District Policy outlines that…

As part of their four-year program of study, all students are expected to register for and take 7 credit bearing courses each semester. A Senior who is on track to satisfy all credit requirements for graduation may complete an application for Early Dismissal or Late Arrival.  Requests for a class schedule with less than 7 credit bearing courses will be reviewed with extenuating considerations in mind, which may include but are not limited to the following:

• Employment
• Medical need with documentation
• Educational opportunities outside the school/district consistent with the student’s High School and Beyond Plan.

A class schedule with less than 7 credit bearing courses will only allow for a late arrival or early dismissal.  It is necessary to gain approval from the student’s counselor and parents for late arrival or early dismissal and have a copy of the approval on file in the counseling office.

Your classes will be selected for you by your counselor based on what you need for graduation. It is very important for you to submit your course requests by the deadline!

Yes, you must make sure that you meet any pre-requisites listed for the class(es) you selected. If you select an Honors/AP class for which you do not meet the pre-requisites you will be moved to an appropriate placement. AP and Honors classes are rigorous courses and are a year long commitment. Please know that if you are placed in an Honors/AP class, you will be expected to remain in the class for the year.

Any course for which you meet the pre-requisite can be listed as an alternate. Alternate course listings must be a course that you have not already listed on your worksheet. Alternate courses should not be listed for the main curriculum areas (English, Social Studies, Science or Math) unless you are electing to take an additional elective course in those areas.  Be sure to list alterative classes that you would be okay with taking. Often students are placed into their alternate due to scheduling conflicts. You should be sure to select four alternates. It is always best to have more alternates to choose from than have your counselor have to pick for you.

All students have access to their graduation requirements through Skyward. An overview on how to access and understand the Graduation Requirements view in Skyward can be found here. 

It is not required for high school graduation. There is a difference between high school graduation requirements and college entrance requirements. Many colleges require students to have completed one of these courses. For example, University of Washington requires students to successfully complete Chemistry or Physics as an entrance requirement. You should check with any colleges where you may apply to see what their entrance requirements are.

Taking 2.0 credits of consecutive courses in the same language is highly recommended. Most 4-year colleges require students to have completed 2 or more years of the same World Language and some colleges recommend 3 or more years of the same World Language. As part of your High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP), students do have the option to substitute their world language credits for other credits to create their personalized pathway. Please contact HSBP Coordinator, Nikole Lalas, with any questions. 

In the RHS Course Catalog you will find information in multiple locations about the recommendations for what to take for college admission. In addition, students can reference individual college admission websites. A good general response is that a student should sign up for as rigorous a program that he or she is capable of successfully completing. However, most important, college admission representatives want to know that students are realistic about their abilities, yet know how to “stretch”. If you need help in evaluating how rigorous a schedule you should sign up for, please be sure to have a conversation with your Parent/Guardian or Counselor.

Colleges want to see you take the most rigor you can reasonably handle while still maintaining a strong GPA. Schools will frequently look more favorably on a B in an Honors or AP class than a B in a general level class, but remember to evaluate how taking an AP or Honors class will fit into any other obligations you may have and how that will affect your overall school performance.

Attending summer school is an option for students who are off-track for graduation. You should also set up an appointment to work with your counselor on how you will obtain additional credits.

 P.E. is a state graduation requirement. You will need to work with your counselor on making a plan to earn these credits prior to graduation. There are alternative options that you can pursue if you meet certain requirements. Specific information can be found on the district website.

Generally, students can take the same class twice and earn credit for it both times. This rule does not apply to recurring courses. Recurring courses are not considered repeated courses taken for the purpose of improving a mark/grade. Recurring courses are those taken by a student to further develop their understanding and skills in the subject (e.g., journalism, advanced art or drama, concert band, etc.).

Students may also wish to repeat a class to improve their grade. All occurrences of repeated courses must be included on the transcript, along with the letter grade earned in each of those occurrences. If a course is retaken for grade improvement, the course with the higher grade earned is included in the calculation of the student’s GPA. The credits attempted and credits earned of the lower graded course will be reported as 0.00 on the transcript. The credits from repeated courses may only be counted twice if both grades earned in a course are factored into the GPA calculation (e.g., two semesters of the same choir course). Otherwise credits from only one course may be counted.

If you have further questions about this topic you must make an appointment with your counselor.

On your transcript, look at the end of the Academic Record posting of classes/credits/grades where it says “Report Period and Cumulative Summary.” Go to the last line of this area where it says “Cum.” The cumulative credits earned to date are listed in the first column “Cred Earn.” The cumulative GPA is in the last column “GPA.” 

The Washington State History requirement is completed during 8th grade social studies classes in the Lake Washington School District. The fulfillment of this requirement is documented by posting to your transcript under ADDITIONAL STATE REQUIREMENTS WASHINGTON STATE HISTORY as MET.

Washington State History is a graduation requirement. Students who attended middle school or junior high in this state will need to work with their counselor on a plan for completing this requirement prior to graduation. Students who attended school in another state will be required to take Washington State History if they moved here in or before the 10th grade. Students who are in 11th or 12th grade and just moved here can work with their counselor to complete a request to be excused from this requirement.

Washington State law prohibits posting a "weighted" GPA to your high school Transcript. Colleges are aware of this and make appropriate considerations for this fact. Some colleges will even recalculate your GPA by selecting only the core classes and place weight on the honors/AP classes.

They will see your grades and GPA through the end of 11th grade. Most colleges will ask for another transcript after 1st semester of 12th grade to see how you are performing. All 4-year colleges will require a final transcript of your high school grades. Colleges have been known to rescind an offer of admission if the student changed their schedule or earned poor grades during their senior year.