Taft High School

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Taft High School

• Individual Graduation Plan
• Academic Programming Scheduling

www.tafthigh.org
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Presentation Overview

• Introduction
• Academic Programs
• School Involvement
• LAUSD Graduation Requirements
• College/Career Planning
• Study Skills

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High SchoolChoices
As students enter high school they will be
bombarded with choices. Success comes from a
strong understanding of the choices available and
strong parental involvement.
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High SchoolSocial-Emotional Aspects
High school introduces students to many new
people and opportunities. Some of these will be
exciting others stressful. Parents need to be
aware of their childrens progress, and when
necessary, students and parents need to know
where they can seek help.
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High School Career Planning
Life is a journey and in high school students
begin exploring their interests and passions.
There are many avenues to explore and routes to
take to achieve ones career goals.
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Academic PlanningChoices9th grade choices
To become a doctor what should I do? To get into
a university what courses are best? To become a
chef where should I go?
The following will help you in making the best
choices in academic programs available at Taft.
RememberLifes about taking risks and accepting
challenges.
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Small Learning Communities and Special Programs
at Taft

• Individual Honors Program
• Traditional Honors Program
• Star Leadership
• Visual and Performing Arts Academy
• Humanitas Academy
• Business and Professional Academy
• Education Community Outreach Academy

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STAR LEADERSHIP

• STAR
• Vision Statement
  Through a collaborative, personalized
  approach that includes on-line learning, STAR
  Leadership Academy seeks to empower students to
  serve as tomorrows leaders in a multicultural
  society and to encourage and inspire life long
  learning in themselves and others.

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Visual Performing Arts Academy

• Visual Performing Arts (VAPA)
• A Small Learning Community focusing on providing
  an assortment of visual and performing arts
  related courses.
• Provides an instructional program striving to
  foster a love for and appreciation of the arts.

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Humanitas Academy

• Humanitas
• Interdisciplinary group of core courses taught in
  each grade level.
• Utilizes a team teaching approach where
  connections are made between classes.
• Curriculum is taught in thematic units where
  students are better able to develop an awareness
  of the interconnection between subjects.

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Business and Professional Academy

• Emphasis on preparing students for professions
  in the fields of
• Technology
• Fashion
• Health
• Specialized courses include Web Design Fashion
  Design and Merchandising Physiology

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Education and Community Outreach Academy

• Goals and Objectives of E.C.O.
• Discovery of passions leading to vocational
  choices
• To become life long learners and active
  participants in society
• I.G.P. to be completed in the 9th grade to assist
  students in formulating a post secondary plan

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Traditional Honors Individual Honors

• Traditional Honors (selection based upon
  application)
• Program designed for state-identified highly
  gifted and high performing students.
• Academic program challenges students to the
  highest degree preparing students for the finest
  colleges and universities.
• Students must apply
• Individual Honors Program
• Most selective honors program.
• Students have minimum scores in 90th percentile
  in all areas.
• Individualized academic program

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School Involvement

• Students who become involved in school
  activities, whether clubs, teams, or other groups
  tend to be more successful at school.
• The benefit of a large school like Taft is its
  wide array of interesting activities.

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Teams (this is a partial list)

• Football
• Basketball
• Cross-Country
• Soccer
• Tennis
• Volleyball

• Softball
• Baseball
• Track
• Swimming Diving
• Golf

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Activity Groups (this is a partial list)

• Robotics Engineering
• Film Club
• Knights Ladies
• Latinos Unidos
• Black Student Alliance
• Jewish Student Union
• Christian Club
• Persian Club
• Interact Key Club
• Korean Club
• Gay Straight Alliance
• California Scholarship Federation

• Cheer
• Dance Drill Team
• Marching Band
• Orchestra
• Jazz Ensemble
• Vocal Ensemble
• Play Production
• Speech Debate

There are many more clubs.
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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsGeneral Overview

• Need a minimum of 230 credits.
• Must pass the California High School Exit Exam
  English and Math sections (CAHSEE).
• Must pass all minimum subject requirements
• Must complete Service Learning Requirement
• Must complete Computer Literacy Requirement
• Any D should be retaken if application to a
  4-year college is desired (no credit will be
  earned).
• Any Fail (F) must be made up over summer
  school, or through Adult/Night School

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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsGeneral Overview
Continued

• All electives are for the entire year.
• 9th grade students are part of a particular
  program and the electives are set for such
  programs.
• There are few available electives at Taft.
• Do not plan on changing classes at 2nd semester.
• It is the responsibility of each student to be
  aware of all graduation requirements and his/her
  total number of credits.

