Selecting & Registering for Courses
A student’s Individual Career & Academic Plan (ICAP) includes a four-year high school program. Review your educational and vocational plans with your School Counselor each year to ensure that you meet MHS graduation requirements and can take electives that will help you achieve your goals.
Your School Counselor, teachers, and parents can help you plan your ICAP, but, ultimately, each student is responsible for meeting his/her MHS graduation requirements.
Grade Level Requirements: MHS students must be in full-time attendance, unless otherwise approved by administration. See criteria for full-time attendance under Academic and School Policies.
High school graduation requirements: Review what your graduation requirements are, as well as college, NCAA, and vocational school admission requirements. See your counselor if in doubt about your credit status for graduation or college entrance.
Your course opportunities may be limited if you have failed prerequisites or you are behind on credits needed to graduate.
Plan ahead – not just for next year, but for your entire high school career and beyond. Refer to your ICAP Four Year Plan in your online College In Colorado account or Naviance account.
Before requesting a course, check its description in this catalog to be sure it fits your needs, interests, and abilities, and that you have completed the prerequisite coursework necessary for enrollment.
Repeating Courses: See your counselor to complete the necessary paperwork. If you repeat a course you have previously failed, the original grade of F can be replaced with an NC/No Credit upon successful completion of the course. If you repeat a course you have previously passed, you may choose to have the previous grade replaced with “NC” or you may choose to keep the previous grade for elective credit only.
Teacher/Department approval: Some courses require approval and/or an application – read course descriptions carefully and meet all deadlines.
Weighted Courses: Our most demanding courses are graded on a 5.0 “Weighted” scale. Through the Class of 2020, Valedictorian candidates must take at least 13 semesters of weighted courses and earn only straight “A” grades in all 9th – 12th grade courses (more than 13 weighted courses offer no advantage). For information on Valedictorian/Graduates with Distinction for the Class of 2021 and beyond, refer to Academic and School Policies.
Early Graduation is open to any student who fulfills graduation requirements by the end of first semester of his/her senior year. Preference is given to those students who demonstrate Proficiency on assessments or score at state average or higher on the State SAT given in the junior year. Petitions are due no later than December 1st of the school year in which a student wishes to graduate. See your counselor for details.
Requesting Courses: Requests are an indication by the student of his/her desire to take specific classes. While every effort is made to fulfill students’ class requests, some classes may not be available due to staff or space limitations. Students should have alternative classes in mind and request these as alternates during preregistration. It is possible a student may be scheduled for a class they have not requested if there are no other alternatives.
Schedule Changes: Once a semester starts, schedule changes will only be made for errors or placement recommendations from staff. Students who drop an appropriately scheduled course, whether they requested it or not, after the start of a semester will receive a “WF” that will become part of the student’s permanent transcript and negatively impact the cumulative grade point average.