Jerome Joint School District No. 261 

CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION 2700P

High School Graduation Requirements 

Publication of Graduation Requirements 

Prior to registering in high school, each student will be provided with a copy of the current graduation  requirements. Secondary school staff will share these requirements with all students through means they deem  most suitable to their buildings. The student handbook will also contain these guidelines as a minimum effort to  convey the requirements to students and their parents or guardians. 

Credits – Jerome High School 

Jerome High School operates on a two semester schedule. A student may attend fifty-six or more credit classes  during their four year period of accumulating credits for their high school diploma. To graduate from Jerome High  School students must register for full schedules in grades 9 through 11 and a minimum of 6 classes per semester  during their senior year. Students who are taking dual credit courses on the CSI campus must get administrative  approval to be enrolled in less than 6 classes. Students must accumulate a minimum of fifty credits. Any deviation  from this schedule must be approved by the board of trustees or high school administration. 

Dual Credits: Dual Credits are defined as those credits awarded to a student on his or her secondary or post secondary transcript. High School credit will be awarded in the following manner: 1 college credit = .5 high school  credit (i.e. 3 college credits = 1.5 high school credits).

Courses must be taken from the following requirements: 

*AP Computer Science, Dual Credit Computer Science, and Dual Credit Engineering can be considered as either a  math or science credit. 

**Each student who enters 9th grade in fall 2015 or later, shall receive a minimum of 1 class period on  psychomotor cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training as outlined in the American Heart Association (AHA)  Guidelines for CPR to include the proper utilization of an automatic external defibrillator (AED) as part of the  Health/Wellness course. 

Special education students who have successfully completed their IEP leading to completion of high school will be  awarded a diploma. 

Physical Education Credit for Participation in IHSAA Sponsored or Club Sport 

Students participating in an IHSAA recognized activity or club sport recognized by Jerome School District can  receive credit upon parental/coach approval. The credit will fulfill a PE requirement, or elective requirement, if the  student already has the two P.E. credits needed for graduation. Only one credit throughout the 4 years of high  school may be earned in this manner. The participant will receive a PASS grade. This grade will become part of  their permanent record. To earn a passing grade a student must participate in 90% of practices, games, etc. and  complete the season in good standing and abide by the Code of Ethics throughout the season. 

Credits – Alternative School 

Jerome Joint School District No. 261 Alternative High School operates on a flexible schedule to meet the needs of  students. To graduate from the alternative high school students must meet the credit requirements listed below.  Students who are taking dual credit courses on the CSI campus must get administrative approval. Students must  accumulate a minimum of forty-six credits. Any deviation from this schedule must be approved by the board of  

trustees or high school administration. 

Dual Credits: Dual Credits are defined as those credits awarded to a student on his or her secondary or post secondary transcript. High School credit will be awarded in the following manner: 1 college credit = .5 high school  credit (i.e. 3 college credits = 1.5 high school credits). Courses must be taken from the following requirements: 

* AP Computer Science, Dual Credit Computer Science, and Dual Credit Engineering can be considered as either a  math or science credit.  

**Each student shall receive a minimum of 1 class period on psychomotor cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)  training as outlined in the American Heart Association (AHA) Guidelines for CPR to include the proper utilization of  an automatic external defibrillator (AED) as part of the Health/Wellness course.  

Special education students who have successfully completed their IEP leading to completion of high school will be  awarded a diploma.

Physical Education Credit for Participation in IHSAA Sponsored or Club Sport 

Students participating in an IHSAA recognized activity or club sport recognized by Jerome School District can  receive credit upon parental approval. The credit will fulfill a PE requirement, or elective requirement, if the  student already has the two P.E. credits needed for graduation. Only one credit throughout the 4 years of high  school may be earned in this manner. The participant will receive a PASS grade. This grade will become part of  their permanent record. To earn a passing grade a student must participate in 90% of practices, games, etc. and  complete the season in good standing and abide by the Code of Ethics throughout the season. 

Credit - Middle School 

If a middle school student completes any required high school course with a grade of D or higher before entering  the ninth grade, and if that course meets the same standards that are required in high school and the course is  taught by a teacher certified to teach high school content then the student has met the high school content area  requirement for such course. The student shall be given a grade for the successful completion of that course and  such grade and the number of credit hours assigned to the course shall be transferred to the student's high school  transcript and the student's parent or guardian shall be notified in advance when credits are going to be  transcribed. The student still must complete the required number of credits in all high school core subjects  identified above in addition to the courses completed in middle school. 

Senior Project 

Completion of a Senior Project, consisting of an oral presentation, participation in Senior open house event, written components, and Forty (40) hours of  community service is required for graduation from Jerome High School. 

College Entrance Examination: 

Students are strongly encouraged to take a college entrance or placement examination. If State funding is  available, students will be offered a college entrance exam during the student’s eleventh grade year.  

Idaho Standards Achievement Tests (ISAT) 

In addition to obtaining the necessary credits as outlined above, a student will take the Idaho Student  Achievement Test (ISAT) as defined by State Board of Education rules.  

Additional Graduation Requirements 

Civics Test – All secondary students must successfully pass the civics test. "Civics test" as used herein means the  100 questions used by officers of the United States citizenship and immigration services as a basis for selecting the  questions posed to applicants for naturalization. 

