Springfield High School Curriculum Guide

Planning Beyond High School

Certain courses are necessary for entrance to colleges; however, requirements for individual institutions and programs within institutions vary. For example, science, medicine, and technical programs usually require more than three years of mathematics and science. Students should check with the colleges they are considering as well as discuss plans with their high school counselor.

Core Courses:

• Language Arts - Four Years
  
• Mathematics - Three Years
  
• Science - Three Years
  
• Social Studies - Four Years
  
• World Language - Two Years

Honors Courses:

In order for a student to select an Honors level course in Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science, he or she must meet the following requirements:

• For a student currently enrolled in an Honors course, teacher recommendation takes precedence; however, a student should have earned at least a "B" in his/her current Honors course.
• For a student to move from Academic to Honors, teacher recommendation takes precedence; however, a student who has earned an "A" in his/her current course will be considered.

Note: Other Honors courses may have additional prerequisites.

AP Courses:

Springfield Township High School offers college level courses that are designated as "Advanced Placement" in this curriculum guide. These couses demand college level work. Students are not required to take the nationwide examination given at the end of each course; however, success in those examinations often leads to advanced standing in college. Sufficient enrollment determines which AP courses are offered in a given year.

• Art - AP Studio Art
• Computer Science - AP Computer Science
• Language Arts - AP English 12
• Mathematics - AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Statistics
• Music - AP Music Theory
• Science - AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, and AP Physics
• Social Studies - AP United States History and AP Psychology
• World Language - AP French, AP Spanish, and AP German

Eastern Center For Arts & Technology:

A complete course guide is provided in this website in the section entitled Eastern Center for Arts and Technology.

College Course Credit:

Students may take college courses for credit toward meeting graduation requirements according to the following guidelines:

• A college course cannot replace a required course.
• Students may not earn more than 8 credits toward class rank in an academic year (including summer). The combined total of regular classes and college classes may not exceed 8 credits.
• Students are responsible for all tuition, fees and textbook costs for any college courses.
• A college course taken as remediation will receive academic course weighting.
• Students must receive pre-approval to receive college course credit toward meeting graduation requirements.

Weighted Grades, Class Rank and GPA

A system of weighted grades for honors and AP courses is in place according to the following table:

Class Rank:

• Class rank is weighted.
• Class rank is determined using "quality points," which refers to the numeric value of a letter grade multiplied by the credit value of the course.
• Cumulative class rank is determined by adding all quality points earned each year beginning with ninth grade. The final class rank of graduating seniors for college application/scholarship consideration is calculated at the end of the junior year.
• Courses included in class rank are those taken during the school day and may include college courses and VHS (Virtual High School) courses. Eight is the maximum number of credits that can be applied to class rank each year.
• Band and Chorus that meet prior to the school day are not included in class rank.
• Students who pass a Pass/Fail course receive two quality points for the purpose of calculating class rank.
• Carrying a maximum course load of eight credits will increase the number of quality points earned and have a direct impact on class rank.

GPA:

• GPA is also weighted.
• The cumulative GPA is calculated by dividing the total numeric value of letter grades by the number of credits attempted.
• Band and Chorus that meet prior to the school day are part of the GPA calculation.
• Pass/Fail courses are not used when calculating GPA.