An Information Session for Parents
January 13 and 14, 2015
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Heidi Sauer
Carol Niemann
Andrea Clifton
Caty Broderick
Eric Jackelen
Debbie Choate
Teri Ochoa
• Materials needed
• Course Selection / 4-YR
Planning Sheet (2-sided)
• Course number folder &
Career Pathways
• Course Guide – available
online
• Counselors help
students enter course
requests into Skyward
• 1/21 – HCMS
• 1/22 – WRMS
• Deadline for course entry
is February 6.
• You must sign the 4-Year
Plan side
• Options:
• Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2
• Spanish 1, Latin 1
• Speech
• Health
• IPC (an elective science credit)
• These credits appear on the high school transcript with
a numeric grade but are not used in calculating GPA.
• Only courses taken at Westlake during the regular
school year are factored into a student’s GPA
School Board policy states that Westlake students must
take a minimum of four non-weighted credits during
high school to be used in the calculation of GPA and
the determination of the ranked ten percent.
Students shall complete three of these four required
non-weighted credits prior to the beginning of senior
year.
• A weighted course means that there is a multiplier
used in calculating a student’s GPA (and rank).
• PreAP or Honors courses have a 1.1 multiplier and are
designated with a Q on the transcript
• A grade of 92 = 101.2 in calculating GPA
• AP courses (and other advanced classes) have a 1.2 multiplier
and are designated with a P on the transcript
• A grade of 92 = 110.4 in calculating GPA
• See Page 8 in the Course Guide (online) for a list of
classes in each category
• GPA is reported on a 100-point scale. Students first
learn their GPA in the spring of their sophomore year.
• Westlake is a non-ranking high school.
• Except, Texas public schools are required to rank the
top 10% of the students in each graduating class.
• Guarantees admission to a TX public college or university
(except UT).
• By spring of your junior year, UT will stipulate the
percent cutoff they will use for your class.
• Pace of instruction
• Depth of study
• Volume of homework
• Reading
• Writing
• Level of teacher guidance
• Expectation for organization, maturity and selfdirection
• AP Computer Science
• AP Art History
• AP Human Geography
• In addition to completing the required credits,
students must pass five end-of-course (EOC) exams
that will be given in the late spring:
– English I and English II
– Algebra I
– Biology
– U.S. History
• Exams are taken the year the student is enrolled in the
course … so students taking Algebra 1 in middle
school will also take EOC in middle school
• All Westlake students start high school on the
Distinguished Achievement Plan with the
Foundation Program + Multidisciplinary
Endorsement
• Which means …
ENGLISH
4 credits
MATH
4 credits
SCIENCE
4 credits
SOCIAL STUDIES
4 credits
WORLD LANGUAGES
2 credits
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
1 credit
FINE ARTS
1 credit
HEALTH
.5 credit
ELECTIVES
5.5 credits
TOTAL CREDITS
26 credits
• Allows students to pursue in-depth study of interest
• There are 5 endorsements
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2)
3)
4)
5)
STEM
Business and Industry
Public Services
Arts and Humanities
Multidisciplinary Studies
• You can find details on the counseling website
• All students start with the Multidisciplinary endorsement,
but are free to add or change endorsements beginning
spring of Sophomore year.
The Multidisciplinary Endorsement is earned by
completing :
• Four credits in each core area, to include English 4, Algebra
2, Chemistry, and Physics AND
• Four AP courses (one in each core area) OR four courses
designated as “advanced” (indicated by a ^ on the course
number folder)
The majority of Westlake students will naturally earn this
endorsement since these requirements mirror what
colleges are looking for in their students.
• How many advanced courses (PreAP or AP) are right for YOUR
student? Consider:
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Outside activities
Areas of strength/weakness
Organizational skills
Family commitments
• Be sure to select alternate courses – no guarantee that all
courses listed will actually be offered
• Don’t panic about planning for 4 years – this is NOT a
permanent commitment. Students revisit their plan annually and
are free to make changes. Having a personal graduation plan
on file IS the law, which is why we make you do it.
• These new (& new-ish) courses are open to Freshmen
• Shakespeare through Performance (1 credit)
• AP Human Geography (1 credit) – there is no longer a PreAP
World Geography course
• Roman Cultures (½ credit) – can pair w/ Classical Mythology
• Video Game Design (1 credit)
• Invention & Innovation (1 credit) – 1st year of Robotics
• Computer Science PreAP (1 credit) – AP is also available
• Art 1 – not new, but restructured to cover all forms of art
(students can also register for Art 1 Media Communications)
• High school is about more than credits … encourage
your student to be involved in organizations (at school
or in the community).
• Also, encourage your student to get to know his or her
counselor. We like working with people more than
papers 
• Now, let’s look at a Four-Year Plan with Carol
Niemann. Counselors will be around to answer
questions; feel free to leave when you need to.