Any student who participates in a United States and Politics course and an associated college credit-bearing  examination shall be deemed to have met this requirement. 

The District will determine the method and manner in which to administer the civics test. A student may take the  civics test, in whole or in part, at any time after enrolling in grade 7 and may repeat the test as often as necessary  to pass the test. The District will document on the student's transcript that the student has passed the civics test.  

The applicability of this requirement for students who receive special education services will be governed by the  student’s Individualized Education Plan.  

Requirement Adjustment

A student who enrolls in Jerome School District with a limited time frame to achieve 50 credits required for graduation is still eligible for consideration to have up to 2 (two) credits (not required by the state) exchanged as determined by the education team.

Alternative Programs 

Credit toward graduation requirements may be granted for planned learning experiences from accredited  programs, such as summer school, university courses, online/virtual courses, and approved middle school courses. 

With permission from the high school administration, a student may be able to recover credit from a class in which  they did not receive credit due to attendance or other issues. The credit recovery process will require the student  to show mastery in the course content. Credit recovery is limited to a course that was taken at Jerome High  School. The grade from both the original course and the credit recovery course will be used to calculate GPA. 

All classes attempted at Jerome High School and all acceptable transfer credits, including high school credits  earned with a grade of D or higher while in middle school, shall be recorded on the transcript. All grades earned, including failures and  retakes, shall be recorded as such and utilized in the calculation of Grade Point Average and class rank. Credit shall  be awarded only once regardless of repetition of the course except for performance based courses. 

Class Rank (Grade Point Average) 

Class Rank is compiled from semester grades. Courses not eligible for GPA are designated, in the High School  Course Catalog and noted numerically on the transcript. 

Early Graduation 

A student who completes all of the graduation requirements set forth by the District and the State Department of  Education prior to the completion of eight (8) semesters of school attendance in grades 9-12 may petition the  Superintendent and Board for early graduation by submitting such a petition to the Superintendent through the  building principal. The Superintendent shall submit the petition to the Board for endorsement and approval at the  end of the semester preceding the requested graduation date. 

The Superintendent is authorized to create any procedures necessary to assist students to achieve early  graduation as well as create incentives for participation in any early graduation program. Existing programs  providing incentives to complete coursework early are described in Policy 2435 Advanced Opportunities. 

Early Graduation - Mastery Advancement Program 

Any student who successfully completes the district’s grades 1-12 curriculum at least one (1) year early shall be  eligible for a Mastery Advancement Program. As described in Policy 2435. 

Honor Roll 

Specific information regarding honors at graduation will be included in the student handbook. 

Specialty Diploma

The Board may award a specialty diploma to every student enrolled in the school district who meets the criteria of the specialty diploma, see policy 2710.

Beginning with the Class of 2024 

The Valedictorian and Salutatorian shall be selected from the students who have the highest grade point averages  and have completed state and district requirements for graduation with eight (8) semesters in math and eight (8)  semesters in science during their years of high school. The math and science classes must progressively move  forward. Math classes must include classes from the following list: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Algebra  III/Trigonometry, Calculus and/or Calculus II. College courses will also be considered if they are progressing in  difficulty. Exemption: (Dual Credit Calculus taken during the junior year). Students must also be enrolled in a full  schedule (7 JHS classes or 12 college credits per semester or combination thereof). Two semesters of Foreign Language, American Sign Language, or a computer coding language, will also be required. Organized release time  as defined by Idaho Code is considered as an enrollment period for the purpose of this policy. College level courses  or other academic endeavors may be considered full time enrollment with administrative approval, students  and/or parents may appeal to the Jerome Jt. School District #261 Board of Trustees if the request is denied by the  high school administration. 

The Valedictorians and Salutatorians will be selected and notified at the end of the second semester of their senior  year. The administration will consider the GPA’s of those students who take release time to ascertain that the total  GPA reflects the intent of the policy, without penalty for taking release time classes. In the case of multiple  valedictorians and/or salutatorians, the valedictorian and salutatorian speakers at graduation may be limited. 

Participation in graduation ceremonies is a privilege extended to students. Students may be denied the right to  participate. 

Cross Reference:  

Policy 2435 Advanced Opportunities 

Legal Reference:

I.C. 33-523 STEM Diploma  

I.C. 33-4601 Advanced Opportunities 

IDAPA 08.02.01.350 Early Graduation 

IDAPA 08.02.03.105 High School Graduation Requirements 

IDAPA 08.02.03.107 Middle Level Credit System 

Policy History: 

Adopted on: 10/27/2009 

Revised on: 11/21/2011 

Revised on: 07/23/2013 

Revised on: 11/26/2013 

Revised on: 02/24/2015 

Revised on: 04/26/2016

Revised on: 01/26/2021

Revised on: 06/28/2016

Revised on: 08/02/2021

Revised on: 01/24/2017

Revised on: 12/14/2021 

Revised on: 07/17/2018 

Revised on: 11/15/2022 

Revised on: 05/28/2019 

Revised on: 06/27/2023 

Revised on: 08/25/2020 

Revised on: 09/26/2023

Revised on: 02/25/2025