<p>Because NYS requires everyone, except those in Special Education classes, to get a Regents diploma my dd's small HS now has a very strict schedule of courses that must be taken in a certain order, grades 9-12. Your only choice is regular or honors, and some AP levels in their soph, but mostly jr and sr years. Has anyone found a way to take Regents courses outside of HS during the summer, or at least courses that count as equivalents? (Is that even possible?) With Wind Ensemble my daughter will have absolutely no room for anything other then what is required for the rest of her HS career, and she's only a Freshman. Because her school is small, only a few sections (sometimes only one!) of a course is offered so your schedule has to fit around that class, and sometimes others, if you want to graduate. They offer things like Business courses, Technology, Photography and Art and other electives but I don't see where anyone could fit them. </p>
<p>I ask on the music forum because you all seem so smart :) and must have dealt with these issues before. My dd would love to take math or another course during the summer, but her GC says they only offer summer school to those who have failed their courses! It feels like the school, maybe the whole NY Board of Regents, is attempting to cut so many courses. Accounting used to count as a math course-- now not for Regents which everyone must have. So who will have time to take Accounting? They'll end up cutting it due to "low enrollment"! </p>
<p>Does anyone know where dd can take regents courses outside of school, in the summer, online, etc? I find tons of online courses, but none say they count for our school. A nephew took Algebra II online last summer and it counted at his school in NJ but wouldn't count here in NY! Daughter really wants to take music courses in school because she really enjoys them and is with all her friends.</p>
<p>The requirements for a Regents diploma are pretty basic: one regents science, one regents math, us history and global and the comprehensive English at the end of junior year. I don’t understand why your daughter would have a hard time completing that in four years. As I mentioned when you posted this question a few months back, my daughter will be graduating with an advanced regents diploma with honors as well as a significant number of ap/dual enrolment classes…, while being in music theory, orchestra, choir one year and band another year.</p>
<p>That was the regents requirement for students entering 9th grade before 2012. Now for an advanced regents diploma, you need 8 Regents exams with 3 years of math (3 Regents or AP) 4 of Social Studies (2 Regents or AP) 3 of Science (2 have to be Regents but our district only offers the Regents for science finals or AP) 3 years of a language other then English and 4 years of English with the one Comprehensive English Regents. Of course they want everyone to take 4 math, 4 Science and 4 language, and if daughter doesn’t want to major in music she will probably major in Science. You have to take health and 4 years of gym. I just ask this question because she wants to get ahead and have time for other electives, practice, and activities. As her schedule is planned now she has room for 3 electives over 4 years which would be only 3 years of band, no music theory, photography, Computer Science or chorus. She’s willing to do the work, why can’t it be offered or credit received outside of school?</p>
<p>The electives, theory, photography, and computer science, your daughter would be interested in should all be available as summer courses at local colleges or on line. If she isn’t already a member, try to find a local youth orchestra and or chorus (local church choirs are a possibility, too) for her to join. The high school regents curriculum is very basic and set in stone. You might be able to find a neighboring district that offers summer classes in health, math, etc. and pay their fee for the classes. At one point I think you were looking at SUNY schools as a possibility for college, if you still are have her take the 3/4 years of language since she would then not be required to take language at the college level. She will need to take math at the college level also at the SUNY schools too. The basic regents sequence would prepare her for the college level courses.</p>
<p>You can’t take regents courses online. Your daughter will have to sit through them. If she can’t handle to work load she should be in the normal regents program not the advanced. My son graduates this year. He took the normal regents route scored 99/98 consecutively in the 10th/11th social studies regents, 95 on the English regents and in the 80’s on his math regents. He graduates with a regents diploma with honors. He now has 3 study halls a day and is also in accounting. He’s been accepted to both university and conservatory programs who had absolutely no problem with his grades. He has done the extra area all states, all states and is a 4 year member of the same youth orchestra as your child. Your child needs to pick and choose what she does. My son didn’t attend the all counties in high school. He left the spot for other kids who wouldn’t have a chance at area all state and all state. He didn’t play in the pit for musicals. He picked very selectively what he would and wouldn’t participate in. He didn’t even have a letter of recommendation from a school music teacher and guess what? None of it mattered. My advice would be to search the schools you’re interested in. Get to performances at that school and get your child lessons with the professors she plans to audition for in the future. Attend camps that are quality and stay the course. </p>
<p>My kid was accepted to his dream school and yours can be too! </p>
