CURRICULUM GUIDE
The recommended course of study for all students will include four years of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies; at least two years of a foreign language, a semester of a virtual class, the required courses in performing arts, physical education and personal fitness, and additional electives to complete the requirements to earn a high school diploma.
ABF ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPECTATIONS
9th Grade
Get to know your teachers and administrators. These faculty members will become your safety net throughout high school.
- Become familiar with high school graduation requirements. You will meet with your academic advisors at the beginning of the school year. Individual meetings will be held after to map out your high school academic plan.
- Begin earning good grades now. The grades you earn in ninth grade will be included in your final high school grade point average (GPA). Scholarships are based on ALL high school grades. You don’t want to wait until Senior Year to wish you had started sooner.
- Learn about the requirements and benefits of Dual Enrollment. Dual Enrollment is college credit that you can earn while being a high school student.
- Get involved in extracurricular activities. Colleges look for students who are involved inside and outside of the classroom. Passion and commitment to clubs and sports are essential to being a well-rounded student.
- Keep track of your accomplishments. Using the Scoir platform, you can begin to track your course grades, activities, jobs, and experiences to use in creating a resume and for generating ideas for college essays.
- Don’t waste your summer. Your 75 Community Service Hours must be submitted during the Fall of your Senior Year. Don’t wait until the last minute to complete them. You don’t have to do anything fancy but use the time wisely. Consider volunteering in an area in which you are interested.
10th Grade
- Maintain good grades and know how to improve your GPA. Earning A’s and B’s in advanced courses will help boost your GPA.
- Continue working on your community service to meet the 75-hour requirement. Remember to get all required signatures. All pages must be completed correctly in order to submit a successful project.
- Keep up participation in club activities and/or athletics. Extracurricular activities can help you develop time management skills and enrich your high school experience.
- Start researching colleges/universities that might interest you. Use the CommonApp to start building a list of potential schools and review the college admissions statistics. This will give you an idea of what types of grades and test scores are needed to get into schools you may be interested in.
- It’s not too early to start visiting colleges. Start researching subject areas/careers you may be interested in pursuing as a major because this will help you decide what schools to include on your list of potential colleges.
11th Grade
- Maintain good grades throughout the year. The GPA you finish with during your junior year is the one you will use to apply to colleges/universities in the fall of your senior year.
- Make sure you meet with your school counselor to ensure your course schedule is challenging enough to prepare you for your future. Remember that colleges and universities take your strength of course schedule into consideration. Think about the possibility of participating in Dual Enrollment.
- Review your graduation status with your administrator. You don’t want to wait until senior year to find out you are missing a graduation requirement.
- Prepare for college entrance exams and become familiar with registration dates and deadlines. Although you don’t have to take the official SAT/ACT until the Spring of your Junior Year, you shouldn’t miss a beat when the time comes. Be sure to use test fee waivers (if eligible) to register.
- Consider taking test prep courses. You want to put yourself in the best position to succeed by using websites like Khan Academy or hiring a private tutor. You can also locate study materials on www.actstudent.org or www.collegeboard.com.
- Continue taking additional English, Math, Science, and Social Studies courses. Even if you’ve met all the credits required for high school graduation, the additional courses will look great on your college applications.
- Take the YouScience Career and Aptitude Assessment on Scoir. The results will give you a glimpse into career fields that match your interests and talents. Based on the results, you can begin to look into college majors that will produce great job opportunities in the future.
- Start to review your college/technical school choices and make selections. Consider colleges or technical schools that offer degrees or programs that interest you. These schools can be found on the list you created on Scoir.
- Attend college fairs and visit college campuses. Colleges want prospective students to see what they have to offer.
- Student-athletes who plan to pursue Division 1 or Division II sports in college must apply for eligibility. Visit the NCAA Eligibility Center http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/future/eligibility-center See the athletic director for specific guidelines.
12th Grade
- Monitor your graduation status. Review your graduation progress summary. Meet with your counselor for assistance. You will meet with an administrator at the beginning of the school year and periodically thereafter until all graduation tasks have been completed and a post-graduation plan has been set.
- Check email regularly. You will be receiving a lot of information regarding important deadlines, financial aid workshops, scholarship opportunities, etc.
- Avoid “senioritis.” Yes, it’s real! Keep yourself motivated and consistent. Your job isn’t done until you walk across the graduation stage!
- Submit your community service hours by December. Bright Futures scholarship completes its first review in January. Don’t wait until the last minute! Remember, if you want to ensure that your total amount of community service hours is listed on your transcript by the priority deadline for college applications, you will want to submit those hours before the first week of October.
- Request recommendation letters from teachers, counselors, or coaches. Keep in mind that you are likely not the only student requesting a recommendation. Give the recommender ample time to write a meaningful letter of recommendation. Feel free to let everyone know of your amazing accomplishments by completing a brag sheet. This will help them personalize your recommendation letters.
- Keep yourself informed. Each college has its own application deadline. Be aware of those dates by visiting the website of the respective schools and submitting all required documentation on time.
- Retake the ACT and/or SAT. If you did not receive the score you wanted on your college entrance exams, retake them. Most colleges “super score” and consider your highest composite scores during the admissions process.
- Complete your FAFSA and FFAA. The FAFSA application opens in October and must be completed for financial aid. Make sure to list which colleges you want to send your financial aid information to. Even if you believe you will not qualify, you MUST apply. FFAA is an application for scholarships and grants in Florida. Make sure to complete both to take advantage of all scholarship opportunities.
- Stay on the lookout for scholarships. The more money acquired, the less you have to pay out of your own pocket.
- Ask for help if you’re feeling overwhelmed. As the year progresses and you start to feel the pressure of moving on to the next phase of your life, reach out to the Assistant Principal. You are not the only one feeling overwhelmed or unsure. Your advisor is here to help.
- If college isn’t for you, have a plan! Research technical schools or reach out to local military recruiters. Doing nothing is not an option!