Lifetime Membership 

To earn Lifetime Membership (Sealbearer Status), students must qualify for CSF four semesters between the sophomore and senior years. One of those qualifying semesters must be within the senior year. Students must apply for CSF each semester and submit transcripts that verify their final grades in order to qualify. Remember, you can only earn five courses to qualify for CSF; so even if you are taking more than five, only five will count towards qualification.

CSF is a club that celebrates and recognizes academic excellence. If you want to ensure that you qualify for lifetime membership, be sure that you consult the approved course lists and plan your schedules so that you have enough academic classes to qualify for membership, especially during your senior year. 

Below you'll find some more information and sample schedules that might help you to better understand how to plan course schedules each year.

Senior Year

Seniors must qualify for CSF one semester in the senior year to earn Sealbearer Status. It is preferable that this qualification happens within the Fall semester so that students are eligible for CSF scholarships and other recognition. 

Seniors are exempt from needing to accrue their first 4 points from List I, but must earn 7 total points from Lists I and II to qualify for CSF. This means that seniors should take a minimum of THREE academic classes in the first semester of their senior year. It helps if one or two of these courses are an AP class. If none of your classes are AP classes, then you'd need to take at least four academic classes to ensure eligibility. Courses can be a mixture of classes taken at Redwood or classes taken at COS or another college, as long as they fall within List I and II. After the initial 7 points, the remaining 3 points can come from any list, including List III, which is comprised of elective courses.

Here are a few examples of what a senior schedule might look like:

Of course there's so many possibilities for what you can take as a senior, but if you want to qualify for CSF, only taking two academic classes probably is going to lead to disappointment come January. As you can see, the more academic classes you have, the more wiggle room you have in terms of the grades that you earn. The less academic courses you have, the more stress you're going to have to earn A's. As you plan your senior year schedule, if qualifying for CSF is important to you, please keep all of this in mind and plan your course load accordingly.

Junior Year

Juniors must earn 4 points from List I courses, and 7 total points from Lists I and II. If no list II courses are taken, all of the first 7 points must come from List I. The final 3 points can come from any list, including List III, which is comprised of elective classes. Junior year is one where students often have a lot of academic classes in order to fulfill both A-G and graduation requirements. Most juniors take US History, English, either American Lit or AP Language and Composition, Math, and either Chemistry or Earth Science. Some Juniors still take a World Language as well. Here's a few sample schedules for Juniors and things to think about in terms of qualifying for CSF:

If you're working towards applying to a four year and being A-G approved, as many students are who are also working towards CSF Lifetime membership, then you usually don't have a hard time qualifying as a junior as long as you're earning all A's and B's in your classes. And, many juniors take COS and other college courses, which do count towards CSF as long as they aren't taken over the summer. COS classes do free up your schedule for more electives, just make sure you're earning good grades in college courses as well. Remember, the more academic classes you have, the easier it is to qualify, and the less stress you'll have about earning straight A's in your classes.

Sophomore Year

Sophomores must earn 4 points from List I courses, and 7 total points from Lists I and II. If no list II courses are taken, all of the first 7 points must come from List I. The final 3 points can come from any list, including List III, which is comprised of elective classes. Because sophomore year is so packed with academic courses to fulfill graduation requirements, it is fairly easy for sophomores to qualify for CSF as long as they earn mostly A's in their classes. It helps to take an honors course or two as well. Here'a a few sample schedules for what sophomore year might look like if you're hoping to qualify for CSF:

There's all kinds of combinations of courses that sophomores can take. And of course, sophomores can take COS and other college courses. These college courses won't give you a point bump, but they do free up some space in your schedule to take electives and pursue some passions that you may have. As you plan your schedule, plan so that you are giving yourself the best opportunity to qualify for CSF and be a lifetime member. And remember, the spring membership drive is when semesters begin to count towards your lifetime membership, so put your best foot forward in the first semester of your sophomore year and start the habit of being a good student early so that you learn the habits of mind to perform at a high level all throughtout high school.

Freshman Year

Freshman are eligible to begin applying during the SPRING semester of their freshman year. Freshman cannot apply during the fall membership drive because they don't have a high school semester to apply with; membership is always based on the previous semester's grades, thus freshman need to wait until their fall semester is complete to begin applying. Freshman year semesters do not technically count towards your lifetime membership, but they can earn you special scholarships at Redwood; being a 100%+ lifetime member means you can apply for a special scholarship once you're a senior. It is rather difficult to qualify for CSF as a freshman because you are only required to take English and Math. This means, if you want to qualify for CSF as a freshman, you need to either take chemistry or a world language. Here's a few examples of what a freshman schedule might look like to qualify for CSF:

Freshman have limited options in their schedules because of PE, Health, and College and Careers. In order for freshman to qualify for CSF, they have to take a third core class: either World Language or Chemistry. It helps to take one honors class, either English or Math, and it also helps to take summer school. It is recommended to take an academic class beyond just the required English and Math, as this also helps to prepare you for sophomore year, in which you'll be required to take four academic classes. 

Things to consider as you're building your schedules: 

It's important to remember that in order to qualify for CSF, you need to be intentional with your course selections and work hard in those classes to earn mostly A's with some B's. Do not overwhelm yourself, but do select enough courses for you to still qualify if you earn a B or two in some classes. Remember that being a TA or an Academic tutor does not count for CSF, nor does PE or any classes that are taken in lieu of PE. 

Being in an Academy really helps make your List I and II points, as the electives for the academy all fall under List II.

Seniors, it's important to remember that Econ IS NOT an AP class and DOES NOT earn you a point bump until second semester. Please consider this as you're planning your courses and add a COS class if necessary.

It is always helpful to take one or two honors or AP classes if it's something you can manage. COS or other college classes do count towards CSF, but they do not earn you a point bump.

If you have any questions about CSF, course schedules, and how to ensure you qualify for CSF, email or stop by Mrs. Vieira's room to chat. Your counselor can also help guide you to making smart choices about your course schedules.