Madeira High School

Academic Course Planner

2015-2016

Madeira High School

7465 Loannes Drive

Madeira, Ohio 45243

(513) 891-8222

FAX 985-6089

Guidance Direct Line - 587-0012

Guidance Direct Fax - 924-3714

School Code Number 363-130

Tom Olson, Principal

Joe Kimling, Dean of Students

Erin Koehne, Guidance Counselor, Student Last Names A to J

Kim Homer, Guidance Counselor, Student Last NamesK to Z

Accredited by:

The Ohio Department of Education

The North Central Association of Colleges andSecondary Schools

Member of:

College Entrance Examination Board

National Association of College Admissions Counselors

TABLE OF CONTENTS

General Information 4

Graduation Requirements 6

General Academic Policies 9

College Admission Guidelines12

Art15

Business/Technology17

English19

Family & Consumer Science22

Foreign Language23

Health27

Mathematics28

Music31

Physical Education33

Science34

Social Studies38

Electives41

Appeals Criteria43

Career Development Programs44

Ohio Dept. of Education – Honors Diploma Criteria45

General Information

Guidance and Counseling Services

The Guidance Department provides diversified services to the students, parents, and faculty of Madeira High School. Included in these services are academic, college counseling, career/technical, and personal counseling.

Staff:Mrs. Erin Koehne, Counselor, A through J

Ms. Kim Homer, Counselor, K through Z

Mrs. Beth Weiner, Administrative Asst.

Academic Planning

Course Selection: Students are assisted in planning their course selection by their counselor and their teachers. Every effort is made to insure that every student has an academic schedule, which is manageable for him/her, which fits in with his/her career and technical plans, and meets graduation requirements. The guidance counselors confer with each student sometime during the year to talk with the student about his/her scheduling concerns.

College/Career Information: Files are maintained containing college and career information. Students are encouraged to investigate colleges and career opportunities on the Internet for the most up-to-date information.

COLLEGE COUNSELING

College Selection and Admission Information: This is a service for juniors and seniors to help them begin making their college plans. A detailed explanation is given on selecting a college and how to apply for admission. Parents may call to make an appointment with their child’s counselor.

Financial Aid Information: Counselors will explain to students how to apply for and receive financial aid. Financial aid programs discussed are: scholarships, grants, loans, and work/study.

Parent College Meeting: College Information Nights are held for all high school parents to familiarize them with all aspects of college planning.

Career & TECHNICAL SCHOOL Counseling

Job Bureau: Many area employers are in contact with the Guidance Office to find part-time student employees. Employment positions are posted in the Guidance Office.

Career & Technical School Counseling: A thorough orientation is available to students who are interested in attending either Live or Scarlet Oaks Career & Tech Center during their junior and senior years of high school. A one-half day option is available for juniors and seniors who are interested in laboratory experience only. This can be arranged for most programs offered at the Live and Scarlet Oaks campuses. Campus visitations and meetings with Career & Technical school counselors are arranged through the Guidance Office.

PERSONAL COUNSELING

Group Guidance: Groups are formed as common concerns among students become evident. Test interpretation, college information, and career and tech center planning are often handled in a group guidance situation.

School Psychologist Referral: The school psychologist is available for consultation with parents to assess at what level a student is working and to determine what specific needs a student has.

Outside Agency Referrals: The Guidance Office has information to help both students and parents make contact with agencies that can meet specific needs.

Individual Counseling: The counselors provide assistance to students, staff, and parents with personal problems as they relate to school adjustment, i.e. failing grades, teacher-student conflicts, and motivation. Students experiencing emotional problems not related to school are referred to appropriate sources.

Special Education Needs: Assistance, coordination, and case management are provided for students with individualized education plans.

RECORDS

Cumulative File: The Guidance Department staff maintains each student’s complete school history—grades, test results, and teacher recommendations. Files are open to both students and parents upon request.

Credit Standing: Credit checks for graduation are done in the Guidance Office.

Recognition

Awards Day Program: In order to recognize those students who have distinguished themselves through commendable service to the school or outstanding academic achievement, the Guidance Office for grades 9-11 along with a Senior Awards Night sponsors an Awards Day Program. Parents are invited to attend these spring programs.

Academic Signing Day: On or about May 1st, a signing ceremony will be held where the Top Seniors declare the college of their choice.

TESTING PROGRAM

Group tests are administered to students as follows:

Ohio Graduation Test (O.G.T): As a component of state testing, all students must demonstrate proficiency on all five (5) sections of the O.G.T. in order to receive their high school diploma. Students who complete all local credit requirements, but have not passed the O.G.T., may not participate in commencement exercises unless a written formal appeal from the student and the parent is presented to the Madeira Board of Education for their approval. Students take the O.G.T. for the first time in 10th grade.

PSAT: The Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude test is a mandatory test for juniors, which helps students begin their college planning. The National Merit Scholars are selected on the basis of this test score. The cost for the PSAT will be included in the school fees for juniors. Sophomores may take this test for practice, must register for the test and pay the registration fee of approximately $15.00.

