Students are required to complete any pre-requisite course work for advancement to high school courses.  Therefore, any middle school level courses need to be completed first. (eg.  7th-grade Social studies is the pre-requisite for 8th-grade social studies, 6th grade ELA is the pre-requisite for 7th grade ELA, etc.)  The exception to this is always the math classes which through grade 8 allows for acceleration.  Additionally, a student can use either or both of his electives to take high school classes where the prerequisite has been met or for high school elective courses that don't have any prerequisites.  For example, a student can take Earth Science or Biology using an elective slot because the 6th and 7th-grade science courses serve as prerequisites but s/he would still need to take 8th-grade Science in addition to the elective science.  A student couldn't take the Chemistry or Physics courses because the 8th-grade Science course is a prerequisite.   A student in grade 8 can also take the high school World History in an elective slot.  World Languages will be high school credit in grade 8 but a student can start a high school level World Language during any middle school year.   Many high school electives can be taken by middle school students.  Any high school class taken has the grade recorded on the student's transcript.  The cumulative GPA begins in the Fall term of Freshman year.

The list below is a sampling of courses that can be used to replace a middle school elective.  The list is not inclusive but just a sampling.  When choosing a high school level course for middle school students take into consideration both the maturity of the student and the additional workload that will come with the high school courses.  Students who take a high school course will be given a grade that will go on the high school transcript.   If a student does take a high school course as an elective, we highly recommend that the student only try one course first and fulfill the other elective with a middle school appropriate course.

• High School Science Prerequisites
• Biology A = students need to have completed 7th Grade Science
• Earth Science A/HSS = students need to have completed 7th Grade Science
• Chem 1 and Physics 1 = students need to have completed 8th Grade Science
• Forensic Science can be taken by mature students
• Oceanography or any elective science without a pre-requisite can be taken (micourses.org for options) 
• High School Social Studies Prerequisites
  • World History - Social Studies 6 and 7 need to be completed
  • Elective social studies classes can be taken by students mature enough to handle some of the content material
• High School English Electives
  • Students must complete all coursework through and including grade 8
  • Some High School English electives can be taken that do not have a prerequisite
• High School Electives
  • Any high school non-essential elective (does not specifically meet a graduation requirement) that does not have a pre-requisite can be taken. (ie. some computer classes, Criminology, Archaeology, etc. electives can be found on micourses.org)
• High School Personal Fitness and High School Health
  • Both of these courses CANNOT be taken in middle school.  The earliest that the courses can be taken is during the summer term between grade 8 and grade 9.
• High School level World Languages
  • Any high school World Language can be taken by a Middle School student. Review the middle school option page that describes the difference between a middle school and high school language experience.  Students who are in 6th or 7th grade or just beginning a language in grade 8 should start with the first level.  If the child has lived in a bi-lingual environment that included reading and writing, s/he can start at level 2.