Graduation Requirements
Wayzata High School students follow a block schedule. Our school day is divided into four blocks with each block being approximately 85 minutes in length; our school year is divided into four terms of nine weeks each. Most courses are either one or two terms and are identified as such in this guide. A two term course in the block schedule is the equivalent of a full year of course work. All students must register for 16 credits per year. Each term of a course results in one term credit successful completion of a full schedule – four blocks for four terms – results in 16 credits.
[Graduation Requirements Worksheet-Class of 2027]
[Graduation Requirements Worksheet-Class of 2024, 2025, 2026]
graduation requirements
To earn a Wayzata High School diploma, students must have earned sixty (60) credits in Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12, with a distribution of coursework that meets the standards established by the Wayzata School Board and which meets Minnesota State standards, including:
8 credits of English
2: English 9
2: English 10
2: English A
2: English B
8 credits of Math
Including two Algebra 2 credits or its equivalent, sufficient to satisfy all of the academic standards in mathematics.***
*Two of eight credits may come from STEM courses or Applied Math courses.
8 credits of Science
2: Earth Science or Physical Science
2: Biology
2: Chemistry or Physics**
2: Additional Science
*Two of the eight credits may come from STEM courses.
8 credits of Social Studies
2 Civics, 2 World History, 2 US History and 2 Senior Social Studies/Economics.
Note: AP Micro + AP Macro + AP Research may be substituted for Senior Social Studies Economics.
2 credits of Fine Arts (Music, Theater, Art)
2 credits of Physical Education
1 credit of Health
23 Elective Credits
*STEM courses are designed to dramatically increase student interest in, and preparation for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Courses that satisfy the STEM designation will be identified by the acronym STEM after the course number.
**Minnesota Department of Education requires that every high school graduate must complete 2 credits of Chemistry or 2 credits of Physics as a part of the student’s science graduation requirements.
***Minnesota Department of Education requires that every high school graduate must complete math through Algebra 2 as a part of the student’s math graduation requirements.
fine ART CREDITS
All classes as listed within the Art Department and Music and Theater Department, fulfill the Fine Art graduation requirement:
604 - ADVANCED GRAPHIC DESIGN (2-D Art and Design)
605 - AP GRAPHIC DESIGN (AP 2-D Art and Design-Portfolio)
606 - GRAPHIC DESIGN 1 (2-D Art and Design)
607 - GRAPHIC DESIGN 2 (2-D Art and Design)
608 - GRAPHIC DESIGN 3 (2-D Art and Design)
609 - CERAMICS 1 (3-D Art and Design)
610 - CERAMICS 2 (3-D Art and Design)
611 - CERAMICS 3 (3-D Art and Design)
612 - ADVANCED CERAMICS (3-D Art and Design)
613 - PAINTING 1 (2-D Art and Design)
614 - PAINTING 2 (2-D Art and Design)
615 - PAINTING 3: (2-D Art and Design)
617 - DRAWING 1 (Drawing Art and Design)
618 - DRAWING 2 (Drawing Art and Design)
619 - DRAWING 3 (Drawing Art and Design)
620 - ADVANCED DRAWING (Drawing Art and Design)
625 - SCULPTURE 1 (3-D Art and Design)
626 - SCULPTURE 2 (3-D Art and Design)
627 - SCULPTURE 3 (3-D Art and Design)
629 - AP DRAWING
631 - AP CERAMICS (AP 3-D Art and Design-Portfolio)
633 - DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 1 (2-D Art and Design)
634 - DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 2 (2-D Art and Design)
635 - COMIC ARTS 1 (2-D Art and Design)
637 - COMIC ARTS 2 (2-D Art and Design)
638 - DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 3 (2-D Art and Design)
640 - MUSIC PRODUCTION 1
641 - MUSIC PRODUCTION 2
642 - MUSIC HISTORY
643 - MUSIC THEORY & EAR TRAINING
644 - HONORS MUSIC THEORY & EAR TRAINING
