HIGH SCHOOL GUIDELINES

Gateway expects the parent/guardian to oversee the student's fulfillment of requirements for graduation. Our goal is to prepare a credible transcript of the student's academic work for presentation to another high school, college, employer, or the military. Therefore, we must evaluate the acceptability of the student's coursework.

1. Schedule & Credits

A. School Year

Please enroll by August 1. A regular school year is 180 days. This requirement, however, does not apply to students who have completed everything necessary for graduation. They may graduate throughout the year, whether or not 180 days have been completed.

B. Summer School

A full summer session is typically 55-60 days. Three credits is the maximum amount that can be earned for a three-month summer session. The summer education plan should be submitted for the counselor's approval before beginning summer studies in order to avoid doing work that may not be approved for credit later. Non-academic courses (such as Distributive Education, P.E., etc.) will not be given summer credit unless accompanied by an academic subject.

C. Finishing High School Early

High School may be completed in less than the typical four years, by doing greater credit loads and adding English in summer session(s). A student must take an ACT/SAT and score a minimum composite of 20 (or equivalent) to graduate before their seventeenth birthday. A student who attempts to graduate early but does not make a sufficient ACT/SAT score will not receive a high-school diploma from Gateway.

D. Credits

We consider one credit to be the equivalent of 150 classroom hours. The maximum for a two-semester school year is eight credits (four credits max per semester). The minimum is four per school year (two per semester). Twenty-two (22) credits are required for graduation. Bear in mind that not all credits from other schools transfer, and some courses have prerequisites in order to receive credit.

E. Earning Credits Before Ninth Grade

A student may earn up to three high-school, core-curriculum credits before they enter ninth grade. However, not all core subjects are acceptable (e.g., English and U.S. History are not awarded high-school credit before 9th grade). The following courses may be taken before 9th grade for high-school credit:

Algebra I & II
Geometry, World History
World Geography
foreign languages
College-prep sciences (such as Physical Science and Biology)

Please indicate planned credit for all high-school coursework on the Education Plan. If you have a question about the acceptability of a course, please contact us.

F. "Honors/AP" Courses

Gateway does not offer "Honors" or "AP" courses. We will transfer courses from other schools that use these designations, but these courses will not have extra weight in Gateway's GPA. Our GPA calculation is "unweighted" for all courses (i.e., A=4.0, B=3.0, etc.).

G. Dual Enrollment Courses at Colleges

Parents may use dual enrollment as a portion of their home education program but not as a complete substitute for home education. Gateway requires students to do a substantial amount of their studies at home. When applying for dual enrollment, remember that you are dealing with two schools -- the high school (Gateway) and the college. You must meet the requirements of both to be eligible.

To be sure that you are meeting Gateway's requirements, please read our Dual-Enrollment Guidelines HERE. To be approved, a student must be enrolled with Gateway for the school year in which dual-enrollment classes will be done and all grades must be current. They should be approved by Gateway for dual enrollment before the first day of class.

2. Details About Some Courses

A. Language Arts/English

A credit of high-school English typically includes Grammar, Composition (Writing), and Literature. The emphasis placed on each of these aspects of language arts may vary in different school years. Generally, only one credit of English is earned in a regular (two-semester) school year.

B. Math

All High School students must complete four math credits to graduate. College-prep students must complete Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and another math credit to graduate.

C. Science

College-prep students must take either Biology, Chemistry, or Physics with a lab.

Physical Science is an introduction to Chemistry and Physics. As such, it should be taken before Chemistry and Physics.

D. U.S. History

High school history studies United States history from Pre-Colonial times to present day.

E. Foreign Language

In order to earn high-school credit, materials must cover what would be covered in a traditional high-school foreign language course. College prep students should take two years of the same foreign language.

F. Physical Education (P. E.)

One P. E. credit will be awarded for 150 hours of physical activity of an athletic or sporting nature. This may be completed in one year or in half-credit increments over two years. Additional P. E. credit may be earned as an elective. When applying for P. E. credit on the Education Plan, please list the physical activities planned (rather than written curriculum).

G. Electives

Elective credits are required to meet the 22 credit minimum (two elective credits for College-Prep course of study and six for General course). For a list of possible electives click HERE.

3. Seniors & Graduation

Please enroll seniors at the beginning of the school year and submit final grades at the end of the spring semester, or summer session at the latest.

*August 31 is the final date for grades.*

Timely submission helps avoid issues that could delay (or even prevent) graduation. Late submission of grades may necessitate re-enrollment and further studies in the next school to receive a diploma.

Please allow two weeks to receive the diploma and transcript. If final transcripts are needed for college, the military, or a potential employer, please make your request when you submit final grades. Diplomas will be mailed to your home.

4. Transcripts

A. Transcript Requests

All Grading & Attendance reports must be submitted for transcripts to be completed. If transcripts are needed immediately upon graduation, please submit your request at the same time you submit final grades. We will attempt to fulfill your requests promptly. However, when demand is high, you should allow two weeks for us to prepare final transcripts.

For transcript requests at other times, please contact us by email or phone. Click HERE for more information.

B. ACT/SAT

In order for ACT/SAT scores to be sent to Gateway and included on the transcript, a student should enroll for these tests as a Gateway student, rather than "home schooled."

To register for ACT: www.ACT.org, under "High School Information," search "Tennessee/Memphis" (rather than Zip Code) for "Gateway Christian Schools" (rather than "home schooled").

For SAT: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/registration. Gateway's SAT school code is 431421.

If a previous test was taken under the designation "home schooled," ACT/SAT will not send the scores to us automatically. The parent must arrange with ACT/SAT to have such scores sent to Gateway.

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