Academic Requirements

Academic Definitions

Area of Study is a curriculum area under which course titles can be grouped in order to define concentrations in the student’s program to ensure a broad curriculum base.

Core 40 is a high school curriculum that helps prepare students for college. It includes a series of academically challenging courses in English, mathematics, science, and social studies. A student also must complete directed electives selected from foreign language, art, computer technology, or a career area.

Credit is awarded for appropriate achievement in a course for a semester in grades 9-12 for all courses except basic physical education, in which one school year of instruction is required for one credit. The physical education rules change with the class of 2010, with 1 PE credit awarded for each semester.

High School Diploma is a certificate of graduation issued by the governing body of a school corporation certifying that the student has satisfied the minimum requirements for graduation from a high school of the corporation.

IDOE stands for Indiana Department of Education.

Instructional Time is the time during which students are engaged in an approved course or curriculum or an educationally related activity under the supervision of a teacher.

Laboratory Course, which is designated by (L) following a course title, is a course in which a minimum of twenty-five percent (25%) of the total instructional time is devoted to laboratory activities.

Semester means half of a regular school year or the equivalent.

Core 40 with Academic Honors has the traditional Core 40 requirements as the base, with rigorous requirements above and beyond those required for the traditional Core 40 diploma.

Core 40 with Technical Honors has the traditional Core 40 requirements as the base, with rigorous requirements in technical achievement above and beyond those required for the traditional Core 40 diploma.

Core 40

Core 40 with Academic Honors Diploma

Core 40 with Technical Honors Diploma

General High School Diploma

Graduates in 2010 and beyond are required to begin high school following a Core 40 diploma track. For any student to graduate without completing the Core 40 requirements, the following steps must be taken:

• A meeting must be conducted and personally attended by the following:
1. The student’s parent or guardian
2. The student
3. The student’s school counselor
4. The student’s principal
• Discussion must include the student’s career and course plan, and
• the career academic sequence the student will pursue.
• The participants must agree that the student will graduate without completing the Core 40 diploma requirements.
• The student must provide written acknowledgement that he/she will graduate without completing the Core 40 diploma requirements, and the student’s parent or guardian and the school principal must provide written consent for the student to graduate without completing the Core 40 diploma requirements.

It is extremely important that students who opt out of the Core 40 diploma track understand the significance of this action. A Core 40 diploma is required by most post secondary institutions for admittance. For those students who are unable to complete the Core 40 track, the General Diploma is specific in its design, to ensure that students who utilize this path to graduation are focused toward a career path and have the academic and technical background to pursue an area of the student’s interest.