Portage Central High School

Registration for Classes 2019-2020School Year

Class of 2023

Objectives for Today✓ Meet your high school counselor.✓ Learn about what PCHS has to offer.✓ Go through the High School Program

of Studies.✓ Talk about making a high school

schedule.✓ Learn how to fill out the course

request contracts.

Handouts

■ Program of StudiesDescribes high school courses.

■ Talking PointsNotes for today.

■ Picking Ninth Grade Classes HandoutTake this packet home to read it for more information.

■ PE and Fine Arts Handout Shows the options for PE and for Fine Arts requirement course options.

■ Course Selection Sheets This handout lists the classes you can take at PCHS.

■ Course Request Contracts (long sheet) The worksheet that will go to your high school counselor.

Welcome to Portage Central High School!

What kind of activities do we have at the high school?

www.pchsstudentactivities.com

Counselor Assignments

■ A, B, F, M, N Mr. Tarnutzer–ttarnutzer@portageps.org

■ D, E, O, P, Q, R Mrs. Jepson –ljepson@portageps.org

■ C, G, H, I, K, L Mrs. Schippers–sschippers@portageps.org

■ J, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z Mrs. Kreis–kkreis@portageps.org

Central Middle and High School

■ Remember that all freshman to PCHS are new.

■ The class of 2023 is coming to PCHS from other schools as well as CMS and WMS.

■ You may attend PC and PN dances and athletic events.

■ Plan to make new friends at the many high school events! ☺

Tour of the Program of Studies

Preparing You for Your Future

Tour of the Program of Studies

■ Page i – General Information■ Page iii – International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma

Information, decisions in 10th grade■ Page vi – KAMSC—PCHS Schedule■ Page vi – Early Middle College (EMC) (Programs

on page 6, Decisions in 10th grade)■ Page vii – Testing Out■ Page 1 – Graduation Requirements■ Page 6 – Freshman Checklist

Tour of the Program of Studies

■ Pages 14-16 – Courses by Department■ Page 25 – English Requirements

– Honors vs. Regular (More on this later.)■ Page 59 – Seminar■ Page 61 Physical Education Requirements

– Waivers (Send an e-mail to your counselor for questions.)

9th Grade Required Classes

■ English 9■ Math■ Chemistry/Physics■ Modern American History■ World Language■ Elective (Could be PE, Art, etc.)■ Elective (Could be Health or Freshman Focus)

Typical Freshman Schedule

Honors Classes in High School?

• My grades have consistently been B’s or better in previous courses.

• I enjoy reading without being prompted.

• I am organized and seldom do homework “at the last minute”

• I enjoy writing.

• I always read at the pace assigned by teachers.

• I am attentive in class and frequently participate in class discussions.

• I enjoy challenging assignments and going beyond what is expected.

English Honors English

Of Mice and Men The Grapes of Wrath

OR

116 pages 455 pages and summer reading.

Math

■ Algebra 1

■ Geometry/Honors Geometry

■ Algebra 2/Honors Algebra 2

Chemistry 1 Honors Chemistry 1

The KAMSC Question

Please sign up for classes assuming that you will be attending PCHS all day and taking your math and science classes at PCHS.

If you are accepted into KAMSC, contact your high school counselor. The schedule can be changed once you have been accepted. The counselors need you to request this schedule change.

Modern American History

Additional Honors American History Books along with summer reading.

World Language

Portage Central High School language

offerings. (Northern has Latin.)

French Spanish

Our World Language StaffAll of our teachers are bilingual and have lived in the target countries.

Travel opportunitiesIn the past, our Spanish and French classes have offered travel experiences all around the world.

Peru

Costa Rica

Spain

France

Buen viaje!Bon voyage!

What is Freshmen Focus/Health?• Transition into H.S.

• Only freshmen in this class.

• Emphasis on learning styles and study skills

• Adolescent brain development

• Career Exploration Project

• Interest survey

• Career exploration

• Meets the health requirement for graduation.

