Terms:
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Credit: The value given to a course. 1.0 or .5
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Required Course: A course you MUST take and complete to graduate from high school. Remember to sign up for both sections of a year-long course.
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Elective: A course you select that interests you or can prepare for future learning and career aspirations.
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Pre-requisite: A course you take before another; example: Creative Art before Drawing & Painting or Spanish I before Spanish II
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Advanced Placement (AP): Through Advanced Placement classes, students have the opportunity to study courses that are equivalent to first-year college courses. Following instruction in AP classes, the students can take examinations for a nominal fee. These examinations demonstrate that they have obtained the knowledge and skills of comparable college courses. Consult with the institution you plan to attend for their AP acceptance policy. It will vary from institution to institution.
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Dual Credit: Opportunity to receive college credit at participating South Dakota Schools for a reduced cost. Must meet academic requirements to be eligible
Graduation Requirements:
English- 4.5 credits
Math- 3 credits
Science Lab- 3 credits
Social Studies- 3 credits
Career & Technical Education - 1.5 credits
Fine Arts- 1 credit
Personal Finance - .5 credit
Physical Education- .5 credit
Health or Health Integrations - .5 credit (can be taken in anytime between grades 6-12).
Electives - 6 credits
Total Minimum- 23 credits
Additional endorsements can be earned. These show emphasis a student has put forth in a particular area. A student may earn one or more endorsements.
Advanced Endorsement - indicates a student has pursued coursework consistent with entrance requirements for postsecondary education at a university. (Requires Algebra I, II and Geometry)
Advanced Career Endorsement - signals to employers that a student has career experience in a concentrated area, based on academic or workplace experience and a related credential. (Require 2 CTE courses from same career cluster and NCRC of silver or higher).
Advanced Honors Endorsement - This may qualify students for the South Dakota Opportunities Scholarship up to $7,500 over 4 years if attending a South Dakota school for higher education. (Require final grades 'C' or higher and additional credits of Math, Science and 2 CTE or foreign language or a combination of the two).
South Dakota Opportunities Scholarship - indicates that a student has met the coursework required along with final grades, GPA and ACT score requirements. (Require final grades 'C' or higher, GPA 3.0 or higher and ACT composite score of 24 or higher and additional credits of Math, Science and 2 CTE or foreign language, or a combination of the two)
Regent Scholars - indicates that a student has met the coursework required for entrance into South Dakota's Board of Regents institutions. (Require final grades 'C' or higher and GPA 3.0 or higher and additional credits of Math, Science and 2 CTE or foreign language)
See course registration guide for specific requirements to earn each endorsement.
Students are advised to check the requirements of each college of interest.
Registration Tools:
Dual Credit
Dual Credit for Juniors and Seniors
2. HSDC course offerings (use filters)
3. Application:
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First-time (if never taken a DC before)
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Continuing (if taken a DC in the past)
4. Write 'Dual Credit' on GHS registration form. (DC courses will be in online room at GHS/ any period).
5. Review Cost and drop/add procedures and dates (specifics provided by the university when approved)
Applying
Information needed to register:
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School Counselor Name (Sherri Matthews)
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School Counselor e-mail address (Sherri.Matthews@k12.sd.us)
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CODE from School Counselor dualcredit2026 (changes each semester).
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Personal e-mail address - don't use schools so you can access it after you graduate.
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Parent's e-mail address - they will need to sign off on the form.
Be sure to select an Online Course
First-Time (if never taken a DC before)
Continuing (if taken a DC in the past)
You can review specific pathways to help you select DC courses that are right for you.
Selecting Courses:
26-27 Garretson High School Registration
Parent Letter
4/28/2026
Registration has taken place for our 2026-2027 High School Students. If you haven’t already, please review their upcoming schedules and have them turned into the office or counselor’s room this week.
There are a couple of tools available that were distributed to students in addition to the schedule; the ‘Four-Year Plan’ and ‘Personal Learning Plan’. These can be used to help student’s plan for their high school years. The State of SD does require school counselors to have a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) on file so please do review those as well and turn those in. Below is a review of how these tools can be used.
The ‘Four-Year Plan’ lists required courses by grade and is intended to help students plot out a general idea of interested courses throughout high school. Even though students don’t know exactly how electives will fit into future schedules, they can plan out when they intend to take various subjects such; fine art, foreign language, Career Technical Education (CTE), or even Dual Credit courses. These do not need to be completed in full, nor specific courses listed. However, taking the time now to make a tentative plan will help students reach their graduation goals.
The ‘Personal Learning Plan’ reviews each subject and how many credits students will take in each grade. This can be used as an audit to better understand which courses will still be needed to meet graduation goals and make a general plan.
Below are completed examples of the Four-Year Plan and the PLP with just the required courses included.
In this example when I mapped out a four-year plan, I can see my senior year may be a bit heavy so I may want to rethink that in future years.
