High School Course Catalog

The Education and Economic Development Act 2005 (EEDA) was written and passed by the South Carolina Legislature to create the curriculum framework for kindergarten through post-secondary education.

The EEDA requires high schools to:

• Organize the curriculum around 16 state career clusters with cluster majors that relate to career goals. The list of 16 clusters can be found on Advance CTE's website.

• Develop for each student and annually review an Individual Graduation Plan that outlines courses required for graduation and preparation for post-secondary career aspirations, including extended learning opportunities in the workplace or college.

• Implement the principles of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) High Schools That Work Model.

• Provide every student access to a Career Development Facilitator (CDF) and School Counselor to develop, review and revise their Individual Graduation Plan (IGP). The plan should support their career choice with appropriate academic courses. Every student is encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to earn 32 credits while in high school. Several career information programs such as SCOIS are available at the school to assist students, Career Development Facilitators and School Counselors with this planning.

• The Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Diploma is an international curriculum and examination system that emphasizes the value of broad and balanced study. The Cambridge Academy provides students with the opportunity to pursue a rigorous program of study based on standardized curriculum. Students will also have the opportunity to apply learning through cross content methods. Contact Battery Creek High School for additional details.

Student achievement begins with understanding the conditions, successes, and challenges of each school within our district. The new South Carolina accountability model provides information to build that understanding. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was passed in December 2015 and governs the nation's K-12 public education policy. In response to ESSA, South Carolina outlined new performance indicators of which each elementary, middle, and high school receives an overall performance ratings to include college and career readiness measures.

The ratings for schools are based on meeting the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. Additional details can be found in the South Carolina Report Card.

See what the SC Education Oversight Committee has to say about College and Career Readiness Requirements

Administrators will ensure all students are registered and enrolled through the school counseling department in collaboration with teachers/advisors. See also Welcome Center information. If a student enrolls after a course has started, attendance counts from the first day of the course, not from the day the student enrolls. Students transferring from another school and /or students transferring from one course section into another course section of the same level receive credit for the days attended in the previous school or course. Students transferring from another school receive credit for previously completed coursework whenever comparable.

Students are encouraged to register for courses that provide the highest level of academic challenge, meeting their abilities based on available data, recommendation by a teacher and/or school counselor in the core instructional areas of English, math, social studies and science. Parents, teachers, and school counselors are encouraged to offer positive guidance and direction in assisting a student in establishing goals and making realistic choices. If a student and their parent select a course level that is not recommended by a teacher or school counselor, the parent will be asked to sign a waiver of the recommendation that indicates the preferred course level.

1.    It is the policy of Beaufort County Schools not to discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, handicap, or national origin in its educational program activities, which includes the selection of classes.

2.    School counselors/advisers will hold group meetings to distribute and discuss registration materials and the registration process.

3.    It is imperative that students read the curriculum guide and discuss course plans with parents and guardians. Students need to select courses that will help them meet their goals in life.

4.    Please keep in mind that some courses have prerequisites. For example, Spanish I is a prerequisite for Spanish II. Make certain that you read the curriculum guide carefully and pay close attention to prerequisites.

Students must successfully complete the minimum of 24 credits in the required distribution to be eligible for the SC High School Diploma. One high school credit is equal to one Carnegie unit and requires a minimum of 120 hours of instructional contact.

Credits may be earned through the following:

• On-site semester or year-long high school classes;
• Distance learning courses offered by the VirtualSC High School and/or Edgenuity; and/or
• Dual credit classes with post-secondary institutions which Beaufort County School District has a Memorandum of Understanding.

Students are referred to their school counselor for the detailed policies and procedures related to distance learning courses.

Qualifications

To qualify for a state high school diploma, a student must earn a minimum of 24 Carnegie units of credit in state-approved courses distributed as follows:

• English Language Arts (must include English 2) 4.0
• Mathematics (must include Algebra 1) 4.0 
• Science (must include Biology 1) 3.0
• Social Studies 3.0
  • Must include US History/Constitution (1.0)
  • Must include Economics (.5)    
  • Must include US Government (.5)
• Personal Finance   .5
• Foreign Language* 1.0
• Physical Education or JROTC 1** 1.0
• Computer Science 1.0
• Electives 6.5

*Many colleges/universities require a min of 2.0 credits for Foreign Language
**Must include a health component

South Carolina has roughly 100,000 students with disabilities serviced under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), of which the majority are able to earn a State high school diploma. Given the varying levels of student achievement, some students are unable to complete this required high school coursework. As a result, there is a need to provide an alternative option for students with disabilities to demonstrate their ability to transition into the work community. The uniform state-recognized SC High School Credential will be aligned with the State's Profile of the South Carolina Graduate and to a newly created course of study for these students with disabilities whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines this course of study is appropriate.  The purpose of the SC High School Credential is to provide equitable job-readiness opportunities for these students throughout the state, ensure they have evidence of employability skills, and honor the work they have undertaken in our public schools.

Beaufort County School District prides itself on its collaborative team approach on behalf of all students with disabilities. Please visit the BCSD Special Education website for more information.

Commencement Exercises

Special education students who meet all of the requirements of their Individual Education Plan (IEP) but have not met the requirements for the SC High School Diploma are allowed to participate in the commencement exercises and receive the Beaufort County Certificate. All special education students should meet with their Multi-Disciplinary Teams to discuss the IEP goals and requirements for the Beaufort County Certificate.

Enrollment of English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Guidelines
When enrolling a student, who has been identified as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), there are guidelines and procedures that must be followed when creating the student’s class schedule. First and foremost, who is an ESOL student? Students are identified during enrollment after the parent/guardian completes the English Home Language Survey and note that the language they speak more often outside of school is other than English. Each student will be assessed using the WIDA- ACCESS Placement Test to determine the level of service for each student.

Please refer to the ESOL Registration Handbook for information about enrolling ESOL students at the district's Welcome Center.

Please review the South Carolina State Board of Education Uniform Policy and the Uniform Grading Policy Administrative Procedures.

Other grading policies in the Uniform Grading Policy include:

• The criteria for determining honor graduates, to include valedictorian and salutatorian and Top 10, is a local decision.

• Life Scholarships are determined at the end of the senior year, however, local boards may establish earlier cut-offs (i.e. 7th semester or 3rd 9 weeks of the senior year) for determining a rank for any local purpose.

• Beaufort County School District will use only the SC Uniform Grading Scale for determining GPA, class rank and local recognition.

• Using the first day of enrollment as a baseline, students who withdraw from a course

• With the first day of enrollment in the course as the baseline, students who withdraw from a course within three days in a 45-day course, five days in a 90-day course, or ten days in a 180-day course will do so without penalty.

• Students who withdraw from a course after the deadline will be assigned a WF (50) and the F will be calculated in the student’s overall grade point average/ratio.

• The limitations for withdrawing from a course without penalty do not apply to course or course level changes initiated by the administration of a school.