Placement Testing
Placement tests are generally given to incoming students in the spring. There is a general placement test in English, Math, and Science and special tests in Math, Spanish, and French. Students who skip courses because of placement tests do not receive credit for the skipped courses and still must meet all graduation requirements.

Transfer Courses
Students may transfer courses taken for credit at another regionally accredited high school prior to admission. The student must provide an approved transcript to the counselor.

Physical Education (PE) Waiver
Students may request a waiver of the PE graduation requirement for the following reasons:

• They actively participate for two entire seasons in interscholastic sports
• They actively participate in a competitive and supervised sport (i.e., figure skating or gymnastics) which practices or competes on a near-daily basis for at least 12 consecutive months

The student should submit the PE Waiver Request Form to the counselor for approval as soon as possible after he/she has satisfied the requirements for a waiver. If the PE waiver is approved, the student satisfies the PE graduation requirement and does not have to take PE (820), but does not receive credit for PE and still must satisfy the overall graduation credit requirement. The PE Waiver only affects the PE graduation requirement; the Health (811) graduation requirement must still be satisfied.

Speech Waiver
Students may request a waiver of the Speech graduation requirement if they meet the following requirements during any one academic year:

• They participate in a minimum of 40 practice hours with the Forensics Team (minimum 20 practice sessions)
• They compete in a minimum of six speech and debate tournaments (aka ‘Saturday Tournaments’) during the year
• They compete in a minimum of two student congresses during the year

The student is responsible for tracking their progress toward these requirements. The student should fill out the Speech Waiver Request Form, have it approved by the Forensics Team coach, and submit it to the counselor for approval as soon as possible after he/she has satisfied the requirements for a waiver.

If the Speech Waiver Request Form is approved, the student satisfies the Speech graduation requirement and does not have to take Speech (949), but does not receive credit for Speech and still must satisfy the overall graduation credit requirement.

Concurrent Enrollment Course(s)
A concurrent enrollment course is any course, whether classroom, correspondence, or online, taken for credit at another regionally accredited high school or college while the student is enrolled at St. Mary’s High School. In general, a concurrent enrollment course will be approved only if the course is not offered at St. Mary’s or if the student is repeating a failed course. The student must submit a Concurrent Enrollment Form to the counselor for approval prior to taking the course. The student is responsible for all course fees.

Non-Scheduled Class
Students may request to take a class outside of its scheduled period if the course is contained in the Course Description document but the student is unable to take the course in the scheduled period. The student will be expected to complete all the assignments (homework, quizzes, tests, projects, and other assignments) which are done in the standard class. The cost is $275 for a semester course and $400 for a year course. The student must submit a Non-Scheduled Class Form to the counselor for approval prior to starting the course.

Independent Study
Students may request to take an Independent Study course. An Independent Study course is one not contained in the Course Description document. The student must develop a course description including an outline of topics and assignments. The student must also find a teacher to oversee the course. The cost is $275 for a semester course and $400 for a year course. The student must submit an Independent Study Form to the counselor for approval prior to starting the course.

Testing-Out
Students may not test-out of any course or graduation requirement except as noted above.