Advanced / High School Credit Courses

The advanced courses have been designed to meet the needs of students who have evidenced high aptitude and maturity while in earlier grades.

The curriculum at Hamilton Southeastern Schools is rich with various opportunities for advancement. Students who seek rigorous academic challenges may find that they can excel at advanced courses and successfully accomplish high school coursework while in junior high.

Honors Algebra I - for students who successfully complete* 8th-grade math prior to 7th or 8th grade.

Honors Geometry - for students who successfully complete* Honors Algebra I.

World Language – for students who are interested in exploring French, German, or Spanish. 8th-grade world language courses will count for high school placement but will not appear on the high school transcript for credit, as they have in previous years. Students taking 8th-grade world language in the 2025-26 school year will still follow the high school level one curriculum. Upon completion, students will be recommended for either level 2 or level 2 honors at the high school level.

Computer Foundations - This is a high school credit class for 8th-grade students. It is designed to introduce students to five major topics within computer science, including computing systems, networks and the internet, data and analysis, algorithms and planning, and impacts of computing.

*Successful completion in junior high math and science accelerated courses is defined as earning a B- or above.

About

Prerequisites

Similar to the course progressions outlined above, all honors courses taken in high school have prerequisite requirements. These are outlined in the course description guides available in the academic advising sections at the high schools.

It is important to note that eventually advanced science requires applying a high level of advanced math. Students who intend to progress on to Honors Chemistry, Honors Physics, and Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) science courses in high school should thoroughly review the math prerequisites for these courses in order to ensure enrollment requirements are met.

Earning High School Credit Towards Diploma

Earning High School Credit toward Diploma

High school honors courses taken in junior high will be counted in the high school grade point average as a weighted credit.

If the student earns a grade of C- or higher in the course, high school courses taken in junior high will count toward Academic Honors Diploma credit requirements.

Biology I/Honors Biology I is a required course for high school graduation and must appear on the high school transcript.

Procedural Considerations

Students who are not successful in an accelerated course placement may be moved to an alternative course. This may involve repeating a 7th or 8th grade level course.

With the exception of World Language, students with a “B” or lower on a high school course in junior high may retake the course or semester as a 9th grader. Retakes are permitted for World Language grades of “C-” or lower, or the student can take Level I of a different language in high school.

Except for Honors Biology I, a course taken in junior high can be removed from high school transcripts if the request is made before the end of 11th grade.

Consistent with high school procedures, a student will be allowed to retake within two semesters of the previously taken course. The grade the student is assigned when repeating the course will replace the first grade earned and will become part of the student’s GPA.