MJHS – Rising 9th Grade Information

Counselors from MJHS will be at ANCS on the morning of March 10th to help 8th graders pick their initial choices for 9th grade classes. Students will need to know YOUR email address as a copy of the courses will be emailed to you.

Then on March 17th at 5pm at MJHS, counselors will host a Course Verification Night. During this event, there will be a brief presentation outlining the course selection process and important information for the upcoming school year. Following the presentation, families will have the opportunity to review their student’s course selections. They will also have breakout areas available for each school counselor, where parents and guardians can ask questions and receive individualized support regarding their student’s schedule.

What should you do now?

• Review the course options with your 8th grader so that you are on the same page as a family. Info available here and here.
• Make sure your student knows one parent’s email address
• Decide if your student will take Health or PE over the summer and if so, fill out THIS FORM. I provide a spreadsheet to the counselors with MAP scores, Spanish level, Algebra info and summer HPE information.
• Join the MJHS c/o 2030 remind group if you have not yet done so.
• Create a parent portal account on Infinite Campus if you have not yet done so.

If you need a refresher on the summer HPE option or parent portal info, please read below. Otherwise, please reach out with any questions! Thank you.

Health, PE and Spanish

The following courses are required for high school graduation: Health, PE, Personal Fitness. Each of these classes is a .5 credit. This means they are taken for one semester instead of an entire year. During students’ 9th grade year they are required to take American Government which is also a .5 credit class so it is typically paired with Team Sports (a PE credit).

Another way a PE credit can be fulfilled is by participating TWO consecutive years on a VARSITY sports team or ONE YEAR on TWO different varsity sports teams. Your student can also fulfill PE and Health by participating for THREE years in JROTC.

All three classes can be taken in person at MJHS and the majority of high school students do this.

Some students decide to take two of the three classes virtually in order to free up space in their schedule for an additional pathway, math or AP course. This is done over two summers or one summer and a school year through Atlanta Virtual Academy. You can take two classes in one summer but you have to complete 75% of course 1 by June 22nd and there are approximately 200 assignments per class so this is usually too difficult. If you choose to take a class this summer there is $85 fee.

One difference between in person and virtual Health. In person Health class includes the ADAP drug and alcohol course that is required for a GA driver’s license. Virtual Health does not. If your student chooses to take Health virtually there is a 4 hour ADAP course they can take through driver’s ed programs.

Another thing to note is that if your student has been at the middle campus all 3 years and has/will pass their Spanish class, they will have credit for HS Spanish 1 and 2 at the end of 8th grade. If they continue in the Spanish language, they will take Spanish 3 their 9th grade year.

INFINITE CAMPUS/PARENT PORTAL

If you do not already have a parent portal on Infinite Campus you will need to set it up. All families whose student will attend any APS high school will need a parent portal account. This is where all of your student’s information, grades, attendance and registration information lives for high school. Later this spring you will be able to view your student’s schedule on the portal and you will need to register them via the portal.

If your student ever attended a traditional APS school you have a parent portal account. If they did not you will need to set up an account.

Parent Portal Account: https://ic.apsk12.org/campus/portal/parents/atlanta.jsp
Parent Portal Help Page: https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/families/infinite-campus
If you need an activation key I have them, please reach out.

-Kristin Lee (klee@atlncs.org)