High School Graduation Exit Criteria for
Graduating Classes of 2025, 2026

For a full explanation of these criteria, please visit the BOE Policy found here.

To access a course planning worksheet for the classes of 2025 and 2026, click here.

To complete the graduation requirements and receive a high school diploma from the City of Waterbury Public Schools, a student must meet the following requirements:

Graduation Requirements 25 credits

9.0   Humanities (including civics and the arts)

9.0   STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)

1.0    World Language

1.0    Physical Education and Wellness

1.0    Health and Safety Education

1.0    Mastery-Based Diploma Assessment

3.0   Open Electives

• A student must earn six (6) Carnegie units to be promoted to the 10th grade.

• A student must earn twelve (12) Carnegie units and have completed the 10th grade to be promoted to the 11th grade.

• A student must earn eighteen (18) Carnegie units to be promoted to the 12th grade.

Twenty-five (25) Carnegie Units are required for graduation. All students must follow the core curriculum as outlined by the Board of Education. Further, if a student has credits withheld due to unexcused absences, in accordance with the Board of Education attendance policy, those credits are declared unearned credits.

Students will only be eligible for promotion at the end of the academic school year and at the

conclusion of summer school.

Graduation from Waterbury Public Schools implies (1) that students have satisfactorily completed the prescribed courses of study for the several grade levels in accordance with their respective abilities to achieve, (2) that they have satisfactorily passed any examinations and satisfactorily demonstrated the district's performance standards, assessed in part by the statewide mastery examinations, established by the faculty and approved by the Board of Education, and (3) that they have fulfilled the legally mandated number and distribution of credits.