SAT/ACT Tests: These college admissions tests are administered on national test dates on Saturdays at designated test sites. Students should register online.

A.P. Tests: Advanced Placement tests are administered in May on national test dates in various subject areas. In order to receive weighted credit for the course, students must take the AP exam. Students who are enrolled in an A.P. course are required to take the Advanced Placement Test and are required to pay the fee before they take the test (approximate cost is $91). College credit may be awarded to students who achieve a score recognized by their college. The amount and manner of credit awarded varies from college to college.

FEES

All fees listed in this Course Planner are tentative and may be subject to change. This is due to the fact that actual costs cannot be fully determined until teachers begin to order the supplementary materials needed for their courses in June of each school year.

INFORMATIONAL SERVICE

Naviance:Hobson’s/Naviance is an online career and college information service used by the high school for students in grades 9-12. It is a comprehensive website that families can use while making decisions about courses, colleges, and careers. It is used to track and analyze data about college and career plans. It allows students to explore careers, research colleges, sign up for college visitors, search for scholarships and have access to other important guidance information. All college applications will be requested and processed through the Hobson’s/Naviance system.

College Catalogs: Over 500 college catalogs from schools across the country are kept current for students’ use.

Scholarship File: An extensive scholarship file is open to students, telling them of scholarships available to them and application information.

University/College File: Separate files on over 1,000 colleges are open to all students to examine colleges in more depth.

Reference Books: A library of guidance-related books is available for loan to students.

Graduation Requirements

The Board of Education of Madeira City Schools has approved the following requirements for graduation. Students should read the requirements very carefully as they are responsible for being sure they meet the requirements. These requirements exceed the minimum standards of both The Ohio Department of Education and The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

English...... 4.00 credits

Social Studies...... 4.00 credits

Math………………………………...4.00 credits

Science...... 3.00 credits

Foreign Language (1)...... 2.00 credits

Physical Education(4)...... 50 credits

Health...... 50 credits

Personal Finance...... 50 credits

Visual & Performing Arts (2).....1.00 credits

Electives ...... 2.00 credits

Community Service (3)...... 40.00 hours

TOTAL MINIMUM CREDITS 21.50 hours

(1)Students must take two years of the same language. The second year requirement may be waived by the foreign language department with the approval of the principal. Special Education students whose IEP so states may be excluded from this requirement. Basic English students whose placement is verified may be waived from this requirement.

(2)Creative Foods, Music, Art, Photography, Video Production, Web Design, Color Guard, and Jazz Ensemble are considered Visual and Performing Arts. See statement regarding Visual and Performing Arts, page 12.

(3)Forty (40) hours of documented Community Service must be completed by the beginning of the 4th quarter of the senior year. 20 of those hours must be Gold hours. The other 20 can be either Blue or Gold hours. Gold hours involve meaningful, life-changing experiences such as volunteering in a soup kitchen, mission trips, etc. and require the student to write a reflection on the experience.NOTE:Before a senior can be eligible to participate in senior lunch, he or she must have completed 30 of the 40 community service hours required for graduation, and all paperwork for those hours must be submitted to and approved by the guidance office.

(4) Beginning with the 2014-15 school year, any student who, during high school, participates in interscholastic athletics, marching band, or cheerleading for at least two full seasons may have the Physical Education requirement for graduation waived. However, any student who takes advantage of the PE waiver will have to complete one-half unit, in another course of study and reach the required 21.5 credits to graduate. If a student is cut, quits, or is dismissed from an interscholastic sport, marching band, or cheerleading prior to completing a full season, that season will not count toward the two full seasons needed to waive the Physical Education graduation requirement. If a student completes the waiver at Madeira High School, and moves to another district prior to graduation, the receiving district is not obligated to honor the PE waiver earned at Madeira.

CAREER AND TECH CENTER STUDENTS

English 4.00 credits

Math 4.00 credits

Science (1) 3.00 credits

Social Studies 3.00 credits

Health……………………………………………..50 credits

Physical Education………………………………..50 credits

Fine Art, Technology or ForeignLanguage……...50 credits

Career & Tech Course 6.00 credits

Community Service (2) 40.00 hours

TOTAL 21.50 credits

(1)Of the three required Science credits one must be Physical Science and one must be Biological Science.

(2) Forty (40) hours of documented Community Service must be completed by the beginning of the 4th quarter of the senior year. 20 of those hours must be Gold hours. The other 20 can be either Blue or Gold hours. Gold hours involve meaningful, life-changing experiences such as volunteering in a soup kitchen, mission trips, etc. and require the student to write a reflection on the experience.

In order to complete the enrollment process, students and their parent(s) will sign a letter stating that they are required to attend their career and tech program for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to requesting a return to MHS.

