GVCS Graduation Procedure

revised 4/7/08

Step 1 – Preliminary Assessment Email

At the beginning of a student’s last semester before graduation, you will do a preliminary assessment of his or her transcript. See ES Meetings & Paperwork Deadlines calendar for the due date.

For each prospective graduate send a separate email to the Educational Support Manager, including the following information:

* name of the potential graduate

* a statement that you have checked the transcript (as described below)

* a statement of the names of the courses that the student will attempt to complete for their last semester, along with the number of credits they will be attempting in order to meet outstanding graduation requirements. Indicate which courses are intended to meet which of the student’s outstanding grad requirements.

Submit the proper High School Course Selections & appropriate course approval paperwork for each graduate. The courses will be reviewed, and the course titles added to the student’s semester course list in the database. You may complete the preliminary assessment prior to the addition of the last semester’s courses to the student’s course list.

To review the transcript:

Print out a copy of the student’s transcript from the database.
Exclude any courses that have an F grade or zero credits - take a pen and draw a line through them.
Exclude any duplicated courses, or any courses that have more than 10 credits for any given course title (since we can only count 10 credits for any one course title) - take a pen and draw a line through them.
Exclude any course with a religious title; we cannot count those credits toward graduation - take a pen and draw a line through them.
Check each growth area to make sure that all course requirements are met. Using a highlighter of the appropriate color, highlight the courses that will count for each growth area.

1) English-Language Arts – Orange – Student needs 30 total credits of any combination of English course titles. Any course that brings the total over 30 credits should be counted towards Special Interests.

2) Life Skills – Blue – Student needs 10 credits of Computer/Keyboarding, 20 credits of PE, 5 credits of Health, and 15 credits of life skills electives. Remember, there are only certain courses that can count as life skills electives. Additional computer/keyboarding course titles may count as a life skills elective, however, PE credits beyond the 20 required do not. Additional PE credits are counted as Special Interests elective credits. Health is a 5-credit course, maximum. Home Ec., Cooking, Sewing, etc. are Special Interests courses.

(Please refer to the Life Skills Elective Planning Chart to be sure your student has met the standards for this

area.)

3) History-Social Science – Pink – Student needs 10 credits of US History, 10 credits of World History, 5 credits of Economics, and 5 credits of American Government. Reminder - World Geography is NOT World History; geography is an electives course, and is not counted in the History-Social Science area.

4) Mathematics – Purple – Student needs 20 credits of math. If the student completed Algebra I prior to entering 9^th grade, verify completion of Algebra 1. Verification may be made by checking the student’s middle school report cards or by the completion of Algebra 2 or another higher-level math such as Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, or Calculus. (Geometry does not validate completion of Algebra 1.)

5) Science – Green – Student needs 10 credits of a physical science and 10 credits of a life science.

6) Special Interests – Yellow – Student needs 10 credits of a language other than English or 10 credits of visual or performing arts (one full year of one course), and 50 credits composed of any “extra” college prep, academic, or vocational elective classes. Make sure that none of these courses are duplicates of courses from other areas.

Complete a fresh copy of the Graduation Requirements Worksheet, using the color-coded transcript to determine which courses have satisfied each of the graduation requirements. Record any areas in which the student is “deficient” in the required credits for graduation. Use this to create your email to the Educational Support Manager and to ensure that your student is taking all of his/her remaining required courses for graduation in the last semester before graduation.

Save the color-coded transcript and completed Graduation Requirements Worksheet to submit with the Graduation Packet in step 2.

Keep a copy of the e-mail for your records. The Educational Support Manager will check your student’s transcript and will either affirm your preliminary assessment or offer further guidance.

Step 2 – Submit the Graduation Packet

Send the following to the Educational Support Manager (see ES Meetings & Paperwork Deadlines calendar for due date):

- Student Graduation Approval Request (needs parent/student signatures)

- Graduation Requirements Worksheet

- Final Transcript (color-coded, will not have the student’s last semester’s grades and credits)

- Portfolio (for January graduates only)

IF ANY PART OF THE GRADUATION PACKET IS MISSING, THE ENTIRE PACKET WILL BE RETURNED TO THE ES.

Step 3 – Submit the Final Grades and Credits

When the student completes all of his/her graduation requirements, send the “Disenroll – Pending” email to the appropriate people. Make certain to include special ed on the pending disenroll email, if the student is special education.

As soon as possible, but within 5 working days from the disenroll date, mail the hard copy attendance rollsheet to the office and submit the final attendance, learning record, grades and credits into the database. On the final LR, be certain to check the ‘Requirements Met’ box for each and every growth area, even if no learning is recorded in the growth area. Email your ES Advisor and the Educational Support Manager to let them know that your student completed the courses that are on the final semester’s course list and that you have submitted the final attendance, LR, grades, and credits. The Educational Support Manager will then import the report card, double check everything and approve the Graduation Packet. The Ed. Support Mgr. will send the final graduate disenroll email, and the student is graduated!