Physical Education ( Semester Classes)

•Weight Lifting & FitnessMales and Females or justFemales only

•Fitness for Life

Physical Education ( Semester Classes)

•Aquatics and Fitness

We have a new pool ! ☺

Physical Education (Semester Classes)

•Team Sports

•Advanced Basketball

•Fitness for Life

•Advanced Football

Skyward will only take one code at a time.

■ We have two codes for our PE classes.■ For example, if you want a class just

one time, use the (1) code: P022 Team Sports (1) P012 Fit Life (1)

■ This means you want Team Sports once and Fitness for Life once.

If you want the same PE class all year, this is how it works:

■ Fitness for Life all year:– P012 Fitness for Life (1)– P013 Fitness for Life (2)

■ Team Sports all year:– P022 Team Sports (1)– P023 Team Sports (2)

Codes for PE

■ P012 Fitness for Life (1)■ P013 Fitness for Life (2)

■ P022 Team Sports (1)■ P023 Team Sports (2)

■ P052 Aquatics and Fitness (1)■ P053 Aquatics and Fitness (2)

■ P062 Weightlifting and Fit (1)■ P063 Weightlifting and Fit (2)

■ P078 Powertraining Females (1)

■ P079 Powertraining Females (2)

■ P086 Advanced Basketball (1)■ P087 Advanced Basketball (2)

■ P142 Advanced Football 1■ P143 Advanced Football 2

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Some New Terms for High School

■ 1. Semesters– This is a time frame in high school.– A semester is 18 weeks long.– There are two semesters in high school.– First semester starts in September.– Second semester usually starts at the

end of January.– You earn a half credit at the end of your

semester for each class you pass. 31

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Another Term for High School

■ 2. Credits– When you finish a semester and earn a passing

grade, you also earn a half (0.5) credit for each class you pass.

– Each semester, you will have seven (7) classes or seven (7) hours.

– Each of these hours, per semester, is worth a half credit. (*Half a year equals a *half credit.)

– Some classes are one full year. One full year equals 1 credit.

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Signing Up For Classes In The High School

■ We have listed all of the high school classes on the course selection sheet with NAMES and code numbers.

■ When you sign up for classes on your course request contract, we need the code number and the NAME of the class.

■ Remember the code is for the computer and the title is for the human. ☺

■ We also need to know how many CREDITS your classes are.

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High School Classes

■ Most of our high school classes are one full year or 1 credit.– English 9 or Honors– Modern American History or Honors– Math

■ Some of our classes are only one semester, a *half year or a *0.5 credit.– *Chemistry 1 or *Honors – *Physics 1 or *Honors

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Codes for the High School Classes

■ Half year or 0.5 credit classes have an asterisk*.■ For example:

– *Z010 Seminar 1 = First semester seminar (September through January)

– *Z020 Seminar 2 = Second semester seminar(February through June)

– *F771 Health = *Semester/Half Year

■ All the other classes have no asterisk, so they are one full year or 1 credit.

– F711 Freshman Focus Health = Full year, 1 credit37

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Signing Up For Your Classes

■ You will have seven (7) hours, all year long, next year.

■ Seven (7) hours in high school will be seven credits for freshman year.

■ When you write down your classes, you need to write down seven (7) credits.

■ You will have required credits you have to take. These are required classes for graduation.

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Required Classes

■ Four (4) to five (5) hours/credits are required. – English 1.0 credit or 1.0 year– Math 1.0 credit or 1.0 year

– American History 1.0 credit or 1.0 year

– Science two half credits (.5 + .5 =1.0 credit)

– *Physics .5 credit or half a year

– *Chemistry .5 or half a year

■ World Language is one (1) credit or one year. – You may take it next year or after you start high school.

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Required Classes

■ Health (0.5 credit) – Health: Half year/half credit class– Freshman Focus/Health: Full year class, one credit

■ Physical Education (1.5 credits during high school)– Classes at PCHS– Waivers

■ Completing a season of a PCHS sport.■ Completing 60 hours of an outside activity that is taught or coached by an

adult. You must get approval from your counselor before you begin your activities. You may start the summer after 8th grade.