COLLEGE CREDIT PLUS

College Credit Plus replaces “Dual Credit” and “Post-Secondary Option” for the 2015-2016 school year. It is essentially the same type of program, but puts both dual credit and PSEO under the same name. Students, who meet the criteria to be accepted to a university, may attend that university and gain college credit. The available options are explained each year at a student and parent meeting held at MHS. College Credit Plus will NOT guarantee college credit is obtained in all cases. Attending the informational meeting is essential to planning whether or not this program is a good decision for each student.

Deadline to notify Guidance Office in writing of interest in College Credit Plus is April 1, 2015.

FLEXIBLE CREDIT

Credit flexibility shifts the focus from “seat time” to performance. Students can earn units of high school credit based on an individually developed and school approved credit flexibility plan. The intent of credit flexibility is to meet increased expectations for high school graduation in response to globalization, technology, and demographics, and to meet the demand for 21st century skills.

Students can earn high school credit by:

  1. Completing coursework,
  2. Testing out or showing mastery of course content,
  3. Pursuing an educational option and/or an individually approved option, and/or
  4. Any combination of the above.

Students wishing to pursue a course through credit flexibility must adhere to all student scheduling dates and meet with a teacher certified in the area being pursued to write up a proposal for that course.

All credit flexibility applications must be approved by a committee of counselor, teacher and principal before the start of the term according to the following dates:

*April 15 – for a full year course, a first semester course or summer course(s)

*December 15 – for a second semester course

Students interested in pursing credit flexibility need to speak with their school counselor to obtain the application.

EARLY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION

The Board of Education acknowledges that some students seek to pursue educational goals that include graduation from high school at an earlier date than their designated class.

A student who completes the requirements for early high school graduation may participate in the graduation ceremonies with his/her designated class or the class graduating in the year in which he/she completes the District’s requirements for high school graduation. Students interested in early graduation should see their guidance counselor for more details.

General Academic Policies

Scheduling

1.Every student who is enrolled as a full-time student must take four core subject areas each day. (Core subject areas are English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Foreign Language, and Business.)

2.Students may have no more than one study hall per day.

3.Summer school or evening school credits will not be accepted for graduation unless approval by the counselor of Madeira High School is given prior to registration for the course.

4.A Madeira High School senior with 19.5 credits and eight (8) semesters of concurrent high school enrollment may earn two (2) credits in any other approved high school, summer school, evening school or on-line program toward graduation. A Madeira High School senior who begins college prior to official graduation must meet all of the requirements above and will not receive their diploma until the graduation date of their class.

Grading System

Madeira High School uses the following grading scale:

Quality Points

HonorsA.P.

100% - 90%=A 4.0 4.5 5.0

89.99% - 80%=B 3.0 3.5 4.0

79.99% - 70%=C 2.0 2.5 3.0

69.99% - 60%=D 1.0 1.5 2.0

Below 60%=F 0.0 0.0 0.0

INCOMPLETE GRADES

All incomplete grades must be made up within 2 weeks after the quarter ends unless prior arrangements have been made with the teacher. If no prior arrangements have been made, the incomplete grade will become an “F” after the two week time limit has ended. All seniors must have incomplete grades made up to be able to participate in graduation practice.

How final grades for a course are determine

1.Count each quarter grade as two grades and each exam grade as one (i.e. four quarters plus two exams equal ten (10) grades).

2.Add up all these grades (A=4, B=3, … F=0).

3.Divide by the number of grades.

4. Round off to get your final grade:0.000 - 0.599 = F

0.600 - 1.499 = D

1.500 - 2.499 = C

2.500 - 3.499 = B

3.500 - 4.000 = A

* To receive credit for a year, a student must earn a passing grade in at least 2 of 4 grading periods in addition to quality points. One of the passing quarters must be in the second semester.

* To receive credit for a semester course a student must earn a passing grade in at least one of two grading periods in addition to quality points.

CLASS RANK

Class rank is computed for every student at the completion of each semester. Rank is based on a student’s cumulative average of all courses including ones taken for high school credit in Grade 8. All Honors and A.P. classes are given extra weight at their completion when computing grade point average for class rank. While class rank is calculated, it will not be reported on high school transcripts. Class rank is available upon the request of the parent.

DECLARED COURSES

Each year students in grades 9-12 may declare one (1) credit consisting of one (1) full year course, or two (2) semester courses, or four (4) quarter courses, or a combination of two (2) quarter courses and one (1) semester course) as a “not for GPA credit” course for the purpose of grade point average (GPA) and class rank computation, subject to the conditions listed below. Grades for declared courses will still be issued, and credits will be granted. Grades and credits will appear on the official transcript of the student (See #7 below).

Conditions

Students enrolled in at least six (6) courses can elect to take an elective course for credit but not have it count in the calculation of their Grade Point Average (GPA). Parent permission is required for those students under the age of 18. Students 18 years or older may sign their own intent form.

1.Declared courses are limited to one (1) full year course or two (2) semester courses or four (4) quarter courses each year. A maximum of four (4) full year equivalent courses may be declared over the course of high school enrollment (two [2] semester courses, or four [4] quarter courses, or a combination of two [2] quarter courses and one [1] semester course are the equivalent of one [1] full year course).