Academics
Students at the high school register for classes depending on their years of experience in that course and the difficulty.
Experience levels are 1,2,3,4, and sometimes 5, 1 meaning a freshman or first year course, and 4 meaning a senior or fourth year course. A student could possibly get a "5" experience course if they studied that subject at Hamden Middle School and couldn't get it as an AP course (mostly for Foreign Languages).
A level of difficulty would then be chosen: 5,7,or 9 (or AP). A "5" course is easiest and is an average/beginner course. A "7" is above average, and a "9" is advanced, the hardest possible class if it can't be given as Advanced Placement credit (AP). A "9" class is equal to an honors class. "9" classes and AP classes are the same, except for AP, the student can receive college credit after the Advanced Placement exam. "9" classes and AP classes are given the same weight on the weighted GPA scale.
The two numbers from "year" and "difficulty" are combined to describe a class. For instance, "English 19" is a freshman honors English class (only given to students from HMS in TAG teams during their 8th grade year, with permission from their 8th grade English teachers). "Spanish 55" would be an average level Spanish course for seniors who took Spanish at HMS. "AP Calculus" is advanced placement Calculus for students at any grade level who has already completed the math curriculum through "Precalculus 49" (or "Precalculus 47" with teacher approval). An example of a class that experience levels aren't determined by grade would be "Concert Band 25", which means it is the student's second year of Concert Band at Hamden High School (regardless of grade; this person could be a junior) and they are taking it at the most basic level.
Read more about this topic: Hamden High School
Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)