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H.S.A and Graduation Requirements

Maryland State Graduation Requirements

Useful Links:

http://mdk12.org/assessments/high_school/look_like/index.html
http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/testing/hsa/
http://www.mdreportcard.org/
http://www.smcps.org/offices/das/08docs/Cut_Scores_with_Science.pdf

 

Graduation Requirements

21 Credits

  • English (4 Credits)
  • Social Studies (3 Credits)
    • -Civics
    • -World History
    • -US History
    • -Contemporary Issues, AP Government or Global Diplomacy
  • Math (3 Credits)
  • Science (3 Credits)
  • Physical Education/Health (1 Credit)
  • Technology Education (1 Credit)
  • Fine Arts (1 Credit)
  • 75 Hours Student Service Learning
  • Student Portfolio
  • Program Sequence (1 of the following)
    • -Four Year College(2 Years Foreign Language, Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry)
    • -Occupational Sequence (4-5 Credits)
    • -Advanced Technology Sequence

Diplomas Offered

GMHS offers two levels of diplomas to its graduates: a Standard High School Diploma which states that the student has completed the state and county requirements for graduation and a Certificate of Merit (CM) that signifies the grantee has completed a more rigorous set of requirements. A Certificate of Merit Diploma requires the above plus three mathematics credits: Algebra level 1 and beyond, Level 3 Foreign Language or Occupational Completer Status, 12 Certificate of Merit advanced classes and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

 

Do you know and understand all the graduation requirements?
In order to graduate from St. Mary’s County Public Schools, all students must complete the following: 
  • English 9, English 10, English 11, English 12
  • US History, Government/Civics, World History
  • 3 credits of math including Algebra and Geometry
  • 3 credits of science including Biology
  • 1 tech ed credit (must be Foundations/Intro to Engineering, or Foundations/Intro to Business Adm, or Foundations/Intro to Family/Consumer Science)
  • 1 fine art credit
  • 1 PE 9/10/Health credit
  • 75 hours of community service
  • Senior Career Portfolio
  • Minimum combined score of 1602 on English 10 HSA, Biology HSA, Algebra HSA, and Government HSA
  • One career cluster/program
 
While you probably already know about most of the requirements, not everyone understands or knows about the career cluster requirement.  Students must complete the requirements for at least one career cluster program before they can graduate, even if they have completed everything else and have 21+ credits.  Requirements for each career cluster.  If a program is only at the tech center, you will see a (TC _yrs) with the number of years needed to complete that particular program at the end of the course lists.  Some of the business programs will only be available at ChopticonHigh School.  STEM and the Academy of Finance are also clusters.  These programs can be found on pages 137 – 143 of the 2008-2009 Program of Studies. 
 
If a student is in 9th or 10th grade, the program/cluster can still be changed.  Most 11th and all 12th grade students are locked into their clusters.  If a student doesn’t know his/her cluster, it can be found on the bottom of the schedule. 
 
Please note – Algebra Course A and Algebra Course B cannot be substituted for Algebra 1 CM.  The colleges require Algebra 1 CM for entrance.  If students wish to attend a 4-year university directly after high school, the student could take Algebra Course A and then switch to Algebra 1 CM the next year.