2009- 2010 Program of Studies Orientation

1. Class of 2013 Hunterdon Central Regional High School 2009- 2010Program of Studies Orientation

2. Welcome to HCRHS • Dr. Lisa Brady – Superintendent • Chris Steffner – Principal • Jennifer Spieker – Vice Principal A good place to start for general information….. http://www.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/ & http://central.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/eighthgrade/

3. Guidelines! • Remember, every course you take, and every final grade you receive, will be on your permanent record. • Take the most challenging course load that you can handle without creating too much stress. • Check “Prerequisites” and “Grade Level.” • Do you know what a Credit is? • See Page 99 for Freshmen Electives.

4. A Four – Year Plan When choosing your courses it is helpful to “plan backwards”. Scheduling is a four-year journey and you need to think about your eventual destination. Leave options open so that you can enroll in desired courses your Junior and Senior years.

5. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION Pass the Grade 11 New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) in …. • Language Arts Literacy (Reading & Writing) • Mathematics • End of Course Biology & Algebra 2* (Take the 8th Grade “NJASK8” test seriously!)

6. Earn a minimum of 120 credits by successful completion of the following courses: (1) At least 20 credits in English (2) At least 15 credits in Mathematics; (3) At least 15 credits in Science; (4) At least 10 credits of U.S. History; (5) At least 5 credits of World History;

7. (6) 5 credits of Physical Education & Health during each year of enrollment. (7) At least 5 credits in visual & performing arts; (8) At least five credits in career education and consumer, family, and life skills, or vocational-technical education; (9) Achieve technological literacy via experience in our total curriculum;

8. 10) At least 10 credits in World Languages or student demonstration of proficiency. Requests to prove proficiency must be made through the World Languages Supervisor this summer. Proof of proficiency WILL NOT be considered by college admissions officers in lieu of the college’s world language admission requirement.

9. NOTE! Minimum graduation requirements do not equate to college admissions requirements!

10. ACADEMIC UNITS College Preparatory Mathematics Computer Programming Language Arts (English) World Language Art History & Music Theory Natural Sciences Social Sciences

11. Course Levels & Weighting 1 - Weighted: • AP (Advanced Placement courses) • HNS (Honors courses) 2 - Unweighted: • Any course not designated AP, or HNS

12. Key to GPA & WGPA Numeric Equivalents WEIGHTED UNWEIGHTED Grading ScaleAP/HNS Standard 100 - 99 5.00 4.50 92 - 90 4.00 3.50 83 -82 3.00 2.50 75 -74 2.00 1.50 69 - 0 0 0

13. Some Things to Think About … It is better for students to experience success in an appropriate placement than to experience extreme difficulty in an inappropriate placement. This must be weighed against the realities of what colleges look for……

14. Consider a “Core” Curriculum of at least five academically challenging courses each year including: • 4 years of English and Math; • 3 - 4 years of Laboratory Science including Biology, Chemistry and Physics; • 3 - 4 years of History or Social studies; • 2 - 4 years of Foreign Language.

15. To leave doors open …. some colleges…. -Require Physics. -Want to see at least Trig and sometimes Calculus. -Require two, three, or four years of foreign language in high school. -”Selective” Colleges require a certain number of AP courses.

16. Although these “Core” courses are important, choosing electives wisely can also make a big difference. Electives provide an opportunity for students to follow their passions and round out their education. Planning how to incorporate the various important secondary school subjects, such as the Practical Arts, and the Visual & Performing Arts, can be critical. Some post-secondary institutions place greater value on academics, while others lean more toward the student's portfolio or audition.

17. Make sound initial choices. There must be an open seat in any new requested course and in any other courses which may need to be changed in order to accommodate the request.

18. Review the “HCRHS Freshman Course Recommendation/Selection Form - Class of 2013”. • This form includes mid-year teacher recommendations in core academic subjects. • The form is used to assist with your planning and decision making. • On the form, the student will also record choices for ten elective credits and an alternate for each elective choice.

19. Students selecting ….. • U.S. History 1 Honors, • Biology Honors, • Algebra 2 Honors, • Algebra 2 • English 1 Honors …..will be contacted about taking a prerequisite placement exam. These exams provide an additional source of information for parents and students to help select the appropriate course level. Supervisors will use placement test scores to determine recommendations for honors courses. You will be asked to either confirm that your student will be placed at the recommended level or sign a waiver to keep your student in the honors class.

20. Course Selection Sheet

21. Electives and Alternates(In Order of Preference)

22. “Home Logic” • Beginning on February 6th, course requests can be entered using an internet based “HomeLogic” software. • HCRHS online course selection will be open between 8:00 AM February 6th and 8:00 AM February 11th. • You must complete your course selections online within this time frame.

23. Go tohttp://homelogic.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/hlxe/

24. In order to access the software, students/parents use their exclusive, assigned User Name and Password.

25. Navigating the HomeLogic System

26. Course Request ProcessTo enter the Course Requests area of HomeLogic, click on the Course Requests menu item on the left side of the screen.

