Students at Excel High School have certain requirements they must meet to graduate just like students at traditional brick-and-mortar schools. In a public school setting, students will often attend assemblies discussing these standard requirements, or guidance counselors will visit their classrooms to help them sign up for their required credits.
At EHS, your Academic Success Coach can help make sure that you meet these requirements, and our enrollment team keeps close track of your credits to monitor your progress toward graduation. There are four areas that students should be knowledgeable about as you work toward graduation:
- Core classes,
- Elective classes,
- Minimum grade requirements, and
Core Classes
Students have to take a certain number of credits in each core subject area in order to meet the graduation requirements at Excel. Core subjects include math, science, social studies, and English. The academic program you’re enrolled in determines how many credits of each core class you must earn.
Standard and Adult Diploma Tracks
If you’re enrolled in either the Standard program or the Adult program, in order to graduate with your 21.5 credit diploma, you have to enroll in the certain core classes to meet the minimum graduation requirements. Student must earn three credits of math, three credits of science, three and a half credits of social studies, and four credits of English.
It is important to earn as many of your core class credits as early in your education as possible. Keep in mind that you have to earn one English credit for every grade level you complete, so being sure you’re proceeding successfully through each of your required English classes is very important. You will take two survey courses in English class, followed by American Literature and then British Literature.
To meet our state requirements, we require all Standard High School students to complete the levels of math through Algebra II to earn their high school diploma. This credit requirement will benefit you because most colleges and universities will require that their students have demonstrated successful understanding of Algebra II. Adult student might want to follow those same guidelines; however, we offer more flexibility with math credits for the adult track, and although we do recommend all students take math courses through Algebra II, it is not required for adult students.
Graduates of Excel High School should also complete one full credit of U.S. History within their required total social studies courses in order to meet the state requirements for graduation. Finally, students have flexibility within their science courses and can enroll in whichever science classes they would like in order to meet those credit requirements. If you plan to pursue a science-based career, taking more advanced science classes will be important in preparing you for your post-secondary education.
Honors and Advanced Placement Diploma Tracks
Students enrolled in either the Honors or the AP programs have more credit requirements that they have to fulfill before graduation. Each of these programs requires 24 credits to graduate. Students must complete four credits of math, three credits of science, four English credits, and three and a half social studies credits.
You will want to be very careful to earn one credit each in English and math for each grade level you complete because you need four credits in each of them. With the Honors program, you will take two survey English courses followed by American Literature and then British Literature. The AP program offers the additional option of AP English Literature and Composition or AP English Language and Composition. You have the option to take any of the traditional math courses with the addition of Probability and Statistics, Trigonometry, and AP Calculus AB.
Honors and AP students need to earn at least three and a half credits of social studies, and they have to include at least one full credit of U.S. History and one full credit of World History within those required credits. AP students must also include Government and Economics in their course selections to graduate. Much like the Standard and Adult programs, students in the Honors and AP programs have flexibility to choose whatever core science classes they would like to add up to their three required credits; however, if your focus of study when you leave high school will be science-based, you will want to challenge yourself by aiming to include more advanced science courses like Physics in your coursework.
Elective Classes
Any class that you take that is outside of the core subject areas is considered an elective course. In order to graduate from Excel, all students regardless of program must pass a semester of health, a semester of physical education, and a full grade level of a fine arts class to meet the minimum state requirements for graduation.
Standard and Adult Diploma Tracks
Standard and Adult students have to earn a total of eight elective credits. Two of those credits will come from the required electives mentioned above, but six can be elective courses of your own choosing. Electives are a great time to explore subjects that you are interested in learning more about or in expanding your horizons by challenging yourself to learn about topics you have no background in.
Honors and Advanced Placement Diploma Tracks
Honors and AP students have to earn a total of nine and a half elective credits. In additional to the health, PE, and fine arts credits already mentioned, Honors and AP students have an additional two credits of required international language courses.
Minimum Grade Requirements
All Excel students, regardless of their program, have to meet certain minimum scores in order to earn credit for their courses. This ensures that you gradaute with a diploma that represents the learning that has taken place and provides you with the secure knowledge that colleges and universities will recognize the hard work you’ve done to graduate based on the validity of your diploma and our programs.
Standard, Honors, and Adult Diploma Tracks
All students in the Standard, Honors, or Adult programs must meet certain grade requirements to earn class credit. Every student must pass their courses with an average score of 60% or higher. Within each class, students have to take a final exam and pass that final exam with an average score of 60% or better. Along with their average class score and passing final exam grade, all essays and writing projects should also be passed with the required 60% or better average. With the ability to use notes and retake exams twice, along with the chance to revise and resubmit their essays, this expectation is one our students regularly achieve.
AP Diploma Track
Advanced Placement students must earn a minimum average score of 70% in their coursework. Additionally, if you want to earn credit for taking Advanced Placement classes with the college or university you plan to attend after graduation, you will often have to pass the official AP exam for each Advanced Placement course you take. To do so, you will want to view the test dates for your local area and take note of the testing requirements through the College Board AP website.
Although it can sometimes feel overwhelming, knowing our graduation requirements will give you a positive foot forward in planning your education. With access this this knowledge, you will be prepared to work toward graduation with confidence and will be able to take pride when you graduate, knowing you’ve accomplished and learned so much along the way.
