Middle Schools To Offer More High School Credit Classes

CANTON, GA -- The Cherokee County School District continues to add to the roster of high school credit classes offered in middle school.

This move, the district said, allows more rising eighth-grade students "the opportunity to get a jump on graduation requirements."

District middle schools now offer 13 different high school courses; while course offerings vary by school, each school offers at least eight high school credit classes.

For the 2016-17 school year, all seven middle schools will offer:

• Honors GSE Algebra I
• Accelerated Honors Algebra I and Geometry A
• Physical Science
• Spanish I
• Beginning Band I
• Beginning Chorus I

Cherokee has long offered Spanish I, physical science and accelerated 9th/10th grade mathematics for academically advanced students, but it expanded high school credit offerings in fine arts and other elective areas in the last few years to allow more students the opportunity to earn high school credit ahead of their freshman year.

The school district also added Beginning Band I to all middle schools for 2013-14, then launched a major expansion of course offerings for 2014-15, including orchestra, visual arts, drama, chorus, business and technology, and drafting and design. Languages offered have expanded to include French and Latin at multiple schools, as well as a limited offering of German and Chinese.

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The science and math courses are taken in lieu of eighth-grade science and math, while world language courses are taken in lieu of eighth-grade reading class. The fine arts and business classes can be taken as electives instead of a Connections class. Students who qualify to take physical science or algebra will also have to take the End Of Course exam for that class just as a high school student would.

"Starting high school with several units of credit is not only a confidence builder for students; it also gives students more room in their high school schedule to try electives in different areas of interest," the district added. "It also allows some students graduate early if they continue to accelerate their academic path in high school. This type of programming is also an additional strategy to improve the CCSD graduation rate."

Parents should contact their child’s middle school for more information on earning high school credit and the eligibility/availability for these classes.

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Photo: a file photo of band students at Mill Creek Middle School. Credit: Cherokee County School District