AF Amistad High School Family Handbook 2017-2018 | 36 Admission to a 4-year college/university Yes Required Community Service hours Yes, 40 hours Non Credit-Bearing Courses Courses offered as pre-requisites to high school-level instruction, including Reading and Independent Reading are non-credit bearing and have no bearing on GPA, though students will receive grades on their report cards as an indication of their performance in these courses. Such courses do not count towards meeting the school’s graduation requirements, except in instances where a student’s IEP indicates that credit in such a course is appropriate towards that student’s educational goals. Such instances are established by the school administration and special education department. Full Course Load All students must maintain a full course load every quarter, regardless of grade-level status. A full course load is defined as one elective course (Art, Music, P.E., and/or Foreign Language) and one course in each of the core disciplines—mathematics; literature; composition/seminar; science; history; Foundations of Leadership; SAT prep (11th grade only). Some scholars may be required to take Reading or Math Support classes. Scholars repeating their senior year due to insufficient credits may, with administrative approval, follow an individualized, modified schedule that includes concurrent enrollment at AFAHS and a local college or community college. Promotion to the Next Grade AFAHS provides a rigorous, college-preparatory educational program, and the faculty, staff, and administration are committed to helping all students satisfy all requirements for promotion and graduation. Our ultimate bar is college readiness. We believe that in some instances it will be better for a scholar to repeat a grade in order to fully develop the skills, habits and knowledge required for the next grade and for rigorous colleges and careers. We recognize that retention is a major decision that has important ramifications for a student and family. We take the responsibility to make good decisions regarding retention seriously. In fact, our consideration of the long-term ramifications is what often underlies our decision to retain a scholar. When a student’s performance indicates that they are not ready to move on, we would much rather have scholars repeat a grade while with AF so that we can provide intensive support and work in close partnership with families – as opposed to sending a scholar off to the next grade where he/she may not be set up for success. Because AF’s academic and behavioral standards are more rigorous than many public schools, we often have different and more rigorous promotional criteria.  The school sees it as its job to help all scholars meet promotion criteria and ultimately to be prepared for success in the next grade. There are times when a scholar simply needs