Cedar Ridge Beginner's Guide
This guide contains information for parents and students about high school vocabulary (words needed to fully understand this website), graduation requirements, sample courses, and more!
High School Vocab
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Block | One section of the day. In middle school, it would be referred to as a period. There are 4 blocks per day, 1hr 30 minutes each. Blocks alternate every day. |
| UT | The University of Texas at Austin |
| ACC | Austin Community College |
| GPA | Grade Point Average |
Graduation Requirements
To graduate from high school, students must complete 27 credits. Here is a brief list corresponding with the type of course:
| Credits Required | Course Type |
|---|---|
| English | 4 Credits |
| Math | 4 Credits |
| Science | 4 Credits |
| Social Studies | 4 Credits |
| Foreign Languages (LOTE) | 2 Credits (4 recommended for most colleges) |
| Fine Arts | 1 Credit |
| PE | 1 Credit |
| Electives | 7 Credits |
What are these courses?
English, Science, Social Studies, Math, Languages, and PE are all standard courses. Examples can be found on their respective course recommendations pages.
What are Fine Arts?
Fine Arts include all musical instrument courses, any type of theatre course, choir, any dance course (which are also PE credits), and any art course. Any fine art course beyond 1 credit gives an elective credit.
What are Electives?
Elective courses can be any course that students choose to take, such as Business, Computer Science, Animation, etc. Additionally, if students take any other courses beyond the required credit amount, the extra credits are counted as elective credits.
Sample 4-Year Course Sheet
Here is a sample choice sheet for most students. This site recommends taking only advanced courses. Full course recommendations can be found on the course recommedation page. Students can take some courses outside of school, so this site has added a "/Elective" for the most commonly skipped courses. Addtionaly, Ridgeview or CD Fulkes MS students take the equivalent of 2 years of language in middle school, so a "/Elective/ was added in 10th Grade's LOTE section. Take TAG in all courses if possible, as there is no difference in course rigor. As said earlier, electives can be anything over the required credits, so students can take any course in place of a "/Elective".
| 9th Grade | 10th Grade | 11th Grade | 12th Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| English I Adv./TAG | English II Adv./TAG | English Course | English Course |
| Math Course | Math Course | Math Course | Math Course |
| AP Human Geography | AP World History/US History (AP or IB-Prep)/Elective | Social Studies Course/Elective | Social Studies Course/Elective |
| Adv./TAG Biolody | Adv./TAG Chemistry | Science Course | Science Course |
| Language (LOTE) | LOTE/Elective | Elective | Elective |
| Fine Art/Elective | Elective | Elective | Elective |
| PE/Elective | Elective | Elective | Elective |
| Elective | Elective | Elective | Elective |