We operate on a trimester system, in which a 2-trimester course counts as 1 credit and a 1-trimester course counts as .5 credits. Students take on average 4 courses in a trimester and must earn at least 5 credits per year. For more on our graduation requirements, visit Expectations.
One way to think about a student’s course load is to consider each trimester as having 4 “slots”, each holding .5 credits and allowing for 6 total credits in a year (.5 credits x 4 slots * 3 trimesters = 6 potential credits/year.)
A student may opt to leave one slot open for study time; this is known as a “free block” and a student may have a free block in up to 2 trimesters per year.
Certain core courses occupy more slots and count for more credits. The 9th grade integrated course Humans in the Natural World occupies 2 slots for all 3 trimesters, for a total of 3 credits (1 English, 1 Science, 1 History). The 11th-grade course American Studies occupies one slot for all 3 trimesters and is paired with Writing & Research in one trimester, resulting in 2 full credits (1 English, 1 History).
Example Pathways
Below are four examples of the myriad pathways a student might follow in order to satisfy our curricular requirements.
For a student entering in 9th grade (example 1)
For a student entering in 9th grade (example 2)
For a student entering in 10th grade
For a student entering in 11th grade