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Academic Programming

• 9th to 10th grade need 55 credits
• 10th to 11th grade need 110 credits
• 11th to 12th grade need 170 credits
• Students earn credits by passing courses with a
  grade of D or better.
• Students need 230 credits to graduate

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Credits???How to progress to next grade level.

• How do students earn credits?
• Completing Taft Classes
• Summer School
• Night School (11th-12th grade) must be 16
• ROP ROC classes must be 16
• College classes

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LAUSD Graduation Requirements

• The following slides explain the course
  requirements to graduate.
• It is very important to understand the
  requirements and check off successful completion
  of each requirement.

www.tafthigh.org
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LAUSD Graduation Requirements

• English 4 years 40 credits
• History 3 years 30 credits
• Math 2 years 20 credits (Algebra Geometry)
• Lab Science 2 years 20 credits (Bio Physical
  Sci.)
• Visual/Fine Art 1 year 10 credits
• Technical Art 1 year 10 credits
• PE 2 years 20 credits
• Life Skills Health 1 year 10 credits
• Electives 70 credits

Computer Literacy Service Learning CAHSEE English
Math students first take CAHSEE as 10th graders
(need to have at least 55 credits)
Total 230 Credit
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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsGeneral Overview
Continued

• All electives are for the entire year.
• (Do not plan on changing classes at 2nd
  semester.)
• Any Class retaken where a D was originally
  earned will not earn 5 credits for that class.
• It is the responsibility of each student to be
  aware of all graduation requirements and their
  total number of credits.

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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsSocial Studies

• World History A/B (10th grade)
• US History A/B (11th grade)
• Government (12th grade)
• Economics (12th grade)
• Students need a minimum of 30 credits.

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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsEnglish

• English 9 A/B or ESL 3/4 (9th grade)
• English 10 A/B (10th grade)
• American Literature (11th grade)
• Contemporary Composition (11th grade)
• Expository Composition (12th grade)
• Writers Seminar (12th grade)
• Students need a minimum of 40 credits.
• Alternative courses include AP Literature AP
  English Language

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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsMathematics

• Algebra 1 A/B
• Geometry A/B or Applied Mathematics A/B
• Algebra 2A/B (for entering 9th graders 2008
  beyond)
• Students need a minimum of 20 credits
• Students need to complete Geometry A/B or higher.
• 4-Year Colleges require 3 years of mathematics

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Math Flow Chart
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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsLaboratory Science

• Life Science
• Biology A/B
• Physical Science (one year of the following)
• Inter-Coordinated Science 1A/B
• Chemistry A/B (needs to have taken or be
  enrolled in Algebra 2)
• Physics A/B (needs to have taken or be enrolled
  in Algebra 2)
• Students need a minimum of 20 credits
• Students need to complete Life Science Physical
  Science.

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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsVisual/Performing
Arts1 year of same course 2 semesters

• General Arts
• Music History
• Music Theory

• Visual Arts
• Drawing A/B
• Cartoon Animation A/B
• Painting A/B
• Advertising Design A/B
• Calligraphy A/B
• Design Craft A/C
• Ceramics A/B
• Sculpture A/B
• Art Production
• AP Drawing

• Performing Arts
• Drama A/B
• Play Production
• Band/Orchestra
• Begin. Instruments
• Dance Choreography
• Vocal Ensemble

Students need a minimum of 10 credits
Students should plan on completing an entire year
of the same Visual/Performing Arts Elective.
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LAUSD Graduation RequirementsApplied Technical
Arts 1 year 2 semesters

• Consumer Education
• Fashion Design A/B
• Foods Nutrition
• International Foods
• Fashion Merchandising

• Business Technology
• Intro to Computers
• Information Processing
• Computer Operator/Software
• Computer Programming A/B
• AP Computer Science
• Internet Publication

Students need a minimum of 10 credits
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Taft High SchoolForeign LanguageElective For
4-Year College Program not a high school
requirementCourse requirement for entering 9th
graders 2008 beyond

• Korean 1, 2, 3
• Spanish 1, 2, 3, AP
• French 1, 2, 3, AP
• A.S.L. 1 2

Junior College Foreign Languages Or classes taken
at private accredited schools
Italian Hebrew Farsi Chinese Japanese Must
Sign-up in the College Office.