<p>That is what you need to graduate. I didn’t see that you asked about an advanced regents diploma but as I said, that is what my daughter is getting and she found it doable in four years with only taking health over the summer. She did all that with doing all the in school music classes as well. She didn’t have lunch or free period until senior year. Even if your daughter didn’t take any regents classes in 8th grade, by the end of this year she should have one math and one science under her belt at the end of this year. Next year she would have another math, another science, and global done. Junior year she would have her last math, no science required, her foreign language, English and US History. </p>
<p>In another thread you said you are in the Syracuse area. If so, them you have heard if the HS my daughter is at and let me tell you, they expect all sort of things from our kids, from having the most reps at All State, to mandatory participation in MUN for freshman in Honors Social Studies, to winning Science Olympiad and to the Nike Cross Country championships, and yet the students all still complete course work beyond advanced Regents requirements and are still involved in music and other activities. Your daughter will have to make choices about what she wants to do when but she won’t need to go outside of the school year to complete that degree. Other than regents requirements - the basic ones the school can’t make her complete anything else except gym in order for her to graduate. They can say she should take stuff but they can’t make her.</p>
<p>Except for health. Take it in the summer if you can. It is a big pain otherwise.</p>
<p>I am just trying to tell you to not worry so much. It seems rough at the end of freshman year. With college acceptances in hand, I now see we worried too much about the wrong things. Don’t waste as much time worrying as we did.</p>
<p>Alexmariejp is totally correct. Don’t waste so much time worrying about the wrong things. You need to educate yourself about what is needed to get to music school. Do not rely on your high school. Don’t drink their cool aid. I was once talking to one of my son’s private teachers, a college professor in Syracuse, about his regular school studies. When I mentioned the advanced regents program he burst out laughing and said “is that are real thing” I said “yes” and he said “who makes this stuff up?” He found it totally funny. We knew than and were proven right by the college acceptances, that all you need is to take the basic courses and pass them with decent grades. </p>
<p>Educate yourself on what the colleges want and your stress level about all these things will drop significantly. </p>
<p>That’s one of the problems. What music schools want and what the new Regents program and our school wants don’t mesh-- we need more time in the day! And in a small school, 2 or 3 classes you may need to take are often only offered at one time during the day! My niece had to end up taking two English courses her senior year, one that was supposed to be taken before the other! It drives me crazy that NY will not allow kids to take basic requirements outside of school. No other state school system seems to have this issue!</p>
<p>Bigdjp-- also, you mentioned Syracuse. The music teacher may have laughed at the advanced regents diploma, but to get accepted at SU a regents diploma is the absolute minimum NY state diploma they will accept to apply to the university. And the Regents requirements have changed to more of what the Advanced Regents diploma used to be.</p>
<p>Redeye41 - We are in a very small upstate NY school district as well. Many courses only offered once a day. Son still managed to take what he wanted to take. I think I mentioned on some earlier thread that his senior year, he took the bare minimum, no science, no foreign language, no math (he took pre-calc in 11th grade and didn’t even need to do that). He took his health requirement (finally), AP-Economics (which along with a seperate independent project covers the Regents Government requirement), and Regents English. He wanted to take some higher level music classes at a nearby SUNY, so the Guidance Counselor constructed his schedule to make sure he had a big block open to accomodate that. If something didn’t work out, he didn’t take it. He was going to take Environmental Science or Physics, but it would have precluded the consecutive study halls for him to go to SUNY. So, basically, he picked what was available and prioritized the music courses at SUNY. He did eveything he wanted to do, including participation in varsity sports and many music extra-curriculars. This was not necessarily his plan freshman year, when he was planning to take most of the AP’s available to him throughout his 4 years of HS. Where they are freshman year can be very different from where they are junior year. Yes, he missed out on the advanced regents designation. Would he get into Princeton having having done this? Probably not, but that wasn’t his goal. </p>
<p>I think it’s ok to be aware of potential conflicts. But as the years go by, things will naturally fall away that aren’t as important. I know the disadvantages to being in a very small school district, but there are also some advantages to be embraced.</p>
<p>We recommend taking a college preparatory curriculum, including four years each of English, science, social studies and mathematics (through geometry and intermediate algebra) and a minimum of three years of a foreign language.</p>
<p>They also will consider a GED, and welcome homeschooled applicants.</p>
<p>I wasn’t referring to SU.
Again, you need to do what’s best for your kid but you really need to educate yourself about what these schools are looking for. I know what’s required to graduate from high school as I have a senior as well as a sophomore. The music road isn’t easy and you really need to guide your child yourself if you want a chance at scoring a really good school. We guided here and it was well worth it. </p>