

If you are a sophomore or junior who has applied to the career center, then when you are completing the online course registration, you will fill out the request as if you are taking a full day at WKHS.  Later, when you find out that you have been accepted to the program of your choice, then I will go back in and adjust your classes to reflect your half day or full day DACC preference.

Linworth is another incredible option for some of our WKHS students.  While most students who attend Linworth start there as freshmen, there are limited opportunities for older students to apply and attend.  If you are interested, we need to set up a time for you to visit and interview.  For current Linworth students, please register online for just the classes you will take at WKHS.  As always, you will set up your Linworth schedule at Linworth on the first day.  

Worthington Academy is another application based program available to WKHS students.  The Academy is housed on the west end of Perry/ Phoenix Middle School and it provides students with the opportunity to blend their learning with a mix of teacher instructed and online courses.

Much like the DACC and Linworth, students who are already attending the Academy and are in good academic standing can register for the Academy as a part of their registration process and then select only the classes you plan on taking at WKHS.  Those students who are applying for the Academy for the first time will register as if you were going to be attending classes at WKHS for the full day.  Once you are accepted, the Academy staff and I will go in and update your course requests so that you have the Academy and only the classes you plan on taking at WKHS in your schedule.

Please know that there are limited seats available at the Academy, so if you are interested in applying you want to get your application in as soon as possible.

If you have questions about the Worthington Academy, feel free to stop and see me or you can also contact the Academy Principal, Dr. Flynn, via e-mail at sflynn@wscloud.org.

Financial Literacy

One of the graduation requirements is for all students to complete a Financial Literacy Course.  There are a lot of different classes that can fulfill that requirement, but this tends to make the requirement a bit confusing.

All students grades 9-12 can take:

Economics and Financial Literacy - this class is a Social Studies elective course that will give you a SS elective credit and meet the financial literacy requirement.

Personal Financial Management - this class is a Business elective course that will give students an elective credit and fulfill the financial literacy requirement.

Independent Living - this is one of the Family & Consumer Science classes and it will give you an elective credit and fulfill the financial literacy requirement.

The cool thing about these classes is that they are all covering the same financial literacy standards, but the additional content and approach in the classes are different so that you can select the course which appeals most to you.

The state has changed the guidelines for students in the class of 2026 and beyond related to financial literacy so the following classes cannot be counted on to meet the Financial Literacy requirement for current 9th graders  and 10th and beyond, but do count for our current juniors through seniors:

Financial Algebra - this is a year long math class that meets the financial literacy requirements.

IB History SL or HL - Mr. Jordan currently addresses the financial literacy components within both the SL and HL versions of IB history. 

IB Business HL - Mrs. Kucharek currently addresses the financial literacy components in the HL version of the IB Business class.

As of this moment, there are a lot of questions on if the Financial Algebra or IB classes will be able to fulfill the requirements for Financial Literacy for the Class of 2026 and beyond, but if you are trying to plan now for what you will be taking in the future, the safest way to plan would be to anticipate taking one of the 3 classes identified that definitely can meet the Financial Literacy requirement.

CC+ Classes

On Tuesday night I wrote about AP and IB classes and how they might be able to result in you earning college credits for the high school work you complete.  College Credit Plus (CC+) is another avenue students can pursue to earn both high school and college credit.  The big difference is that CC+ classes are available to students for free and don't require you to take a test to try to earn the college credit.  The credit is earned by how you do in the classes.

The College Credit Plus (CC+) information for next year was released for students in Worthington at the same time as the registration information was rolled out last week.  The state helps to facilitate the costs of this program so they have established very specific requirements for students to complete in order to participate.  One of those requirements is that students have to attend a mandatory meeting every year - even if you have taken CC+ classes in the past.  Fortunately, this meeting requirement is still able to be fulfilled by watching a 2 part video series that is posted on the WKHS Counselor website.

With CC+ classes, there are some classes that will have WKHS teachers teaching the classes all year just like normal, but you get college credit for it.  This includes the PreCalculus and Calculus courses taught by Kilbourne's math teachers.

There are also classes taught by CSCC instructors who will come to Kilbourne and teach their courses.  These courses are different from traditional WKHS classes in that they will be taught 2 days a week for 2 periods a day.  The extra time available on the other 3 days can either be filled with another CC+ class or as time for you to work on studying and completing the work for your college class.  Below is a list of the classes that are going to be offered (depending on level of interest) and when they will run:

First Semester:
- English Composition 1: M/W
- Psychology: T/R
- Ethics: T/R

Second Semester:
- English Composition 2: M/W
- Sociology: T/R
- Government: T/R

If you are currently in AP Lang, when you take the AP Test at the end of the year, if you earn a 3 or higher then you will have earned the equivalency of the English Composition 1 class.  This would make you eligible to go straight to Comp 2.

One of the keys to understand about the CC+ classes is that this is guaranteed college credit IF you pass the class.  (So, unlike AP classes, no test to take on one specific day to try to earn the college credit.)  The credit is guaranteed for every public college in the state of Ohio.  Private colleges and out-of-state colleges all have the option of accepting or rejecting the credit just like they do with AP courses.

If you need me to help you map out how this would look for the classes you are considering, we can do this during your individual meeting or you can drop by and see me to discuss the choices.  This is a great, free opportunity and with the cost of college being so expensive, every free class can help so I don't want you to miss out on the chance.  If you are even remotely considering CC+ classes next year, please be sure to watch the videos with your parents, apply to the college(s), and complete and return the intent to participate packet to the Counseling Center!