645B, C - AP MUSIC THEORY
650 - BAND GRADES 9-12
652 - MARCHING BAND
660 - CHOIR GRADES 9-12
670 - ORCHESTRA GRADES 9-12
680GE - UNIFIED MUSICAL THEATRE EXPERIENCE
680SE - UNIFIED MUSICAL THEATRE
683 - ACTING 1
684 - ACTING 2
685 - DIRECTING
686 - IMPROVISATION & COMEDY STUDIES
687 - ADVANCED THEATER PERFORMANCE
867GE - UNIFIED ARTS FIELD EXPERIENCE
867SE - UNIFIED ARTS
923 - INTRO TO ANIMATION
924 - APPLIED ANIMATION (STEM)
930 - APPLIED GRAPHICS 1
931 - APPLIED GRAPHICS 2
APPLIED MATH CREDITS
The following Applied Math (M) courses can be used to fulfill math credits that are completed after Algebra 2:
713 - ADVANCED ACCOUNTING (CM)
741 - AP MACROECONOMICS (M)
740 - AP MICROECONOMICS (M)
9993B - APPLIED MATHEMATICS - COMPASS (M)
725 - FINANCIAL ALGEBRA (M)
855 - INDEPENDENT MONEY MANAGEMENT (M)
711 - INTRO TO ACCOUNTING (M)
723 - MANAGING YOUR INVESTMENTS (M)
722 - PERSONAL FINANCIAL MGMT (CM)
STEM CreDITS
STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Math
The following STEM (S) courses can be used to fulfill Science credits that are completed after Chemistry and/or Math credits that are completed after Algebra 2:
922S - ADVANCED GAME DESIGN (S)
913S - ADVANCED HOME CONSTRUCTION (S)
946S - ADVANCED METAL MANUFACTURING (S)
951S - ADVANCED WOOD MANUFACTURING (S)
944S - AP COMP SCI/PLTW SFTW ENG PRCP (S)
947S - AP COMPUTER SCIENCE A (S)
924S - APPLIED ANIMATION (S)
930 - APPLIED GRAPHICS 1 (S)
931 - APPLIED GRAPHICS 2 (S)
9992B - APPLIED GRAPHICS 2 COMPASS (S)
925S - APPLIED ROBOTICS (S)
910S - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 1 (S)
911S - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 2 (S)
415 - BIOMEDICAL BIOLOGY PLTW- (S)
457 - CIRCUITS AND ELECTRONICS (S)
943S - CIVIL ENG/ARCHITECTURE (S)
9981 - CTE INTERNSHIP/APRENTICESHIP (S)
9993A - CYBERSECURITY (COMPASS) (S)
940S - ENGINEERING CONCEPTS (S)
414 - EXPLORING HEALTH CAREERS
912S - HOME CONSTRUCTION & MAINT (S)
968S - HTC ADV AUTO BODY REPAIR (S)
967S - HTC AUTO BODY REPAIR (S)
970S - HTC AUTOMOTIVE TECH (S)
960S - HTC CONSTRUCTION (S)
978S - HTC EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONDER (S)
975S - HTC INTRO TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (S)
963S - HTC NURSING ASSISTANT (S)
964S - HTC OUTDOOR MOTOR PWR SPORT I (S)
965S - HTC OUTDOOR MOTOR PWR SPORT II (S)
760S - INFO TECHNOLOGY 1 HARDWARE (S)
719CS - INTERMEDIATE COMPUTER PROG (S)
942S - INTRO TO ENGINEERING DESIGN (S)
921S - INTRO TO GAME DESIGN (S)
950S - INTRO WOOD MANUFACTURING 1 (S)
413 - MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY (S)
945 - METAL MANUFACTURING (S)
952 - PRECISION (CNC) WOOD MFG. (S)
941S - PRIN ENGINEERING (POE) (S)
9th grade electives
The following courses are offered as electives for incoming 9th grade students:
013C,D - STRENGTH TRAINING & CONDITIONING TERM 3 AND TERM 4
044 - STRESS MANAGEMENT
057 - COLLEGE READY
152 - THE WORLD OF CINEMA
168 - TOP 20 STRATEGIES 9/10
171 - STORYTELLING WITH PODCASTS
177 - MASS COMMUNICATIONS
184 - INTRO TO PUBLIC SPEAKING
189 - DEBATE
240 - ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
241 - ANTHROPOLOGY
247 - HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
248 - AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
259 - LEADERSHIP
261 - MOCK TRIAL
267 - ADVANCED MOCK TRIAL
347 CRYPTO ASSETS & BLOCKCHAIN TECH
414 EXPLORING HEALTH CAREERS
422 AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
509 - FRENCH 1
513 - FRENCH 2
516 - FRENCH 3
519 - FRENCH 4
520 - FRENCH 5
525 - AP FRENCH
531 - SPANISH 1
534 - SPANISH 2
536 - SPANISH 3
538 - SPANISH 4
539 - SPANISH 5
545 - AP SPANISH
548 - GERMAN 1
553 - GERMAN 2
556 - GERMAN 3
559 - GERMAN 4
560 - GERMAN 5
565 - AP GERMAN
570 - CHINESE 1
571 - CHINESE 2
572 - CHINESE 3
573 - CHINESE 4
575 - CHINESE 5
574 - AP CHINESE
606 - GRAPHIC DESIGN 1
607 - GRAPHIC DESIGN 2
609 - CERAMICS 1
610 -CERAMICS 2
613 - PAINTING 1
