Counseling Department FAQ's

Minimum state and district graduation requirements require that "all students earn one and one half (1.5) credits in the area of fitness, which shall be met by course work in physical education. However, in accordance with RCW 28A.230.050, individual students may be excused from participating in P.E. otherwise required on account of physical disability, employment, or religious belief, or because of participation in directed athletics or military science and tactics or for other good cause. Such excused students shall be required to demonstrate proficiency/competency in the knowledge portion of the fitness requirement, in accordance with WAC 180-51-066 and written district policy."

No. Health is a graduation requirement.

A student may elect to pursue credit in areas other than World Language if the choice is based on a career-oriented course of study identified in the student’s High School and Beyond Plan. To do so, the student’s parent/guardian (or designee) must agree that credit in other areas is more appropriate than World Language because it better serves the student’s career goals. A meeting must be held with the student, the parent/guardian (or designee), and a high school representative to discuss and sign a form acknowledging they understand the World Language requirement is a college-entrance requirement and that they believe that other alternate course selections are more appropriate given the student’s education and career goals.

If requested by the student and his or her family, a student who has completed high school courses before attending high school shall be given high school credit which would go towards fulfilling high school graduation requirements. For instance, students taking 8th grade World Language classes offered at LWSD middle schools that meet Year 1 World Language standards may be awarded high school credit for the course. Students cannot earn high school credit by taking exploratory middle school language courses that do not meet Year 1 World Language standards.

Yes. Students who wish to pursue competency/proficiency credit must sign up and pay a fee to participate in “Washington World Language Assessment Days.” Through this state-sponsored program, students complete an assessment and receive a certificate of recognition signed by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the State Board of Education (SBE), with a cover letter indicating proficiency levels attained in the tested language and high school credit equivalencies based on the State’s recommendations for competency-based credits.

• Novice Mid – 1 credit
• Novice High – 2 credits
• Intermediate Low – 3 credits
• Intermediate Mid – 4 credits

• Demonstrate occupational specific skills.
• Demonstrate knowledge of career options within a chosen pathway.
• Demonstrate employability and leadership skills.

Generally speaking, courses designated as “Career and Technical Education” (CTE) meet the Occ. Ed. credit requirement. However, a non-CTE course may also be designated as Occ. Ed.Our course catalog designates which classes satisfy Occ. Ed./CTE credit.

There is no provision for waiving the Occ. Ed. requirement or for earning credit in another subject area other than Occ. Ed. However, some CTE courses, which fulfill the Occ. Ed. credit requirement, are “cross-credited” with another academic area.

The “two-for-one” policy enables students who take CTE-equivalent courses to satisfy two graduation requirements while earning one credit for a single course; hence, “two-for-one”. The purpose of this policy is to create flexibility for students to choose more elective courses or to address other graduation requirements. A CTE-equivalent course consists of two courses: one CTE, one academic. One of those courses is placed on the student’s transcript for credit. Students generally choose which course they want placed on the transcript, and this choice is driven by their High School and Beyond Plan. The second course, which is not placed on the transcript, may be “checked off” as a “met requirement” by counseling staff. Which course is put on the transcript and which one is locally “checked off” will continue to be determined by the student based on his/her post high school goals. The “two-for-one” policy does not change the total number of credits the student needs to graduate.