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External Courses

See Board Policy 6146.11 and Administrative Regulation 6146.11, Alternative Credits toward Graduation

Exhibit 6146.11, Alternative Credits Toward Graduation

Students may receive high school credit for courses completed at a community college, state college, or accredited public or private institution provided such courses have the prior approval of Los Gatos High School or Saratoga High School administration as outlined by BP/AR 6146.11- Alternative Credits Towards Graduation and BP/AR 6146.3- Reciprocity of Academic Credit and are within the following criteria:.

● Up to 30 credits from external community college, state college, or accredited public, or private institution courses may be transferred onto the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District (LGSUHSD) high school transcript to meet graduation requirements, minimum college entrance requirements, or for remediation purposes

● Students must be enrolled in a district high school while attending an approved external class to receive credit on a LGSUHSD transcript.

○ No student may begin to acquire high school credits until they have begun 9th grade.

○ The student shall receive the same letter grade for the high school credit as is granted by the college, public, or private institution.

● The external course must be taken at an institute that is WASC or otherwise regionally accredited, and the course must meet the following criteria:

○ Course must be UC/CSU approved

○ Core academic courses must be NCAA Division 1 approved

● External Honors courses will be awarded the additional “Honors” point if the course is offered in LGSUHSD.

● External College Board approved Advanced Placement (AP) courses will be awarded the additional “AP” point if the AP course is offered in LGSUHSD.

● External courses from community colleges do not receive an extra GPA point.

● Students will not receive concurrent credit for English courses, Social Studies courses, or Biology courses completed at a community college, state college, or accredited public or private institution.

LGSUHSD shall post coursework to the transcript and grant credit toward high school graduation or minimum college entrance requirements for coursework successfully completed at a community college, state college, or accredited public or private institution only if all of the following steps are completed:

  • Completion of the External Course Agreement Form. (See your Guidance Counselor for more information.)
  • The External Course Agreement Form must be submitted, and signed by the parent/guardian/educational rights holder, and counselor and/or administrator prior to the student enrolling in the off campus course.

  • Upon course completion, to post coursework to the transcript and receive credit towards high school graduation or minimum college entrance requirements, the student must submit an official transcript to the school Registrar that includes the grade issued and credits earned.

  • **The official transcript must be sent directly from the institution (community college, state college, or accredited public or private institution) to the Registrar; it cannot be sent from the student/family.**

Note:

● Once external credits are placed on a transcript, they may not be removed.