Good Shepherd School

Homeschooling through High School 

College admission information

To earn a diploma from GSS, a student needs:

• 24 credit units, calculated in Carnegie Units.  Two years, or 12 units, must have been earned at GSS except under exceptional circumstances approved by the headmaster. 
• To fulfill course requirements for the diploma chosen
• One unit in Bible/religion earned for each year enrolled in GSS
• a 15 on the ACT or passing our graduation exam
• Our College Board School code is 010424; please insert it when requested in the "school code" section.   Do not use the "home school" code. 
• a print and electronic copy of their term/research paper on file (plus the writing rubrics for the course)

Calculating Carnegie Units

Your student needs 24 units to graduate from GSS.  (Many homeschoolers earn much more.) High school units are calculated by Carnegie Units.  Most pre-packaged courses (Bob Jones, Apologia, A Beka, Christian Liberty Press, etc) are already calculated to the application of the Carnegie Unit.  Your high schooler needs courses like PE and fine arts to graduate, and you may wonder how to apply hobbies, apprenticeship, vocational activities,  and community service to high school credit. Your high schooler can earn one-half Carnegie Unit per 70 hours of instruction.   70 hours of participation in sports or dance can count toward PE; 70 hours of choir and or music lessons can count toward music credit; camps with an academic focus i.e., aviation, literature,  etc. can count toward a specific academic unit provided that  you’ve documented at least 70 hours of instruction (or instruction plus supplemental activities) are provided.  

Keeping track of the time spent is helpful to parents and Good Shepherd in determining the correct application of Carnegie units.  The enrollment application includes a copy of the “Calculating Carnegie Units” form. Turn in a copy of this with your grades for your high schooler’s coursework in PE, music, etc.

Juniors and Seniors with a 3.5 GPA or higher are eligible to join our chapter of the Eta Sigma Alpha National Homeschool Honor Society. 

Advanced Classes

Before weighting a course as "advanced," we will examine the syllabus and compare it to a standard high school syllabus.  Many parents supplement their high schooler’s education with formal science labs, math tutoring and classes available through co-ops, tutorials or through dual enrollment at participating colleges.  

GSS seniors are required to have on file both a print and electronic version of their term or research paper prior to graduation.  It can be for any class, however the writing rubrics from the course should be filed as well.       

Portfolios Feel free to download a report card to keep your child's records.   (You do not need to turn this is, it is only for your own recordkeeping.)  At the high school level, you should record and submit grades numerically.   We also suggest that you keep a portfolio of your child's course syllabi, texts or reading, papers written, and exams.   

Diplomas

GSS offers five high school diplomas; the Academic, Advanced Academic, and Vocational meeting or exceeding State guidelines.   We also offer distinction in Classical Studies or Fine Arts that also meet state guidelines.    

See Diploma Worksheets in the Bulletin for specific course requirements and alternatives for each diploma.  If transferring units from a public school on the block system, be aware that you may “lose’ units.  For example, in some public schools, Algebra A and B may both equal Algebra I, and on their system, may show 2 units earned, when GSS only transfers in one unit per course.   We will examine their syllabus in determining transfer credits and let you know of our decision prior to accepting your student.  

Conversely, families should be aware that if they transfer into public high schools from GSS, it is common to have earned credits challenged.    Students sometimes have to request taking their core courses’ final exams or the ask for the application of standardized tests or the ACT to appropriate coursework.  [1]

We recommend that you keep syllabi or a synopsis of your high school courses for your records or portfolio.