Bellevue East High School
Counseling Office
(402) 293-4151
Graduation Requirements
Overview General Requirements Course Requirements Counselor Advice
The requirements for graduation from Bellevue East High School are spelled out officially in the Parent-Student Handbook and the Registration Guide for the current school year. This page is a short summary of those requirements and should only be used for a quick reference. For the full explanation and other related topics, please read the details in the source documents mentioned above.
Students must complete eight semesters of work with enrollment in a minimum of four academic classes each semester. For each semester of any class that a student attends and earns a passing grade, one credit will be awarded. So, for the typical year-long class, a student can earn two credits toward graduation. A student can only earn one credit for a class lasting only one-semester. There are some restrictions, such as the limit of four credits of Physical Education that can be applied towards graduation, and the fact that only one credit can be earned for most classes, even if that class is repeated to improve the grade received. With that in mind, the student must earn a total of 46 credits to qualify for graduation.
Total credits is not the only requirement for graduation. Each student must successfully complete a certain set of classes that fill requirements in specific course categories. Those requirements are listed below:
English 8 credits
Mathematics 8 credits
Science 6 credits
Social Studies 6 credits
Health 1 credit
Physical Education 2 credits
Electives 17 credits
This is a bit of an over-simplification, since within those categories, some other requirements exist. For example, in the Social Studies area, a student must include 2 credits of American History, 1 credit of American Government, and 2 credits of classes categorized as World Studies. Also, in the area of Electives, at least 7 credits must be from Core Area classes (Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Vocational Education, World Languages, Visual and Performing Arts, Personal Health, or Physical Education) while the other 10 are not restricted.
One place where a substitution is allowed relates the our Air Force Junior ROTC classes. The second semester of the Freshman JROTC class includes the Health curriculum, so if JROTC 9, semester two is successfully completed, no separate Health class is needed. Any other semester of JROTC can substitute for one credit of the Physical Education requirement. So, a student who successfully completes the first year and a half of JROTC has taken care of both the Health and PE requirements stated above.
Each year during the registration process, the student's counselor will assist the student in selecting classes that will help them meet our graduation requirements. However, it is still the student's responsibility to remain enrolled in and successfully complete the classes required for graduation. If a student fails classes, the counselor will advise the student on the options available to make up that credit. Again, it is still the student's responsibility to follow through with the suggested remedial work to earn the required credits to qualify for graduation. Some of the most obvious method to earn credit for a class that is failed would be Summer School and evening classes we call Project Recovery. The counselors do focus on graduation requirement as students enter the senior year and after the first semester of the senior year to give students every opportunity to graduate with their peers. If you have any question about meeting graduation requirements, please call the counselor to discuss this and come up with a plan to get it done on time. They are more than happy to advise you on the best ways to make graduation happen and would rather talk with you sooner than latter. Call 293-4151 to set up an appointment with the appropriate counselor.
This page was created by Jim Sheridan, 293-4167, jamessheridan@hotmail.com.
The BEHS Web Manager is Derek Babb, 293-4150, babbbehs@gmail.com .
Last revision of this page was 5/30/2008.
Note: Not responsible for information found by linking beyond this page.