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What’s New for High School
Clear requirements. More course choices. Better-aligned diploma paths.
What’s New for High School
More ways to build a high-school plan that fits the student.
Clear requirements. More course choices. Better-aligned diploma paths.
Our high-school program has been redesigned to give families more flexibility while keeping graduation requirements clear and meaningful.
The biggest change is simple: students no longer need to fit one academic pathway regardless of where they are headed after graduation.
What Changed?
High-school planning is becoming more intentional.
The new framework separates graduation planning into clear pathways and gives families better guidance for course selection, rigor, and future goals.
Three Diploma Pathways
Students can now work toward a College Preparatory, Career & Technical Education, or Standard Diploma based on their academic and postsecondary goals.
Clearer Course Levels
Courses can be identified as College Preparatory, Honors, Advanced Placement, or Dual Enrollment so the transcript more accurately reflects academic rigor.
More Course Flexibility
Families can choose from a much broader range of academically sound course options instead of relying on a narrow list of traditional titles.
Why the Change?
A student’s diploma plan should reflect where that student is headed.
A student preparing for a four-year university, a student entering a skilled trade, and a student seeking a flexible general high-school education do not necessarily need identical programs.
The new framework preserves a strong academic foundation while allowing the student’s goals to shape the remaining coursework.
The Three Diploma Pathways
Same 23-credit minimum. Different purposes.
Each pathway represents a complete high-school program. The difference is how the credits are distributed and what the program is designed to prepare the student to do next.
College Preparatory
For four-year college or university preparation
A rigorous academic pathway emphasizing four years of English, mathematics, and science, three laboratory sciences, world language, and academic electives.
• 23-credit minimum
• 3.0 weighted GPA
• 4 English • 4 Math • 4 Science
• 2 sequential World Language credits
• 2 Academic Electives
Career & Technical Education
For skilled work, apprenticeship, technical education, or career training
A strong academic program paired with a coherent technical concentration, work-based learning, and coursework supporting the student’s chosen field.
• 23-credit minimum
• 3-credit career concentration
• 1-credit Career Practicum / WBL
• 1 Career-Related Elective
• Industry credentials encouraged where appropriate
Standard
For a flexible, well-rounded high-school education
A broad academic foundation with greater elective flexibility for students whose plans do not require the additional college-prep or career-concentration requirements.
• 23-credit minimum
• 4 English
• 3 Math • 3 Science • 3 Social Studies
• 6 General Electives
• No separate minimum GPA requirement
College Prep + Honors
Honors is a designation within the College Preparatory pathway.
Honors is not a separate diploma track. Students pursuing the College Preparatory Diploma may earn an Honors designation by completing a substantial amount of advanced coursework and maintaining a stronger weighted GPA.
3.5
Minimum weighted GPA
6
H / AP / DE credits
4
Advanced core academic credits
3
Academic disciplines represented
Families continue to determine appropriate course levels. Our Honors guidance provides clear expectations to help parents determine when a course represents a meaningful increase in depth, complexity, independence, and academic rigor. The accompanying checklist can be used when planning or documenting an individual Honors course.
Expanded Course Options
A rigorous transcript does not have to look identical for every student.
The new course-planning guide gives families far more flexibility to build meaningful high-school programs while still understanding which diploma requirement each course can fulfill.
Traditional courses remain excellent choices—but they are no longer the only choices.
Gothic Literature
Forensic Science
Cybersecurity
Biblical Hebrew
Engineering Design
Psychology
Medical Spanish
Robotics
Furniture Restoration
Entrepreneurship
Photography
Criminal Justice
What About Students Already in High School?
No one needs to start over.
Courses and credits already completed remain part of the student’s academic record. The new framework is intended to improve planning going forward, not erase work already completed.
Families and advisors can review the student’s existing record, identify the diploma pathway that best fits the student’s current goals, and determine what requirements remain.
Diploma pathways can also change. A student’s plans at age fourteen may not be the same at age seventeen. High-school planning should be reviewed as goals develop.
Next Steps
Start with the student’s goals.
Review the diploma pathways, look at the updated planning charts, and use the new course-options guide to begin building a high-school plan that fits the student.
