Graduation Requirements
29 Total Credits are Required for Graduation.
A breakdown of credit requirements can be seen below:
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Main Lesson Credits are awarded at 0.5 credits per Main Lesson Block (fifty hours of teaching and learning, delivered over intensive four-week courses). Of the Main Lessons, Math is an anomaly within the timetable, with Main Lessons taking place across a full semester and students being awarded 1 credit on the successful completion of a Math Main Lesson.
The Main Lesson Credit requirements are as follows:
English/Language Arts (ELA): 4 credits
Mathematics: 3 Credits
Social Studies: 5 Credits
Science: 5 Credits
Main Lesson Total: 17 credits
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Foundational Credits are accrued in the school’s ‘foundation’ subjects. Foundational Credits are reflective of student time spent actively engaged in learning as facilitated by a licensed teacher in that subject area. For example, a Ninth Grade timetable includes ‘Art’ three times a week, each session is 45 minutes in duration. Over the course of four weeks of study the ninth grader will have spent nine hours in class and, with the addition of homework, have spent a minimum of ten hours engaged in learning and mastering the skills presented. As such, at the end of a successful four-week block, the Ninth Grader would be awarded 0.1 credits in Art and given a short narrative report that identifies an area of strength and an area for development. Foundational credits are accrued by students in both mandatory foundation lessons and in student electives.
The Foundation Subject Credit requirements are as follows:
Art: 1 Credit
Theater & Performance: 2 Credits
World Language: 1 Credit
Health (& Wellness): 0.5 Credits
SEL (Advisory) 2 Credits
Sustainability 1 Credit
Physical Education (Movement) 1.5 Credits
Career & Technical Education (CTE): 1.5 Credits
Personal Financial Literacy: 0.5 Credits
Community Service: 1 Credit
Foundational Subject Credit Total: 12 credits
In addition to the aforementioned credits, students must fulfill the following educational requirements:
State Civics Assessment: Students must take and pass the Wisconsin State civics examination. This examination will be administered as a part of the ‘Civics’ Main Lesson
Final Year Capstone: Students who have been studying at CSCHS for a significant period of time are expected to have developed the necessary independent learning skills to undertake and complete a final year capstone project. This project can be undertaken in any of the previously identified credit areas, either Main Lesson or Foundational, and students will work with the appropriate licensed teacher(s) in order to identify an area of exploration and map out an appropriately challenging learning pathway. Typically, Final Year Capstones are awarded 1 credit in the relevant subject area(s). However, the final credit given is up to the discretion of the awarding teacher(s) and may be more than or less than this total dependent on the final product achieved by the individual student and the time investment required to achieve it.
So long as a final year student has achieved the mandated 29 total credits in the relevant credits areas, the amount of credit awarded for a capstone project does not impact a student’s ability to graduate.
Students with Disabilities (Launch): Graduation requirements for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) may be adjusted based on alternate achievement standards, provided they meet state-approved minimum guidelines. Within CSCHS, and with affected stakeholders, such a graduation pathway is referred to as the ‘Launch pathway’.
Alternate pathway (Take Flight): CSCHS recognizes that all students are individuals and that everyone faces unique challenges. Education is not always a straight pathway, and many students join CSCHS partway through their high school journey. Thus, CSCHS leadership reserves the right to adjust student graduation requirements to meet individual circumstances, so long as the individual student graduation requirements are approved by the CSCHS School Board and the student meets state-approved minimum graduation requirements as set forth under Wis. Stat. § 118.33(1)(a). Within CSCHS, and with affected stakeholders, such a graduation pathway is referred to as the ‘Take Flight pathway’.
Early Graduation: Students who satisfy all 29.0 credits and non-course requirements early may apply for accelerated graduation with parental/guardian and School Leadership approval. All early graduation applications must be approved and finalized by the CSCHS Governance Board. The full process for early graduation approval is set forth in greater detail in the Early Graduation Policy