27. You will also see a “Course Units” counter in the upper left. Course Units are blocks of time in a student's schedule. There are four blocks in a day, and four marking periods in the year. This means that there are 16 blocks of time, or "Course Units", to fill with courses. • Marching Band takes place after the school day, and uses no course units, but it is worth 2.5 credits towards graduation. • Sign up for, but do not exceed 16 course units. • Health/PE is already entered as a course request for students entering grades 9 and 10. This is a required course and should not be deleted from course requests.

28. Course Requests Mouse Over Course Descriptions

29. If you select a course for which you do not meet the pre-requisite, and/or, do not meet the grade recommendation, the following warning pop-up box will appear Look for Courses labeled “Grade 9”

30. You may “override” a grade recommendation by selecting “Yes”. • You may not “override” a pre-requisite UNLESS you are planning on taking the pre-requisite course first semester and the requisite course second semester. In this scenario you may also select “yes”. • When making this decision, please understand that once a student has been waived into a higher level course, the ability to make a subsequent level change is dependent upon seat availability in the requested course.

31. It makes no difference if you select courses first or last during the 2/6 to 2/11 time frame. • However, if you fail to input courses during this time frame you will be assigned a lower scheduling priority. • A list of sports will appear with a prefix of “XTR”.  Students should check off any that they may be interested in. This information will be provided to 2009/2010 coaches.

32. Assigning Alternates It is recommended that you enter an "alternate" choice for elective courses chosen.  In the event a first choice elective course is unavailable, or if a scheduling conflict, i.e. two courses offered at the same time, prevents the first choice elective course from being scheduled, the software will substitute the requested alternate option. Clicking in the Alternate field to the immediate right of any of the Primary Requests will bring up an Alternate Request Selection window.

33. Congratulations! After entering all requests and hitting “Next” … you should see a pop-up window indicating that you have successfully submitted your course requests!

34. Verifying Your Requests Clicking on the Verifying your Requests link at the top of the window will bring you to a summary page that outlines your entire list of Primary and Alternate Requests. Your total Credit tally will also be shown.

35. Non - Traditional “Credit Attainment Pathways” • If you are considering Outside HS Course Work for Additional HS Credit this summer… • You must apply and that application must be reviewed and approved by the Principal’s Credit Committee. You may call HCRHS Counseling Services for an application or go to the HCRHS website. • Requests must be received by May 15.

36. STANDARD FRESHMAN PROGRAM • ENGLISH • PHYSICAL EDUCATION/ HEALTH • US HISTORY 1 • MATHEMATICS • SCIENCE • WORLD LANGUAGE • ELECTIVES • LUNCH

38. Student Schedules • From Feb. 6th to Feb. 11th you will enter your course selections on-line • You will 1st receive a scheduling request verification in the mail • The master schedule will then be built • Conflicts will then be resolved • Actual student schedules will be mailed prior to the close of the school year

40. Physical Education, Health & Driver’s Education • One year of Physical Education and Health & Safety for each year of public high school enrollment in New Jersey is required! • H & PE 9 is scheduled automatically. • There are “Sport Specific” options for grades 11 & 12.

41. The Practical Arts and Visual & Performing Arts

42. SPECIAL EDUCATION This program is designed for students with special needs as outlined in their Individualized Education Program (IEP). Depending upon the IEP SE students have access to… • Programs which are individualized for each student using a diagnostic/prescriptive method. • Programs which are designed to follow the mainstream curriculum with accommodations and modifications. • Programs which are adapted to the student’s learning needs. • Programs which emphasize study skills and preparation for tests and written assignments in mainstream classes.

43. English Mr. Brendan McIsaac

44. Freshman English 1 (#012) • Standard college preparation course • Genre study – classic and contemporary literature, drama, poetry & non-fiction • Nightly reading & writing assignments • Research • SAT & HSPA preparation • Can move up to honors in sophomore year

45. Freshman Humanities 1 (#014) • Year-long 10 credit course • English & Social Studies • Two-teacher interdisciplinary approach • Nightly reading & writing assignments • Research • SAT & HSPA preparation • Can move up to honors in sophomore year • Learning Style

46. Freshman Honors English 1 (#011) • More rigorous pace & workload • Multi-textual reading and writing • Recommended Advanced Proficiency on NJASK8– 250 • Placement Test in April • Recommendation letters sent in June • Summer assignment required

47. Freshman English 1 Basic Skills • Utilizes same readings as other freshman courses • Slower pace and assignments progress through more gradual steps • Recommended for Limited Proficient NJASK8 – less than 200 • Recommendation from sending district

48. Creative Writing (#061)&Media Literacy (#050): • Electives open to all grades • Workshop environment & peer critiquing • Learn to deconstruct and create media texts • Read cultural theory and examine how media impacts culture

49. Social Studies Dr. William Fernekes

50. There are 3 course options for incoming 9th graders • U. S. History 1 (#101) • 5.0 credits • 1 semester • Honors U.S. History 1 (#100) • 5.0 credits • 2nd semester only • Application process (The following 3 elements comprise the placement process. If the student surpasses the threshold set by the social studies department, he/she is recommended to enter Honors U.S. History 1. ) A. Placement test required (Given in late March or early April) B. Grade in 8th grade social studies class as of mid-March C. Skill assessment completed by 8th grade teacher