Graduation Requirements

Students must select courses as outlined in this handbook, complete all units required, and additional elective units to equal maximum potential minus 4 units.

Every Stanly County high school student must complete required 22 course credits plus 6 additional elective credits = 28 credits as listed below.

All students must meet the following requirements:

English - 4 credits:

• English I

• English II

• English III & IV (these credits may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences)

Math - 4 credits

• Math I (this credit may be earned at middle school 8th grade)

• Math II

• Math III

• The fourth math may be earned through various math course choices or appropriate dual college course sequences

Science - 3 credits

• Earth/Environmental science

• Physical Science/Physics/Chemistry (one of these required or may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences)

• Biology (this credit may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences)

Social Studies - 4 credits

• World History (this credit may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences)

• American History I & American History II (these credits may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences) Students may also satisfy this graduation requirement with Advanced Placement US History plus one additional social studies elective.

• American History: The Founding Principals, Civics & Economics (this credit may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences)

Heath & Physical Education - 1 credit

• Health & PE (this credit may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences)

• CPR requirement may be met through instruction in tth middle school or by providing documentation of successful completion of an instructional program &/or test approved by American Heart Association or American Red Cross [GS 115C-81 (e1)]

Electives & other credits - 6 credits

• Elective credits recommended in a four course concentration

• Elective credits may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences

• First & second years of a World Language (necessary to meet University of NC (UNC) minimum Admission Requirement)

To meet SCS minimum graduation credit requirements -

Electives & other credits - 6 credits

• • Elective credits recommended in a four course concentration

• Elective credits may be earned through appropriate dual college course sequences

• First & second years of a World Language (necessary to meet University of NC (UNC) minimum Admission Requirement)

Course Credit Requirements

Students must take an end-of-course exam for all classes and earn a passing grade (the final exam counts as 20% of the grade).

Local Requirements

Students must meet any additional requirements adopted by your local board of education: Stanly County Schools requires 28 units (maximum potential credits minus 4 units) for graduation.

Early Graduation

Students interested in option of graduating after the first semester of senior year must complete the following:

Notify school guidance by October 15th of senior year with reasoning.

Must be able to complete required 28 course credits by end of first semester.

With school administration approval and Stanly County Schools Board of Education approval, early graduate students may still take the opportunity to participate in end of year graduation ceremony, prom, senior activities, etc.

Students will not be able to participate in any interscholastic/athletic activities upon graduation.

Course for Credit

Credit Recovery

The term “credit recovery” will be used to refer to a block of instruction that is less than the entirety of the Standard Course of Study for that course. Credit recovery delivers a subset of the Standard Course of Study or blueprint of the original course in order to specifically address deficiencies in a student’s mastery of the course and target specific components of a course necessary for completion. The length of credit recovery courses shall be dictated by the skills and knowledge the student needs to recover and not be a fixed length of seat time. When credit recovery is exercised, the original record of the course being completed and failed will remain on the transcript. The school shall allow a grade pass or a fail for each credit recovery course. The mark will not affect the student’s GPA. A student wishing to modify his or her GPA shall repeat a course for credit and not seek a credit recovery solution. The EOC or CTE post-assessment test associated with credit recovery should be administered no later than 30 days upon the completion of the credit recovery course.

Repeating a Course

Beginning with students entering the ninth grade in 2015-16

The term “repeating a course for credit” refers to a high school course repeated via any delivery method when the entire Standard Course of Study for that course is being taught to the student for a second time. Students are permitted to repeat a course for credit when they have failed a course. Students repeating a course for credit shall receive a grade and take the associated End-of-Course (EOC) or CTE post-assessment. Those students who have already scored at Level 3, 4, or 5 on the associated EOC or CTE post-assessment may elect to either retake the EOC or CTE post-assessment use the previous passing score as at least 20% of their final grade. If the student retakes the EOC or CTE post-assessment, the higher of the two scores will be used in the calculation of the final grade.

Upon completion of the repeated course, the new course grade shall replace the previous grade for the course.

Credit by Demonstrated Mastery (CDM)

Credit by Demonstrated Mastery is the process by which schools shall, based upon a body-of-evidence, award a student credit in a particular course without requiring the student to complete classroom instruction for a certain amount of seat time. “Mastery” is defined as a student’s command of course material at a level that demonstrates a deep understanding of the content standards and application of knowledge. Credit by Demonstrated Mastery is available for all NC students in grades 9-12 for high school courses. Students shall demonstrate mastery through a multi-phase assessment, consisting of (1) a standard examination, which shall be the EOC/CTE Post-Assessment where applicable, or a final exam developed locally and (2) an artifact which requires the student to apply knowledge and skills relevant to the content standards. This multi-phase assessment process builds a body-of-evidence that allows a committee to determine if the student has a deep understanding of the standards for the course or subject area, as defined by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, thereby earning credit for the course without experiencing it in the school setting.

The following courses are excluded from Credit by Demonstrated Mastery:Career and Technical Education (CTE) work-based learning courses (co-op, internship, apprenticeship);

• CTE courses that have a clinical setting as a requirement of the course, such as ProStart, Early Childhood Education I/II and Nursing Fundamentals;

• CTE Advanced Studies courses;

• English Language Learner (ELL) courses;

• Healthful Living required courses;

• AP and IB courses; and

• Occupational Course of Study (OCS) Occupational Preparation I, II, III, and IV courses.

Dual Credit

Students may earn dual credit for any high school course and meet graduation requirements using an appropriate college course or combination of college courses.

College and university courses shall earn high school dual credit as specified below: