While K-8 districts may not need to validate graduation, you should still define some requirements, because that is used to organize classes into subject areas for Course Requests and Plans, like "Math", "Social Studies", "Electives", etc.

Note: To define graduation requirements, you must be skilled at thinking in unambiguous logical sequences, like a computer, so you may want to have your IT staff help you with this. Also feel free to send us your documented graduation requirements to support@jupitered.com and we'll be glad to review your settings.

Your account includes a "Sample" set of requirements very common for most high schools. We recommend you study how they are setup, then copy and modify them.

Examples

30 credits of math, at least 10 of those credits in Algebra 1

Some requirements are too complicated to define through a graphical user interface, so ultimately you must review each student's record to ensure they meet all your requirements. Here are examples:

• Two years of the same language. (It can check the total language credits, but it doesn't check if they're the same language.)

• Maximum or minimum credits required per semester. (It checks total credits only, not per semester.)

• Deadlines to complete courses by a certain year. (It does not consider when the course was taken.)

• Maximum times a course can be taken for credit. (You must define a separate non-credit course equivalent for students taking a course beyond the maximum.)

Note: This does not automatically mark which students have graduated. You must do that manually on the screen. Click the "Bulk edit" link to graduate all seniors at once.

Courses

After you have defined your requirements, edit each course on the screen. Set the "Grad Req" menu to the appropriate topic area; e.g., set your Biology course to the "Life Science" topic. Some courses may satisfy more than one requirement, so click "Add Another"; e.g., set your Orchestra class to both "Fine Arts" and "Electives". (Maximum 3 requirements per course) Edit the courses for all previous years as well (changes you make in one year do not apply to other years, so you must edit each year separately).

Changing Requirements Each Year

If your graduation requirements change, you may select "Save Copy As..." from the menu, then make changes. This lets you keep multiple sets of graduation requirements. For example, you may name one set "Class of 2010-2012" and another "Class of 2013+". You may create more requirements like this for any purpose, such as Advanced Regents Diploma.

Note: If your gradation requirements change one year so that you no longer need a certain topic, like "Health", you cannot delete that topic without affecting previous years. So instead rename it to something like "Health [obs]".

The screen is where you specify which requirements apply to each student. Click the "Bulk edit" link to apply the same requirements to an entire grade level.

College Entrance Requirements

Create college entrance requirements the same way you create high school graduation requirements. Likewise you can create more than one.


See also: Four-Year Plans