• Students need a C or better to move to next
  year.
• 4-Year Colleges require a minimum of 2 years of
  same foreign language.

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Taft High SchoolA Sampling of elective courses
available throughout high school career

• Introduction to Psychology Sociology
• Fashion Design Merchandising
• Film Integrated with Art
• Oceanography Marine Biology
• Journalism
• Yearbook
• School Newspaper (Journalism 2A)
• African-American History
• African-American Literature
• Astronomy Geology
• Leadership (Student Cabinet)
• AP European History
• AP World History

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UC CSU A - G RequirementsPreparing for
College
These are the minimum requirements. It is
recommended to take more. Specific courses
available in counseling office.

• A Social Studies 2 years
• BEnglish 4 years
• CMathematics 3 years
• DLab Science 2 years
• EForeign Language 2 years of same language
• FVisual/Perf. Arts 1 year of same art
• GElectives 1 year advanced courses

4-Year Universities only recognize grades of C
or better.
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Taft High SchoolMoving into Academically
Enriched, Honors Advanced Placement Selection
Process
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Taft High SchoolAdvanced Placement 10th grade
and beyond

• AP courses are demanding. Expect to have
  extensive reading and writing assignments.
• Students enrolling in an AP class must
• Attend class presentation in the spring, fill out
  application and turn it in on time
• And be selected by the selection committee.
• Must commit to taking the AP test in May.

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Honors AP Meeting DatesAnnouncements as to
specific dates and locations will be available
one week prior to scheduled date in the
counseling office.

• Meeting dates usually begin Mid-April.
• It is the students responsibility to attend the
  meeting.
• The meetings are held by department during lunch
• Students must adhere to the requirements of the
  application process in order to get into honors
  and Advanced Placement classes
• Counselors place students in these classes ONLY
  after they receive an approved list by the
  department chairs

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Taft High SchoolAlternative ProgramsMethods
where Extra Credits may be earned

• Junior College Courses
• Must have approval of the college counselor
• Adult/Night School
• Must have approval of your counselor and you must
  be 16
• Occupational Skill Centers (WVOC)
• Must have approval of your counselor and be 16
• ROP Regional Occupational Program
• Must be in the 10th grade or higher.
• Must have approval of your counselor
• ROP is a Job/Career Skills program.

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Study Skills Use SQ3R

• Survey
• Look through your reading assignment
• Read headings, bold vocabulary
• Read introduction and summary paragraphs
• Study the pictures and graphs

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SQ3R

• Question
• Think about the Who, What, Where, When, Why or
  How to turn each heading into a question. Note
  any questions or activities at the end of the
  lesson.

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SQ3R

• READ
• Carefully read the material to find the answers
  to your questions.
• Recite
• Try to recall in YOUR OWN WORDS the important
  details
• Review
• Review what you have read. Answer all the
  questions.

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Importance of Seeking Help

• Are you getting behind?
• Go to tutoring after school in the library on
  Monday, Wednesday or Thursday
• Go to lunch tutoring for math in various locales
  on campus
• Talk to your teachers about what you need to do
  to get on track
• Remember you need 55 credits
• to promote to 10th grade

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Summer School

• Summer school can further ones academic
  instruction.
• Any course grade of Fail needs to be made up
  during summer school.
• It is the responsibility of the student to enroll
  in the appropriate course(s).
• Summer school applications are available from
  students individual counselors in late spring.

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The College Office

• Through the college office students are able to
  expand their knowledge of and about the college
  admission process and further develop a
  post-secondary plan.
• The college office is open daily from 8 am 3
  pm.
• Students are encouraged to visit during nutrition
  and lunch and/or make an appointment with Ms.
  Livingston, the college counselor.

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Individual Graduation Plan What it is and why
you need a plan

• Each student will be meeting with his/her
  counselor to plan their IGP
• Discuss what classes are required and which
  classes you are interested in taking
• Think about what Small Learning Community you may
  wish to join

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Keeping in touch
Web Site Email counselors, teachers,
administrators through the faculty/staff portion
of website. www.tafthigh.org