9th Grade Orientation 2017-2018 Karen McInnis, District Counselor Joanna Gomez, College and Career Readiness Specialist

Individual Graduation Plan 2 TYPES: I. Foundation High School plan with Endorsement (26 credits) Students take 4 English, 4 Math, 4 Social Studies, 4 Science, 1 Fine Arts, 2 Spanish, 1 PE/Athletics, Professional Communications and Humanities or Journalism, plus electives in their endorsement area II. Foundation High School plan with Endorsement – Distinguished Level (26 credits) Difference between the plans: Distinguished requires that students take Algebra 2

Endorsements and Pathways The following are the endorsements that we have and their pathways. STEM ARTS & HUMANITIES Fine Arts BUSINESS & INDUSTRY Agricultural Sciences Arts, A/V Technology & Communications Business Management & Administration, Finance and Marketing MULTIDISCIPLINARY Can choose from different pathways and advanced courses

Dual Enrollment College level courses taken with TAMUK that count toward high school credit and college credit simultaneously. Students must inform counselor and complete DE packet before registering for high school classes.

Credits and Attendance Students must pass their courses with an overall average of a 70 for the entire year to receive credit in that course. If a student passes one semester and fail one semester, the student will receive only 0.5 credit. The student will have to redo the semester that was failed or make it up afterschool using an online program called Odyssey. If the student fails one semester and passes one semester and the average of both semesters combined averages out to a 70, the student will receive the full 1 credit for the course. If students are absent from class more than 8 times, they will have to make up the time after school in order to receive their credit. This is done for each class that the student has more than 8 absences in. Passing the EOC does not give the students their credits. The EOC exams are required for graduation but are not used toward class credits.

Schedules Students are required to take English I, Biology, World Geography and either Algebra I or Geometry. Total classes = 4 Students have a choice between taking regular courses or advanced Pre-AP courses. Students can choose a Fine Arts elective, PE/athletics, Spanish I, Professional Communications/Speech, and electives in the endorsement that they have chosen. Students should have a total of 8 classes in their schedule. We will try our best to meet your schedule request; however, classes will be assigned according to academic needs and class availability.

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