Academic Electives

An academic elective comes from an academic subject area such as theology, literature, history, math, etc. Academic courses such as these receive a .5 credit per semester. Additionally, grades from these academic elective courses are calculated into the student’s GPA. To receive credit for an academic elective, parents must submit written and graded samples of student work each semester with the Grade Submission Form or in the Schoology online courses. For a student pursuing the 7 academic subjects in Kolbe’s core curriculum (theology, English, literature, history, math, science, and foreign language), there is room for one additional academic elective per year if desired. Examples of common academic electives include courses in Computer Programming, Art History, Philosophy, and Music History.
 

An academic course in any specific subject will count towards the academic elective graduation requirement for our diploma once a student has completed the graduation requirements for that specific subject. 

For example, once a student has met his or her graduation requirements for Math, any additional academic Math course taken will count as an academic elective toward the student’s graduation requirements. For this reason, if a student takes a typical course load all four years in high school, the academic elective requirement is usually met without seeking course options from outside curricula. Of course, a student may satisfy the academic elective requirement with an outside curriculum if it fits in with their goals and interests for their high school course of study and meets Kolbe Academy’s requirements for high school credit 

Non-Academic Electives

A non-academic elective includes subjects such as art, music, physical education, drama, etc. Non-academic courses such as these receive 1 credit per year, or .5 credit per semester. Students should spend approximately 4 hours a week total (or 60 hours per semester) on each required non-academic subject such Fine Arts and Physical Education. Grades from non-academic courses are NOT calculated into the student’s GPA. Parents report non-academic coursework with a pass/fail grade (P/F). To receive credit for a non-academic elective, parents should submit a short, written description of the course with the Grade Submission Form or in the Schoology online courses. It is important to note that both diploma tracks require some type of non-academic coursework for graduation. Examples of common non-academic electives include Piano, Music Appreciation, Computer Applications, Driver’s Education, Drawing, and Painting.