Courses Listed by Department

Students may choose to take any course not offered for DMACC/Post-Secondary Enrollment Options credit on an audit (no credit-no grade) basis. This option may not be applied to any of the 5.5 required credits each semester. The audit decision must be made prior to the semester in which the course is taken.

Thoughtful preregistration eliminates many problems for the student and the school when the year begins. Exceptions may be approved by administrators; however, it is very difficult to change courses after the full schedule is made. Be sure to give considerable thought to your course selection. Adding a new course can only be done in the first 3 days of the semester. 

Guidelines for Valley and Valley Southwoods

• Students may drop a class during the first 10 days of the semester and the course will be removed from their schedule. 
• If a student drops a class on day 11 through day 45 of the semester,  a “W” for withdrawal will appear on the student’s permanent transcript.
• After first-quarter or third-quarter, the student may elect to drop a class and receive a failing grade for the course. 

Dropping/adding concurrent enrollment courses may have different guidelines depending on the enrolling institution. Please check with your counselor.

To qualify for a physical education waiver due to an academic schedule of eight credits/periods, the schedule must be either:

1. core driven (no more than two electives), or
2. reflective of core classes for grade-level and graduation, and electives that demonstrate the student’s deep interest and past participation. Examples: 3-4 music courses (vocal and instrumental) or 3-4 technology-based electives. The student cannot randomly take 3-4 electives that do not support a pattern of past interest of collaborative content.

The eight-credit/period schedule is not an option just to get out of physical education. Final decision and approval/denial for the eight-credit/period schedule is made by the building principal.

Students will have the opportunity of choosing one Pass/No Pass per semester, providing it is not a required course for graduation, a required course within Honors or Scholars of Distinction, or offered for DMACC credit. No course that meets a graduation requirement can be taken Pass/No Pass until that graduation requirement is completed (except otherwise indicated on a student’s IEP). Credit may be earned on a Pass/No Pass basis. Students will be expected to obtain a parent/guardian's signature for approval plus the signatures of their counselor and instructor to indicate their awareness of the student's intentions.

The Pass/No Pass decision must be made prior to the end of the first nine weeks of any semester and prior to the end of the seventh day of class for all summer school courses. In addition to the strict Pass/No Pass option, students can elect to remain on a grade basis if the earned grade for the semester is:

• A
• B or better
• C or better

Students electing to take a class Pass/No Pass need to be aware that the class will not count toward the 5.5 credits needed to meet the criteria for Academic Letter awards.

A student may retake a Valley High School, Valley Southwoods, or Walnut Creek Campus course at any site. Both grades will be shown on the transcript, and the highest grade will be used in the GPA. Credit for a course can be awarded only once, and a student cannot gain additional credit or lose credit by repeating a course where credit was already earned. 

Each class will have a semester final assessment period not to exceed 90 minutes in length. 

• Concurrent enrollment courses for DMACC credit cannot be waived. 
• Honors Diploma students and Scholar of Distinction students must take final assessments in all required courses in the respective program.
• Course Competency Exams do not give credit but merely advance the student. 

All transcript requests are to be submitted online. Faxes, phone calls, emails, and mail will no longer be accepted.

Some requests will incur fees that are listed on the start page of the order process.

Currently enrolled students receive two free transcripts; each transcript requested after that is $5, plus a $3 fee per transaction, regardless of the number sent. It is advisable to have transcripts sent directly to the college office of admission; they will match it up with your application. Email verification will be sent to the student when the transcript has been processed. If the student applies using Common App or SENDedu, a transcript is uploaded and attached by the counselor, so there is no need to request a separate transcript be sent.

At the end of the senior year, students will be assessed regarding the destination for the final official transcript. There is no fee for the final transcript; all will be sent by the third week in June. Unless there is a change in schooling plans after the student has graduated, there is no need to contact the registrar to confirm that the final transcript has been sent.

Academic Letter
Students must carry at least 5.5 credits for letter grades and earn at least a 3.4 GPA for two consecutive semesters in the same school year to qualify for an Academic Letter. A student electing to take a class Pass/No Pass should note that the class does not count as a letter grade/credit when determining whether a student qualifies for the Academic Letter.

Honor Roll (Valley Southwoods only)
Ninth-grade students carrying 4.5 or more credits for letter grades that have a 3.4 grade point or better qualify for the Valley Southwoods Honor Roll. The Honor Roll is determined two times each school year: at the end of first semester and second semester.