The usual college prep core courses that are expected every year (unless offerings are exhausted) are:
English
Math (to precalculus minimum, calculus if available to the student)
Science (biology, chemistry, physics)
Foreign language (to higher levels preferred)
History and social studies
Arts are a semi core, usually with ~1 year expected by some colleges.
With only 6 periods, the school makes it difficult to do 4 years of each of 5 cores + arts (especially if >1 year) + requirements like health and PE + electives.
I donât know how OPâs high school handles this, but at our 6-period school, all academically ambitious kids figure out ways to take PE outside of the school day.
(and PE outside of the school day is actually required for the IB kids, because Theory of Knowledge takes up a period. Those kids do not even get one elective. If they are into band and theater, they are doing it on their own time.)
My son went to our local public HS for 9th and 10th grade. He had all of his core classes plus advanced wind ensemble (before school in what our district call zero period) and varsity 2 different sports which fulfilled PE requirements. Also advanced orchestra one night per week at school. And high level Youth Symphony outside of school on the weekend.
He did not enjoy much of this schedule. And while he really loves math, any English classes and all types of history, he found FL and science really boring. In 9th grade he took Japanese 1. Sophomore year he switched to German 1. Note to parents: donât let your kid do this, what was I thinking?
For his junior and senior years he transferred to a performing arts boarding school. It did not offer either Japanese or German. So he opted to take German 2 on line. It was painful. The program was actually quite good, as I tried to help him long distance via phone. But the asynchronous nature of the class made it so he could prioritize all the rest of his schedule and then cram in several hours to catch up on German once a week or so. Not at all a way to learn a language.
Having said all of that, as a bio major myselfâŠI think on line biology would be likely worse.
On a happy note, my son ended up at a fabulous music conservatory where he did not need FL. Although he is happy to read German musical terms and notations when playing music from German composers.
I give my kid a lot of credit for working through some tough years and getting through some classes he did not enjoy in order to keep as many doors open as possible for college.
Does your high school actually put students into the courses they select or is this just him stating his preferences? If these are just his preferences, be aware that he may not get a seat in any of his preferred electives. The guidance counselor will place him in required courses first and fill in the empty slot with whatever elective fits.
Assuming his high school actually places him in two electives, I would not consider an online course for a 9th grade student unless it was a course the school did not otherwise offer. Even then, Iâd be reluctant. If the choice is in-person bio or in-person Spanish. I would choose biology for 9th grade and no foreign language. IMO 9th grade is enough of a transition, the student does not need an extra class.
Other options:
Civics as a summer course in lieu of AP Government. Take Spanish during the school year.
DE foreign language classes in 11th and/or 12th grade.
Decide that he will not apply to schools recommending/requiring four years of foreign language.
Students should be able to graduate from high schoolâŠand apply to colleges (even selective ones) without having to attend summer school everâŠor take online coursesâŠever.
Then maybe HE is prioritizing these classes over taking a rigorous high school core course load.
Re: taking an online class and taking then the AP testâŠitâs clear you are going to do what you want to do. But if this kid really wants to be competitive for highly rejective colleges, he needs to understand that NOT taking a course at your high schoolâŠthat is offeredâŠwill be not viewed positively.
I would not give this much freedom to a student who is only halfway through 8th grade. I also think it is too early to discuss majors and selective colleges.
My kids usually did not take a lunch or a study hall. That way, they could get in 8 classes. The usual load was 6 classes plus lunch plus a study hall.
Perhaps your child could take 7 classes and no lunch, and wolf something down during band or theater class? The teachers tended to be very understanding of this, knew that these kids wouldnât get any food or drink during the day if they didnât let them bring it to band.
I want to reiterate something that was stated earlier by someone somewhere.
At our school, students in grade 9 really donât have much course choosingâŠthey are assigned to 5 core courses (English, math, science, social studies, foreign language) and for a six period schedule, that would leave one elective period. Students would tell the school counselor which elective (only one) was their preference, and then give a second choice. The kid would be assigned to their first choice in most cases.
Since there was no period left for another elective, that would be IT. There would be no option to take two electivesâŠperiod.
That is somewhat similar to what happens at our school. The GC wouldnât allow a kid to skip putting in a core class and select two electives instead. Theyâd be told to pick one elective and a second choice.
Are you sure about this? How many acting classes are there and can they accommodate the number of students on stage in some of the musicalsâŠwhich can be 50 or more.
And you mention âon stageâ. Acting productions also need plenty of behind the scenes helpâŠand musicals often have a pit orchestra. Your son could be involved that way too.
I donât think itâs a good idea to take acting in lieu of an in-person core class. What is his guidance counselor saying about this? My kids would not have been allowed to do this at their school.
I have two artsy students so I understand the dilemma. They wanted music, music, and more music and I let them take as much as they could fit in their schedule. Our foreign language classes were a joke, so if it were me, thatâs the class Iâd do online. I think having a real live lab with a teacher that can assist as he learns how to do lab writeups is really important. BTW both my artsy kids ended up majoring in music so Iâm glad they were able to squeeze in extra classes with creative scheduling like youâre doing.
The high school is a 6-period school, where a student taking 5 usual academic cores each of 4 years has very little space for arts and electives.
The usual academic core courses (English, math, social studies, science, foreign language) would consume 5 periods.
The student wants to add two arts courses (band and acting).
To take 7 courses, one must be online.
So the options are:
Not take band.
Not take acting.
Take band and acting, with online biology.
Take band and acting, with online Spanish.
If he is unwilling to do either option 1 or 2, then between 3 and 4, 3 is likely less of a problem than 4, given his intended interests (although they can change). Foreign languages may be more problematic than other subjects in online format, and biology does not appear to be an important prerequisite to future courses for the student (unlike Spanish as a stepping stone to the AP level). As a prospective engineering major, it is unlikely that he will need more advanced biology (AP or in college) unless he chooses biomedical, biological / agricultural, or possibly chemical engineering.
But note that if he wants to take band and acting every year, the same question of which other course gets displaced or taken online will come up every year (except maybe after he finishes the highest level Spanish and/or math).
Both of our kids really really wanted to take culinary arts, and it was a really great course at our high school. Neither kid had room in their schedule until senior yearâŠwhen they both took the course (and loved it).
It was the responsibility of the school counseling staff to guarantee that all students have ALL of the courses they needed to satisfy the district and state graduation requirements. So these classes were scheduled first and foremost.
Does your high school even count courses taken elsewhere as fulfilling HS graduation requirements? I know that online courses are much more available now and some schools do allow this.
And I will say againâŠhis HS schedule sounds like it will have 7 periods filledâŠplus a possible online course, and he wants to be in the school plays. Please make sure he has enough time in his day to do all of thisâŠand eat, sleep, shower, socialize with friends, do a sport, etc.
I think your son also needs to explore ways to cultivate his music and acting interests outside of school. As I noted upstream, there is a lot of potential there as well.
Biology with lab and foreign language with interaction should be in-person.
Why not take social science online if thereâs no other way? And not AP Gov which is typically a senior class - AP Human Geography is the typical 9th grade social science honors substitute - some schools offer World History Honors, too. Youâd need to find a high-quality provider that offers those or another 9th grade honors social science class.
Meet with the GC soon though because itâs quite possible your son will not be allowed to take both band and theater/acting.
