High School Graduation Requirements
Faithful Scholars graduation standards are legally created with the maximum freedom to complete high school credits toward the goal of college, trade school, or the work force. You do not need to follow SC state standers! We encourage you to create your 4 year plan as best suits your student’s future goals. This means that when the state of SC requires 4 units of math: Alg 1, Alg 2, Geometry, Pre-Cal, your student is legally able to follow the same course OR take 4 units of math that differ while best suiting your child’s level and ability such as Alg 1, Consumer Math, Accounting, Business Math.
State Graduation Requirements
| English/Language Arts | 4 units |
| Mathematics -college bound: Alg 1, Geometry, Alg 2, PreCal or non-traditional applied maths: consumer, business, accounting, etc | 4 units |
| Lab Sciences -college bound: Biology, Chemistry, Physics or non-traditional: Horticulture, Ag science, Zoology, etc | 3 units |
| U.S. History and Constitution | 1 unit |
| U.S. Government | ½ unit |
| Economics | ½ unit |
| Other Social Studies | 1 unit |
| P.E. or ROTC | 1 unit |
| Computer Science -can be whatever you sense will best suit your child's interest and future, but no longer keyboarding | 1 unit |
| Foreign Language (if college prep* plan 2 or 3 years of the same language OR Career and Technology Education | 1 unit |
| Electives | 7 units |
| TOTAL CREDITS | 24 units |
Total Number of Units Required for a Faithful Scholars High School Diploma = 24
Total Number of Units Required for a Faithful Scholars High School Diploma of Distinction = 28
FOUR-YEAR PLAN SAMPLES FOR SOUTH CAROLINA, FAITHFUL SCHOLARS OPTION 3 ACCOUNTABILITY ASSOCIATION:
FOREIGN LANGUAGE NOTE: Most four-year colleges and universities like to see (or require), 2-3 years of the same foreign language.
TRANSCRIPT NOTE: Faithful Scholars spends a marked number of hours building each transcript unique to each student so that it ‘reads strong’ clearly representing your child’s current achievements that will lead to their future successes. During this process, we communicate with you, the parent, until we are all satisfied that the transcript reflects a ‘real life’ student toward his/her goals.
COURSE PROGRESSION NOTE: homeschooling high schoolers need NOT follow the same course outline as public schooled high schoolers.
- physical science need not precede biology
- for college-bound students, please check with your college as to what sciences they wish to see on your transcript
- for non-college-bound students, feel free to take non-traditional courses such as horticulture, kinesiology, zoology, etc
- math can be non-traditional applied math courses (business math, accounting, consumer math, etc) rather than the usual Algebra 1, 2, geometry, pre-calculus
- for college-bound students, please check with your college as to what maths they wish to see on your transcript
- for non-college-bound students, feel free to take non-traditional courses such as consumer math, business math, accounting, etc
- personal finance is not required by Faithful Scholars but has always been strongly encouraged as a life skill
- health is not a must-have outside or along with science or PE, but is always great for conversation and lifestyle!
- humanities such as psychology usually fall between English and science making it an elective
- computer science can be completed in various manners note with a focus on programs, coding, graphics, mechanics, etc per your student’s interests
- Please note that keyboarding no longer meets any of the computer science standards
- You can find samples/programs on your Member’s Only page
Things to Keep in Mind
Grades 9 – 11 must have their courses, credits, and numerical grades submitted by June 10th of each academic year so that we can complete our ranking reports.
Seniors must submit their grades by May 31st.
Day-to-day courses, grades, and attendance are best created using a personal system or our High School Transcript Worksheet found in your Member Log In portal > Member’s Only page. We will help with creating clear course titles upon formal submission through your Member Log-In portal.
All dual credit courses will require a transcript e-mailed directly to Faithful Scholars. If the college only enters letter grades on the transcript, you can request exact grades from the college or professor and forward those. This is best done before the end of the course or it will depend upon the goodwill of the professor, his/her still teaching, etc. College grades are in letter form only.
A transcript is an academic snapshot; a checklist of graduation requirements.
- Samples can be found linked above in blue
- Request a mailed transcript request here
- Usually takes 1 to 3 days BUT
- We request a 3-week lead time
- We do offer an expedited option upon request
The high school resume and college essays expand who your student is beyond the traditional academic requirements. Use these to highlight areas of specialty, proficiency, and passions beyond the high school graduation requirements. A sample of a high school resume can be found in the High School Records Notebook linked within your Member Log In portal > Member’s Only page.
We rank our students using:
- South Carolina Uniform Grading Policy (SC UGP)
- CHE calls this a 10-point weighted scale
- for college applications, it is a 6-point scale NOT a 4.0 scale (100% DE or AP = 6.0 vs. a 4-point scale where 100% of any weight = 4.0)
Summer courses: Any credits or course completions earned during the summer will be credited to the following academic year and NOT to the previous year after we close out our student records and ranking report by June 15 of each academic year (grades due by/before June 10 except seniors whose grades are due by/before May 31). This means that should your student not have his/her work completed and submitted by June 10th of said year, their graduation date will coincide with the following academic year. Any grades submitted after June 10 will require that you join Faithful Scholars for the following academic year.
Portfolio = Course Outline & Transcript
A portfolio is required by SC homeschool law for all grades BUT IS REPLACED BY YOUR COURSE OUTLINE AND TRANSCRIPT during high school.
There is a High School Records Notebook found within your Member Log In portal > Member’s Only page that will be of great help with forms, samples, and suggestions for your high schooler to highlight their array of remarkable core and/or non-core achievements toward college and/or job applications.
A note about community service. Most students participate in some form of community service, so consider a more exclusive path of service distinction. This can be an invaluable tool during any interview, or application process be it college, job, or other.
- create, organize, or manage your own service group
- become the lead coordinator of an existing group
- patent a new creation
- publish written works including song lyrics
- create and publish music, an art slide show, theatrical performances
Summer School
Any course begun or completed after June 10 will require a membership renewal and be credited to the upcoming academic year. Often a public or home school high school will take this time to fit in classes with which they struggle or need to recover.
Faithful Scholars is a trusted and experienced legal option 3 homeschool association in SC as recognized by the SC State Board of Education. Our team has a passion to meet you where you are and grow you forward toward the enchantment of using academics to grow up your children.
