Graduation Requirements

The first component you need to keep in mind when determining what classes you want to take would be what you need to fulfill your graduation requirements.  Below is a list of the courses required in order to graduate.  (In addition to these classes, you will also have the testing component to fulfill, but let's focus on classes for today.)

- 4 credits of English: the place where this can sometimes get confusing is senior year when students get to select what classes they want to take to fulfill this 4th credit requirement.  You can either take one of the year long classes (AP Literature, IB English, or Contemporary Voices) or if you are taking two electives then you will need to make sure the English elective classes that you select fall into two separate categories and that you get one which fulfills the English Reading component and one that fulfills the English Writing component.  They are marked on the course selection sheet for your reference.

- 4 credits of Math: this must include passing Math 3.  So, for some students that will be Math 1A, Math 1B, Math 2, and Math 3.  Others will fulfill the requirements by taking Math 1, Math 2, Math 3, and then their 4th credit of Math through Financial Algebra, Transitions to College Math or Pre-Calculus.

- 3 credits of Science

- 3 credits of Social Studies: this must include Government

- 1/2 credit of Health

- 1/2 credit of Physical Education: this can be met through 2 semesters of PE classes - each worth 1/4 credit or if students plan to use the PE waiver then this requirement can be substituted for 1/2 credit of any other elective.

- 5 credits of Elective: Any classes beyond those meeting the above requirements will fall into the category of meeting elective credits.  So, for example, if you take 4 credits of Science (which most of you should plan on doing) then the extra science credit will count as an elective credit.

- When planning your classes you need to be sure that you have fulfilled your other course requirements related to Fine Art and Financial Literacy.  The fine art requirement can be met between the grades of 7-12 and all students must pass 1 full year of fine art courses.  (This can include art, music, or theater.)  For the Financial Literacy requirement, students can meet this component through Personal Financial Management (a business elective course), Economics & Financial Literacy (a Social Studies elective course), Financial Algebra (a 4th year math course), or through the IB History courses.

To help you in keeping these requirements straight, we provided you with a check sheet with today's registration packet.  One side of the sheet allows you to check off the classes you have already passed.  I also put a dot in the places where students are currently taking classes so that I know those requirements will be met this semester.  And then it helps you to see what the remaining requirements are for you.  Once you know what your remaining graduation requirements are you can use the other side of the paper to plan out how you will be filling the 8 periods of your day each year.  (And for those of you who are older and don't have that many years left you can just leave the extra years blank or you can use it to experiment between different options of what you are considering.)