High School Curriculum
Welcome to our MCS High School Curriculum page. We hope the information provided on this page will help answer any questions you might have about elementary curriculum and instruction.
Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE)
The mission of Murray County Schools is centered on providing students with a solid academic foundation in English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Students will also receive exposure to art, music, technology, health, and physical education. We work to challenge our students through a variety of research-based strategies and instructional methods. Students in sixth through eighth grade receive instruction based upon the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE). Please click on the quick links below to learn more about our 9-12 standards.
High School Grading Scale/Report Cards
Students will be issued report cards each semester. It is the student’s responsibility to bring the report card home. Incomplete grades must be made up within 5 school days after the completion of each term. The grading scale is as follows:
Grades 9-12
A=90-100 B=80-89 C=75-79 D=70-74 F=69 and below
Grade Point Average (GPA)
The average grade earned by a student is figured by dividing the total grade points earned by the number of credits attempted. Dual Enrollment (DE), Advanced Placement (AP), Honors, and college credit course classes will carry Quality Points for this calculation. The grade points that can be earned are listed in the table below
A | B | C | D | |
Regular Class | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
Honors Class | 4.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 1.5 |
DE Class | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
AP Class | 5.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
The HOPE scholarship office will recalculate all students’ GPAs to a 4.0 scale for scholarship award purposes.
Any DE classes for which tuition is required or paid will be weighted at the highest level of course weight offered in person at the high school.
Official transcripts can be obtained by contacting your child’s school.
Infinite Campus Parent Portal
Infinite Campus Parent Portal gives parents online access to their child’s grades, attendance, and updated enrollment information. The head of household must present a photo ID at the student’s school to receive the access code for this service.
Graduation Information
Questions often arise regarding graduation requirements and special graduation recognitions such as Scholar Graduates, Honor Graduates, Salutatorian, and Valedictorian. See the information below for further details, and feel free to contact your child’s school for more information.
Graduates With Distinction
Valedictorians and Salutatorians: Students must have completed their entire senior year at the awarding high school. Transfer students must have received all credits from a school accredited under an organization such as AdvancEd or Cognia.
The Valedictorian will be the student with the highest cumulative GPA. The salutatorian will be the student with the second highest cumulative GPA. In the event that two or more students share the same GPA, the student with the highest numeric average will be named the Valedictorian or Salutatorian.
Scholar Graduate- GPA greater than 4.0
Honor Graduate- GPA of 3.5-4.0
Graduation Paths and Requirements
Please feel free to contact the school’s guidance counselors for individual questions about graduation requirements for your child.
Areas of Study (Required courses in parentheses) | Units Required |
|---|---|
English Language Arts (9th English & American Literature) | 4 |
Mathematics** (Algebra I, Algebra II, & Geometry) | 4 |
Science (Biology, Physical Science OR Physics, and Chemistry, Earth Systems, environmental science, OR an AP course) The 4th science unit may be used to meet both the science and elective requirements. Consult with the guidance counselor for more information. | 4 |
Social Studies (Government/Economics, World History, & US History) | 3 |
Career Pathway or CTAE, Fine Arts, and/or Foreign Language Credits* | 3 |
Health and Physical Education | 1 |
Electives | 4 |
Total Required Units | 23 |
*AP, DE, and/or Honors courses may be substituted for some of these courses.
**Accelerated math courses may be substituted for these courses.
Dual Enrollment & Advanced Placement Options
Dual Enrollment provides opportunities for high school students to take college courses and earn credit at both the high school and postsecondary institution. Dual enrollment courses taken at the high school or college campus are free, but it’s important for students to register through their high school counselor to cover costs. Students need to contact their high school counselor for more information about participating in the dual enrollment program.
Students may earn dual enrollment credits in the following ways:
Taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses AND scoring at target levels on the subsequent AP exam
Taking Dual Enrollment (DE) courses on the high school campus
Taking DE courses on the college campus
High School Literacy
Literacy is at the core of our instruction each day. We teach the Georgia Standards of Excellence using a variety of research-based practices, curriculum pieces, and assessments.
Upcoming ESE Standards Changes
The Georgia Standards of Excellence require that students gain, evaluate, and present increasingly complex information, ideas and evidence through listening and speaking as well as through media. The standards recognize that students must be able to use formal English in their writing and speaking but that they must also be able to make informed, skillful choices among the many ways to express themselves through language. It is important to note the impact of the standards on classroom instruction: building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction; reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from the text, both literary and informational; and regular practice with complex text and its academic language. The GSE will remain the standards for instruction through the 2024-2025 school year, and the newly adopted K-12 Georgia Standards of English Language Arts will be fully implemented during the 2025-2026 school year.
Click here to get more information about the new standards and their implementation:
Georgia Department of Education ELA Standards
High School Mathematics
Math instruction is a big part of our instruction each day in Murray County Schools. We teach the Georgia Standards of Excellence using a variety of research-based instructional strategies, curriculum pieces, and assessments.
New Math Standards for 2023-2024
The State Board of Education approved State School Superintendent Richard Woods’ recommendation to adopt Georgia’s K-12 Mathematics Standards. The 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years have been dedicated to teacher training on the new standards, with implementation in the classroom with students to follow in 2023-2024.
The new standards are Georgia-developed. They were drafted by mathematics teachers in Georgia with input from educational leaders, parents, students, business and industry leaders, and community members. They are designed to provide a strong foundation, to be clear and understandable, and to present a reasonable amount of content each year.
Click here for more information about our new math standards:
