1. Course Selection Information
The Foundation High School Program + Endorsement
(FHSPE)
Freshman Class of
Information for Katy ISD Students and Parents
Students first entering 9th grade in and thereafter will graduate on the Foundation High School Program + Endorsement, or FHSPE. The information contained in this presentation is accurate as of January 7, Information will be updated online if/when changes should occur based on Texas Education Agency decisions

2. FHSP + Endorsement
All students must choose an endorsement in one of five areas at the time they enter 9th grade.
Katy ISD students will select the endorsement along with their course selections.
The endorsement should be selected based on the student’s individual interests and goals.
Students have the opportunity to change the endorsement if they so choose.
The endorsement, and any changes, must be indicated in writing and signed by the parent.
All students are required to choose an endorsement in one of 5 areas: STEM, Business & Industry, Public Services, Arts & Humanities, or Multidisciplinary Studies. We’ll have more information on the endorsement areas a little later in this presentation.
The endorsement should be chosen based on the student’s individual interests and career goals, and should align with courses the student intends to take while in high school. There are notes throughout the course catalog about which endorsement areas certain courses support.

3. Graduation Credit Requirements
22 Foundation Credits + 4 Endorsement Credits = 26 Total Credits
There are a total of 26 credits required to graduate with a Foundation High School Program + Endorsement diploma. Detailed information about the Foundation requirements and each of the endorsements is found in the course catalog.
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4. The FHSP + Endorsement Course/Credit Requirements
Fine Arts – 1 credit
Physical Education – 1 credit
Health – .5 credit (KISD requirement)
Electives – 4.5 credits,
Must include a communication skills component
+ Endorsement (4 additional credits)
Students are expected to earn an endorsement in one of 5 areas. Each endorsement requires:
a 4th math credit
a 4th science credit
2 additional elective credits
English – 4 credits
English I, II, III, and an additional/advanced English taken after successful completion of English I, II and III.
Math – 3 credits
Algebra I, Geometry, and an additional/advanced math
Science – 3 credits
Biology, and one course from IPC, or Chemistry, or Physics, and one additional/advanced science
Social Studies – 3 credits
US History, .5 credit government, .5 credit economics, and either World History or World Geography
Other Languages – 2 credits
Credits must be in the same language
The foundation high school program includes 22 credits: 4 credits in English, 3 maths, 3 sciences, 3 social studies, 2 credits in the same language in a language other than English, 1 fine arts, 1 PE a half credit health and 4.5 elective credits.
The endorsement requires an additional 4 credits. .

5. Credit Requirement Notes
PE substitutions – All students must earn one Physical Education credit.
The following are approved PE substitutions:
Athletics
Fall semesters of Marching Band I and Marching Band II
Fall semesters of Color Guard I and Color Guard II
Dance I
Dance Team Training I
Dance Team I,
Cheer – 1st year (if PE credit has not already been earned), or
NJROTC – 1st year.
There are several allowable substitutions for the PE requirement. These include athletics, the fall semesters of marching band or color guard, and the first year of dance, cheer and NJROTC.

6. Credit Requirement Notes
Health – Health is a Katy ISD graduation credit requirement for all students.
Communication Skills – Students must have a communication skills component, which can be satisfied through earning credit for any of the following courses:
Professional Communications,
Communication Applications,
Debate,
Oral Interpretation,
Professional Standards in Agribusiness,
Teen Leadership,
Theatre, or
Dual Credit Speech
Katy ISD requires all students to have a Health course.
The FHSPE requires all students to have a communication skills component. This can component can be satisfied through a variety of courses which are marked with the conversation bubble icon throughout the course catalog.
The conversation bubble icon in the course catalog identifies courses that satisfy the communication skills component

7. The FHSP + Endorsement
The FHSP allows for flexibility in Math beyond Algebra I and Geometry, and in Science beyond Biology.
Please note that while the foundation does not specify Algebra II, Chemistry, or Physics as graduation requirements, many universities express that they expect prospective students to have taken each of these courses to be competitive for admissions consideration.
Each endorsement requires a total of 26 credits, including a fourth math credit and a fourth science credit.

8. Distinguished Level of Achievement (DLA)
The Distinguished Level of Achievement (DLA) is earned through successful completion of:
All requirements for the Foundation High School Program, plus
The requirements of at least one endorsement, including
Algebra II among the four math credits, and
A fourth science credit
The Distinguished Level of Achievement is required for a student to be eligible for the Top 10% and for automatic admission to a Texas public college or university.
Before we talk about the endorsements, it’s important to note that each of the five endorsements require a fourth math credit and a fourth science credit.
Algebra II is required for the Distinguished Level of Achievement, or DLA.
The DLA is important because it is REQUIRED for the student to be considered for the Top 10% and therefore be eligible for automatic admission to a Texas public college or university.
The requirements for a DLA are pretty much the same as those for any endorsement; but, Algebra II is specified as a requirement for earning the DLA, regardless of which endorsement you choose to pursue.

9. The Endorsements STEM (Science • Technology • Engineering • Math)
Business & Industry
Public Services
Arts & Humanities
Multidisciplinary Studies
There are five endorsement categories. Each one is quite different and has its own requirements.
When selecting the endorsement, students should think about the courses they want to take and their own specific areas of interest.
The endorsements are listed at the top of the 9th grade course selection sheet.
Subject areas that support a particular endorsement are marked with the endorsement icon throughout the catalog for easy identification. While the course catalog includes information on the endorsements in greater detail, but we will briefly go over each one here.

10. STEM
STEM relates to courses of study in advanced math, science, computer science, Career & Technical Education engineering courses, or a combination of courses from up to two of these categories.
A CTE: Engineering course pathway chart is included on page 81 in the course catalog.
The STEM endorsement specifies Algebra II, Chemistry and Physics as requirements

11. Business & Industry
The Business and Industry endorsement includes courses of study from a wide variety of areas of Career & Technical Education, English, in the fields of Journalism or Speech, Technology, or a combination from various Business & Industry categories.
Business and Industry CTE career pathways charts are included on pages of the course catalog.

12. Public Services
The Public Services endorsement is comprised of Career and Technical Education courses of study in the areas of Health Science, education, cosmetology, law enforcement and NJROTC.
The Public Services endorsement cannot be earned through combining courses from various CTE categories. Public Services CTE career pathways charts are included on pages of the course catalog.

13. Arts & Humanities
The Arts and Humanities endorsement relates to English--other than journalism and speech, Social Studies, Languages Other than English, as well as to each of the fine arts disciplines, including Art, Dance, Music and Theatre.
This endorsement cannot be earned through a combination of courses from different Arts & Humanities categories.

14. Multidisciplinary Studies
The multidisciplinary studies endorsement allows students to select their course of study from several different areas, and there are various ways to earn this endorsement, including college/workforce readiness, the 4X4, and Advanced Placement, Dual Credit, or International Baccalaureate courses.

15. Miller Career & Technology Center
Miller Career & Technology Center is a central site for Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Many of the advanced courses offered at Miller can be taken to complete an endorsement.
For more information regarding eligibility and a list of courses, please visit the Miller table following this presentation.
Miller Career & Technology Center offers a variety of Career & Technical Education programs. Students may apply to attend Miller Career Center during their junior and senior years. Many programs require prerequisite credits to be completed on the home campus for eligibility Detailed information is on page 57 of the course catalog, and courses offered at Miller are denoted with the M symbol alongside their course descriptions.
See Miller information on page 57 of the course catalog

16. Choosing Courses for the Freshman Year
Choose an endorsement,
Choose each of the required 9th grade courses*: English I, Math and Science (Biology)
Choose courses from other areas to completely
fill all seven class periods
If one course marked (sem) is selected, a second (sem) course is also required.
If a PreAP or AP course is selected, the AP/PreAP Course Commitment on the back of the course selection sheet must be signed by both the student and parent.
When making course selections, please review the course catalog.
It is important to be aware of any prerequisites, grade restrictions, course fees, or after school commitments associated with different courses and programs. Also, be sure to review “Selecting Courses for the Next School Year” and the Katy ISD schedule change procedures, both on page 26 of the course catalog.
The course selections must include enough courses to fill seven full class periods, and include English, a math course, and biology.
All students are required to take either World Geography or World History; World Geography is an option for 9th grade students.
*Either World Geography or World History credit is required. World Geography is available to 9th grade students.

17. Choosing Courses for the Freshman Year
For student athletes, only one athletics program should be chosen on the course selection sheet.
Band requires special consideration:
If the student is in band but not in athletics, select the band option that gives fall PE credit and spring Fine Arts credit;
If the student is in both athletics and band, the band option for the full year Fine Arts credit .
If the student is going to take a 1st year dance course for PE credit, choose the appropriate dance course number as listed under the Physical Education Substitutions heading on the course selection sheet.
There are some special considerations regarding athletics and fine arts.
If the student is an athlete, only ONE athletics program can be chosen. If the student is a multi-sport athlete, the sport can be changed with the season.
For band and dance courses, it is especially important to choose the right course number, depending on whether the credit will count as PE or fine arts.

18. Choosing Courses for the Freshman Year
Review the course catalog when selecting courses.
Pay special attention to “Selecting Courses for the Next School Year” on page 36, including the “Schedule Changes” information
List alternate choices in the spaces provided.
Discuss your endorsement choice and course selections with your parents and your school counselor!
Turn in the course selection sheet as instructed by your campus.
Sometimes a requested class doesn’t fit in the student’s schedule. Be sure to list alternate courses that interest you just in case one of the first choice classes doesn’t work with the your schedule.
Talk to your school counselor about your course selections and get his or her input on your selections. If you have questions about course selections, your counselor can help.
And finally, turn in the completed course selection sheet according to your campus’ instructions!

19. Choosing Courses for Next Year
Do the requests include all required courses?
Do the courses requested support the student’s selected endorsement area?
Do the requests include any courses for which the student has already earned credit?
Credit cannot be earned for duplicated courses.
Have all prerequisites been met?
Is the appropriate Band or Dance course selected for the student to earn either Physical Education or Fine Arts credit?
Are enough courses selected to fill seven class periods?
Before turning in the course selection sheet, double check to make sure all information is correct.
Be certain that there are enough course requests to fill seven class periods, and that the requests include all required courses.
Courses should be chosen to support the student’s endorsement choice.
Pay attention to prerequisites.
It is very important that a course is not chosen for which the student has already earned credit.

20. Choosing Courses for the Freshman Year
Course verification is the time to change requests if they are needed.
Schedule changes requested after this time will be honored for a limited number of reasons.
See page 36 of the course catalog for information regarding schedule changes.
Course verification sheets will be distributed to students around spring break, though timing may vary slightly by campus. This is the time to confirm that the course requests are what the student wants and needs to take for the school year.
All requests for changes should be made during the course verification period.
Change requests received after the close of course verification will be made for a limited number of reasons, as explained on page 36 of the course catalog.

21. Final Notes
And finally, both the course catalog and this presentation are available online for easy reference.