High School Readiness & Post-Secondary Success

Getting Ready for High School:

Information to prepare students & families for the transition from Middle to High School
High School
Expectations,
Procedures & Policies

Board of Education
Policy:
Graduation Plans

Overview
There have been several significant
changes to board policy for graduation
requirements. Refer to BOE Policy handout
for more information.
Plan 1- ALL SFUSD students. All students
follow this plan upon entrance to high
school unless special circumstances are
considered/reviewed by high school team &
family.
Additional plans that may be considered by
high school team and family include the
following:
Plan 2older
Plan 3Plan 4Plan 5-

Promotion & Credits

Details/Examples
Graduation Plan for ALL
Students:
Plan 1: To earn a high school
diploma students must meet the
following:
o 230 credits following the
SFUSD/A-G Graduation
Requirements.
o Pass the California High
School Exit Exam (CAHSEE)

Foreign born students 15 yrs. or

Foster Youth
County Schools
Continuation Schools

o Students earn credits for each course

enrolled in
o Generally subject area courses = 5
credits
o Most high schools have 6 or 7
classes/periods in a day
o In order to promote to the next grade
level, students must earn the required
number of credits per grade.
o If a student is deficient in credits,
students WILL continue to the next grade
level of subject area courses; however,
on record, the student will remain in the
previous grade level and be considered
off track and in need of credit recovery.
o Students must earn 230 credits to earn a
high school diploma

Credits to promote to next

grade level:
<50 credits 9th Grade
50 credits 10th Grade
110 credits 11th Grade
170 credits 12th Grade
Students may receive a final
semester grade of an A, B, C, or
D to earn 5 credits for each
course. (F=0 Credits)
**A D in an A-G course will not
be accepted by UC/CSU

Tips to Share
o This is information is for counselor
purpose & knowledge. Middle school
students & families should only be
educated on Plan 1. Additional plans
are only considered once students
are in high school and there are
reasonable factors to make such
considerations.
o When working with ELD students &
families, high school English
requirements should be reviewed.
Only 1 year of ELD Advanced will
count towards the 4 years of English
required. Therefore, students should
be familiar with CELDT testing and
re-classification opportunities,
English support activities, tutoring,
etc. that will support students
success in language acquisition and
acceleration. * Please refer to AG/Graduation Requirements chart for
more information.
o It is important to understand that in
order to promote a grade level and
to graduate; students MUST earn the
required credits. Unlike in middle
school, students will not
automatically be promoted.
o If a student falls behind in credits,
the student will be considered offtrack for graduation
o If a student is off track, they will
need to continue to pass the current
courses enrolled in and make-up any
courses needed for graduation using
a credit recovery option. This means
more work/effort and often extra

courses in a day/week such as in

Evening or Saturday school.

Honors/Advanced
Placement
Courses

Honors courses are Advanced Placement

courses, Higher Level, and designated
Standard Level International Baccalaureate
courses, transferable community college
courses, and UC-certified honors courses
that appear on the high school's course list.

Weighted/Unweighte Students coursework is calculated by two

GPAs depending on purpose.
d
GPA Calculation

Unweighted: In calculating UW GPA, ALL

courses
are considered and calculated using the
general point system in the next column.
Any honors or AP courses are calculated as
unweighted in this GPA.

o See Weighted/Unweighted
section below for more
information on honors/AP
points

Grade Point System:

Unweighted:
A= 4 points
B= 3 Points
C= 2 points
D= 1 point
F= 0 points

Weighted:
5 points
4 points
3 points
*no extra point

When a student does not pass a course or

falls behinds in credits, the student is
considered Off-Track for Graduation.
Students who are deficient in
credits/courses required for graduation
and/or college admissions, must find
alternate means for making up these
credits while continue to pass their regular
load of current course work.

o Students should consider honors/AP

courses to be more college
competitive
o Students can also earn additional
weighted point for some college
level coursework taken at a
college/university while concurrently
enrolled in high school

Weighted: In calculating the weighted GPA

(i.e. to identify senior class
Valedictorian/Salutatorian), SFUSD allows
for an extra point in calculation of all
courses designated as honors/AP in the
course title.

Credit Recovery

o Refer to the On Track to Graduate

guide for students & families for
more information on staying on track
for graduation.
o For UC/CSU admissions, Honors/AP
courses are not accepted from 9th
grade and the extra weighted point
will not be calculated into the GPA,
so students should be encouraged to
take Honors/AP courses in 10th grade
and beyond and focus on general 9th
grade courses and a successful
transition from middle to high school
during freshman year.
o Various calculations are used for
purposes of determining
Valedictorian/Salutatorian, financial
aid, and college admissions

The Office of Extended Learning

and Support (ExLS) strives to
meet SFUSD's strategic goals by
providing various credit
recovery/earning options.
Options include programs
provided within SFUSD and in
partnership with SFCSD & CCSF.
Additionally options may be
approved within the community.
Credit recovery and creditearning options are offered to

o Often it is not feasible to make-up a

required course during the day due
to many factors including space in
the class and room in the students
schedule. Therefore, generally
students will need to repeat a
course/earn credits using a credit
recovery option. Students should
understand what this means and
how it impacts their daily schedule,
workload, and responsibilities, and
therefore, be encouraged to pass
the course the first time around.

high school students who:

o Need credit recovery (Grade
of F in original course)
o Want to retake a course to
improve grade (Grade of D in
original course)
o Have not taken a required
course for graduation

o See Promotion & Credits section for

more information.
o Refer to the On Track to Graduate
guide for students & families for
more information on staying on
track for graduation and credit
recovery options.