MISD
High School 101
Mrs. Faris, MISD CTE Counselor
What you need to know to
graduate from high school
Review…
• When picking a career you need to know yourself. Consider
skills & interests.
• Use career & interests surveys. Talk to adults & do an
internship. Take classes in your area of interest.
• Research careers: look for salary, years of school, skills
required, location, demand, and longevity.
• MISD Offers career classes.
• Those classes are arranged into 5 areas called
endorsements.
• Students will pick an endorsement based on their future
goals.
Review…
• The 5 endorsement areas are:
STEM: Science,Technology, Engineering & Math
Business & Industry
Public Service
Arts & Humanities
Multidisciplinary
High School 101
What will I learn today?
• Frequently used terms
• Credits- how many?
• Transcript- Your High School Report Card
• Attendance- State Law
• Pre AP versus Non Pre AP
• End of Course Exams
• Endorsements & Programs of Study
How do I get from here…
To there…
Frequently Used Terms
• CREDIT Every course equals one credit (1.0).
• SEMESTER The year is broken into 2 semesters each .5
Credits.
•
HALF CREDIT Some courses are only one semester so
we refer to them as “half credits”. If you take one of these
you must take another “half credit” (.5) course the other
half of the year.
• TRANSCRIPT: the final report card for high school. It
has all your grades and information on it. It is the
document colleges review for entrance.
• STAAR EOC: End of Course Exam. Required to pass for
graduation.
• 4 Year Plan: The overview of all the classes you plan to
take in high school.
Frequently Used Terms
• GPA: Grade Point Average. All of your grades
in your core classes and 2 years of foreign
language are averaged then divided by the
number of courses taken…The final number is
your GPA. Colleges review GPA for entrance
and scholarships. High school uses the GPA
for rank in your class.
• Pre AP, AP & Dual Courses: MISD offers 4
types of courses. First are regular classes.
The Pre AP/AP version is more rigorous and
holds more GPA points (Weight) than Non PreAP. They are designed to prepare you for
college. Dual classes achieve high school and
non-high school credit at the same time.
Frequently used terms
• Endorsement: Five categories of
careers/classes in Texas/MISD
• Program of Study: Specific career/class
choices under the five Endorsements
• CTE: Career & Technology
• Electives: Classes that the student is allowed
to choose, or have flexibility in choosing.
• Core Classes: Math, Science, English, Social
Studies
• LOTE: Language other than English (foreign
language)
Credits/Classification
If you have…
you are a….
6 credits
Sophomore (10th)
~
12 credits ~
Junior (11th)
18 credits ~
Senior (12th)
26 credits ~
GRADUATION
Attendance Policy- STATE LAW!
• Must be in attendance 90% of the time.
• If you miss too much school we can not
give you credit, regardless of your grade!
• Tutorials & Saturday School to make up
time. $15 fee for Saturday School
• Must be enrolled in school to get your
driver’s license and proof of enrollment is
required by DPS. MISD can not give you
this document if you have exceeded
allowed absences.
Sequence of Core Courses
English
 Eng 1
 Eng 2
 Eng 3
 Eng 4
Science
 Biology
 Chemistry
 Physics
 4th year science
Math




Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra 2
Pre-calculus
• GT IS Math
 Calculus
Social Studies
 World Geography
 World History
 US History
 Govt & Eco
END OF COURSE EXAMS
START HERE
FRESHMAN
STAAR EOC
• ENG I
• ALG I
• BIO I
SOPHOMORE
STAAR EOC
• ENG II
JUNIOR
STAAR EOC
• US HISTORY
Quick Review…
• Each class is worth 1 credit, you need 26
credits to graduate.
• All of your information and grades are kept on
your transcript, which is reviewed by colleges.
• You must pass 5 STAAR EOC Exams to
graduate.
• If you have excessive absences you will not
earn credits in the course regardless of grade.
Picking your graduation plan
• When you begin looking at the programs of
study…you will notice that each endorsement
has core classes and CTE (Career &
Technology) Courses that are required for
graduation.
• Everyone also needs one credit of PE, One
Credit of a Fine Art and 2 credits of a foreign
language (LOTE)
• In order to graduate on the endorsement there
are certain classes you must take.
• Consider that you only have 7 classes per year
& 4 of those are core classes.
What if things do not go as planned?
• Failing a class: Could put you behind in
graduation because you must retake the class until
you pass.
• Changing your mind: Endorsement changes may
be made at any time with counseling & parent
approval. Note* Based on course availability &
time of change it may not be possible to complete
certain endorsements.
• Attendance issue: Make up hours or retake class.
• Move to a different school: Texas Schools/Other
• Passing STAAR: Retake until you meet passing.
• Foundation Plan: no endorsement.
Pop Quiz
• How many credits does it take to graduate?
• How many STAAR EOC Tests must you
pass to graduate and what are they?
• What is the name of the document that
colleges review at the end of high school?
• What does CTE stand for?
• What are the 5 Endorsements offered in
MISD?
Next Time…
• MISD Course Offerings
• How to fill out a 4 year plan
• Graduation Checklist
• Question & Answer