614 - PAINTING 2
617 - DRAWING 1
618 - DRAWING 2
625 - SCULPTURE 1
626 - SCULPTURE 2
635 - COMIC ARTS 1
637 - COMIC ARTS 2
640 - MUSIC PRODUCTION 1
641 - MUSIC PRODUCTION 2
642 - MUSIC HISTORY
643 - MUSIC THEORY/EAR TRAINING
644 - HONORS MUSIC THEORY/EAR TRAINING
645 B, C - AP MUSIC THEORY
650 - BAND GR 9-12
660 - CHOIR GR 9-12
670 - ORCHESTRA GR 9-12
680GE - UNIFIED MUSICAL THEATRE
683 - ACTING 1
686 - IMPROVISATION & COMEDY STUDIES
705 - INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
711 M - INTRO TO ACCOUNTING (M)
718 - INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
722 CM - PERSONAL FINANCIAL LITERA
732 - INTRO TO MARKETING
735 - INTRO TO BUSINESS
760 S - INFO TECHNOLOGY 1 HARDWARE (S)
855 M - INDEPENDENT MONEY MANAGEMENT (M)
861 - INTERIOR DESIGN
863 - CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 1
875 - CAREER SEARCH
910 S - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 1 (S)
911 S - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 2 (S)
912 S - HOME CONSTRUCTION & MAINT (S)
913 S - ADVANCED HOME CONSTRUCTION (S)
921 S - INTRO TO GAME DESIGN (S)
922 S - ADVANCED GAME DESIGN (S)
923 - INTRO TO ANIMATION
925 S - APPLIED ROBOTICS (S)
930 - APPLIED GRAPHICS 1
931 - APPLIED GRAPHICS 2
940 S - ENGINEERING CONCEPTS (S)
945 S - METAL MANUFACTURING (S)
950 S - INTRO WOOD MANUFACTURING 1 (S)
credit recovery
Students who are unable to successfully complete all their course work should collaborate with their counselor to develop individualized plans to recover credits. Students can recover credits through our Alternative Independent Study Program. A credit recovery student may not earn more than twenty-four (24) credits in one academic year.
Early Graduation
Students who wish to graduate early must contact their counselor to work out the details. These students will be expected to meet all graduation requirements. A written contract will be established and must be signed by the student, parent/guardian, counselor, and associate principal. This should be completed before the end of the junior year. A student may not earn more than sixteen (16) credits per school year to accelerate graduation.
NCAA ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Athletes interested in becoming eligible for Division I and Division II college athletic programs must meet the NCAA eligibility criteria. Early academic planning is critical. See your counselor for details.
CREDIT CONTRACT – INDEPENDENT STUDY
Wayzata High School students who wish to enroll in an independent study may do so if the course they wish to enroll is one that has been approved through Wayzata Public Schools curriculum review process and the Wayzata High School new course proposal committee (i.e., the course must appear in the Wayzata High School registration guide). Eligible students are responsible for filling out the paperwork and finding a Wayzata High School teacher to facilitate the independent study.
CREDIT FOR online LEARNING
Credit for Online Learning vs Placement by Assessment
A student may earn credit to fulfill graduation requirements from an online MN learning provider approved by the Minnesota Department of Education. Students should meet with their counselor to discuss available options prior to enrolling in an online course. This signifies that the required MN graduation standard has been met.
PLACEMENT BY ASSESSMENT
Credit for Online Learning vs Placement by Assessment
A student may fulfill the prerequisite requirements for a higher level course by completing a Summer Test-in/Test-out option. In preparation for the summer assessment, students may enroll in a course offered by an external provider. The student should meet with their counselor to discuss appropriate course options and review required deadlines prior to enrolling in a course and/or attempting a Placement by Assessment. A student has one opportunity to attempt to test out of a course.