Pre-COVID-19, students were required to have 52.5 hours of class credits in order to be able to walk across the graduation stage in four years. However, how students receive these hours of credit has recently changed.
The number of credits and class requirements has been fluctuating over the past three years. “Before COVID students were required to have 52.5 hours of credit to graduate, right after COVID it went to 48.5, and currently, it is 50.5 hours. [The senior high principal, Stephanie Nitchals] wants all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to have seven classes on their schedule and seniors need to have six,” counselor Kate Berry said.
A change that has happened this year is freshman taking a social studies credit for the first time. “BSM has always had three years of social studies as a requirement for graduation, but many other high schools have a four year requirement. We decided on three and a half by having freshmen take human geography. Students who took AP Human Geography really felt like that class specifically really prepared them for the other social studies classes. With this feedback, we wanted to give all students that exposure by offering a regular level class for them,” Senior High Principal Stephanie Nitchals said.
Another recent change is when students will take their science classes. This was mainly to keep BSM a competitive school when it comes to college admissions. “Freshmen in biology was the first class that started the requirement of having to take biology, chemistry, and physics. The reason we’re doing this is just because this is what colleges are expecting. So we want to make sure that we have everybody as prepared as we can get them for their post-high school careers,” Nitchals said.
We actually created special art classes for hockey players to take during first quarter and fourth quarter when they aren’t leaving for ice time so they can get as close to the full amount of credit needed to graduate
— Kate Berry
Changing when students take biology then led BSM to make other changes in the science department. “Physics is now a requirement for all students to take in order to graduate along with taking [chemistry] and [biology]. This again is making sure students are more competitive in college admissions. Also having students start with bio earlier in high school, this then opens up AP chem and bio options in the future,” Berry said.
Increased requirements have posed additional challenges for hockey players, who leave after 6th period to go to practice, making them have fewer opportunities to meet their credit requirements. So, the administration has had to make some class changes in order to accommodate them.“We actually created special art classes for hockey players to take during first quarter and fourth quarter when they aren’t leaving for ice time so they can get as close to the full amount of credit needed to graduate,” Berry said.