Academic Credit
Hanover High School Courses
Credit is awarded for successful completion of any course listed in the Hanover High School Program of Studies.
Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs)
ELOs are currently accepted at HHS for credit recovery or courses not offered at HHS. Any attempt to receive credit for courses required for graduation is subject to Counseling Department approval and must meet departmental guidelines. Approval must be received before beginning course work. Hanover High School will not grant credit for activities done without prior approval. Current online or correspondence course providers used by HHS include Keystone, the New Hampshire Virtual Learning Academy, and the University of Missouri. Credit determinations for summer school courses, ski academies, semester programs, local college programs other than Dartmouth College, and correspondence or online courses will be made by the Counseling Department. This will be done in conjunction with the appropriate department coordinator based on review of instructional hours, syllabus content, and accreditation status of the institution. Students must obtain prior approval through the Counseling Department to earn credit for courses not listed in the Hanover High School Program of Studies.
Home Schooling
APPROVED by COI, 12 January 1984
Revised: June 1999
Credit determination for an approved home school education plan will be made by the Counseling Department. This will be done in consultation with the appropriate department coordinator using indicators that include but need not be limited to standardized testing, portfolio content and individual assessment by professionals in the school district.
Dresden Plan Amendment
Adopted by COI, 11 June 1992
Revised: July 1997
The Dresden Plan is empowered to grant credit in academic areas if the following conditions are met:
a.) Submission of an IS/ACE plan to the Dresden Plan Director, the plan to contain statements addressing the nine features outlined above.
b.) Approval of the plan by the Dresden Plan Director and departmental Dresden Plan advisor.
c.) The presence and availability of an appropriate professional to supervise the plan.
NOTE: IS/ACE programs contracted within a semester as an alternative vehicle for completing an existing course will follow the substantive standards listed above.
Academic Credit – HACTC
Academic credit through vocational education may be earned for courses studied at the Hartford Area Career & Technology Center. After completing two full years of study in a vocational school subject the following academic credits may be earned:
Academic Credit – Minimum Accumulation
To be on schedule to graduate in 4 years, the number of credits required when entering each grade are:
Grade 10 a minimum of 5 credits
Grade 11 a minimum of 10 credits
Grade 12 a minimum of 15 credits
Course Load
The required workload for a full-time student is five courses.
1. A reduced program (fewer than five courses) must be approved by the Principal. To remain a student at Hanover High School, students must carry an approved course load, attend classes, and meet academic work obligations.
2. A Hartford Career & Technology Center course counts as the equivalent of three courses. Hartford courses count as 3 credits per year.
3. Dartmouth courses such as lab sciences and foreign language are tallied as two courses. Other Dartmouth courses generally count as one. A Dartmouth course counts as 1/2 credit per Dartmouth term.
4. A student who drops to less than four courses because of neglecting attendance and/or work responsibilities may be asked to drop out of school for the remainder of the semester.
Independent Study Standards
Independent Study/Alternative Credit Earning (IS/ACE) includes all Independent Study courses listed on a student's schedule plus any courses titles offered through the Dresden Plan (Work Study, Volunteer Service, Mentor, etc.) that require individual arrangements.
Formative
The maximum duration of any IS/ACE is one semester without the arrangement being redrawn.
All IS/ACE plans will be written.
A maximum of five school days is allowed for the formation of the basic plan. For any IS/ACE listed on a student’s schedule at the beginning of a semester, the clock starts ticking on the semester’s first day with two possible exceptions:
(a) A pre-arrangement has been made with the teacher that is satisfactory to the teacher.
(b) The student has a school-approved excused absence, whereupon the deadline will be extended by a number of days equal to the absence.
If a student fails to complete a satisfactory arrangement by the five-day limit, this fact will be reported by the teacher immediately to the student’s counselor who will consider the course listing dropped from that student’s program.
The IS/ACE formative stage is considered complete when all the substantive criteria are recorded in writing, and both the teacher and student have signed and dated the written plan.
If an IS/ACE proposal for credit needs to be approved by an academic department, the completed proposal must be acted upon within a stated number of school days of being submitted to that department. If no limit is stated, the proposal must be acted upon within five school days.
Substantive
All written IS/ACE plans must contain the following features:
A clear statement of the learning objective(s). *
A scheduled meeting time between teacher and student at no greater interval than one week. *
A clear statement of expected behaviors by the student and the procedures to be followed if the IS/ACE is not complied with, including cause for the IS/ACE to be terminated.
A clear statement of all required activities and their deadlines. *
A list of available resources and their locations.*
A clear statement of how the learning will be demonstrated. *
A clear statement of how the learning will be evaluated and what criteria will be employed to determine the final grade.
Designation of at least three interim evaluation checkpoints during the course of the work.
* These items may be revised during the course of the IS/ACE if agreed to by both the teacher and the student. All revisions must be written, dated, and initialed as amendments to the initial agreement. No revision will contradict the standards listed above.
Study Abroad
A student planning to live abroad for more than one quarter of the Hanover High School year and wanting to earn credit toward graduation during that time must:
(a) obtain prior approval through the Counseling Department for this plan, and
(b) enroll in a recognized secondary school in the country where they will be living.
Hanover High School will not grant credit for activities done abroad without prior approval. If the school the student plans to attend is not a recognized secondary school, the student should see their counselor for available options. Hanover High School will accept the foreign school’s evaluation and award appropriate credit for work done there.
When accounting for course credit and reporting grades on school transcripts and permanent records, Hanover High School reserves the right to differentiate between work done at Hanover High School and work done in a foreign school.
For courses in which the student was here only part of the term, the student will receive separate quarter grades as reported by the different institutions instead of a final grade.