■ Marching band.

■ Fine Arts (1.0 credit during high school)– Freshmen Fine Arts classes are on the back of the PE handout.4

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Elective Classes

■ You will have classes you may choose.■ In the high school, we call these electives.■ Pick elective classes that sound interesting and fun.■ Pick classes that help with your future goals

(career, college, etc.)■ Talk to your parents, your teachers and your

counselor for ideas.■ Check the results in Career Cruising to match your

career goals with classes at high school.

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Alternative Classes■ The computer will pick the hours of the

classes.■ If two classes are full, we will need

alternative ideas for classes.■ Be sure to pick alternative classes that are

interesting to you, so you will like the schedule you have next year.

■ Please be sure to fill in the alternative classes on your course request contract.

■ In the computer, put your first choice 1st.43

Course Selection Sheet

Front■ These classes are offered

for 9th graders next year:

Back■ These are graduation

requirements:

LET’S SIGN UP FOR YOUR FRESHMAN YEAR! ☺

Course Request Contract

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Course Request Contract

Be sure to neatly write in all of this information.

Getting ready for the Computer Lab…

Enrollment Instructions■ Your middle school teachers

will make recommendations for your core classes.

■ You can turn in your long forms to the CMS Counseling Office at any time. They are due in your World Language/Guided Study classes on February 7, 2019.

Skyward Computer Screen

Be sure to let us know if you plan to go to PCHS next year. This is on the left-hand side of your contract.

Be sure to get a parent signature on the left-hand side of your course request contract. ☺

In the middle is where you make your

course requests for next y

ear….

Skyward Confirmation

■ After you put your classes into the computer in the computer lab, you will have a form printed out to give to your parents. This print out is called a Skyward Confirmation Form.

■ Show this form to your parents and get a signature.

■ Your parents can override teacher recommendations with this Skyward Confirmation form.

■ Turn this Skyward Confirmation form in to the CMS Counseling Office or at parent teacher conferences.

What should my completed form look like?

Let’s look at an EXAMPLE! ☺

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Dates and Deadlines for Registration

■ Core teacher recommendations will be determined by your middle school teachers, so you cannot enter these core classes in the computer.

■ USE YOUR LONG COURSE REQUEST CONTRACT FORM for online registration for electives.

■ Be sure to have your parent/guardian sign and approve your long course request contract form.

■ Long course request forms are due on February 7, 2019 to your world language/guided study teacher.

Registration in the Computer labs on February 11, 2019.

■ You will begin registering online in the computer labs on Monday, February 11, 2019.

■ You have to put in encore/elective alternatives in Skyward.

■ Put your encore/elective alternatives in order of preference in Skyward because the computer will go in order of preference.

■ If there are no alternative classes, the computer will pick for you.

Parent Approval

■ Skyward confirmation sheets will be passed out in homeroom before conferences.

■ On these Skyward printouts, your parents can see what you requested and what teachers recommended.

■ Your parents can sign and make changes on these Skyward forms at parent-teacher conferences, March 5 and March 7, 2019.

High School Information Beyond Today

■ Step One – Look through your information from today.

■ Step Two – Attend 8th Grade Parent Night on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 6:30 PM.

■ Step Three – Speak with your 8th grade teachers or middle school counselor if you have questions.

■ Step Four – Send an email to your high school counselor if you have any additional questions.

If there are any changes that need to be made on your high school schedule, please have your parents send an e-mail to your high school

counselor.

Counselor Contact Information

■ A, B, F, M, N Mr. Tarnutzer–ttarnutzer@portageps.org

■ D, E, O, P, Q, R Mrs. Jepson –ljepson@portageps.org

■ C, G, H, I, K, L Mrs. Schippers–sschippers@portageps.org

■ J, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z Mrs. Kreis–kkreis@portageps.org

Class of 2023