American Heritage School currently offers both middle School (7th and 8th Grades) as well as high school (9th and 10th grades). We plan to add 11th grade in the 2009-2010 year and 12th grade in the 2010-2011 year. Below are various details about our high school program. Please do not hesitate to call the School if you have any further questions, 801-642-0055.

High School Graduation Requirements. In order to graduate from American Heritage High School, 27 credits will be required according to the attached “High School Graduation Requirements” list. The vast majority of students enrolled in 9 th Grade this year will receive from 6 to 8 credits for their coursework during the 2007/2008 year, depending upon the number of successfully completed BYU Independent Study courses and electives.

Specialized Instruction in All Subject Areas. Teachers in grades 7-12 will specialize in subject areas that fit their gifts and passions. Currently, we anticipate course offerings and teacher assignments as set forth on the attached list of “Course Offerings 2008-2009”. The “core” or “home-room” concept will still be retained in 7 th and 8 th grades for devotional curriculum and student mentoring and will be held at various times including for the first thirty minutes of each school day (7 th and 8 th grades only).

Mathematics. Saxon Math will continue to be used in grades 7-12 and various levels will be taught by instructors in our math department. We plan to add a third full-time math specialist to our math department in a continuing effort to meet students at their various levels. Saxon Math books will be provided at all levels.

Science. We are very excited about the caliber and experience of the applicants for the newly opened science position. The new instructor will teach both biology and earth science for 9 th and 10 th grades. Mr. Miller will continue to teach 7th and 8 th grade science. We are investigating various high school science fairs and bowls that will present opportunities to our high school science students to compete and excel in this area.

Curricular Electives. Beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, we anticipate offering the following curricular electives, primarily for high school students (grades 9-12). Most of these electives will satisfy certain high school graduation requirements in fine arts, foreign language, and physical education. Grades 7 and 8 will be included as possible and appropriate.

•  Spanish
•  French
•  Orchestra
•  Choir
•  Drama/Debate (includes Constitution Bowl)
•  Art
•  Ballroom Dance
•  Fitness for Life
•  Honors Literature

Please note that high school students desiring to take most or all of the above-listed electives AND complete the seminary program may need to take early-morning seminary one or more years in high school, which we will offer beginning with the 2008/2009 school year (see more on seminary below).

Seminary. CES is looking forward to providing two sections of seminary at American Heritage School beginning in 2008/2009, depending on the number of enrolled students. Currently, CES is planning to hold early morning seminary at American Heritage School from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. five days per week, in addition to another seminary class to be offered here during the class day (6 th period).

Extracurricular Electives. We will continue to offer extracurricular basketball and soccer for both boys and girls, which will satisfy graduation requirements in physical education. We do not anticipate adding other extracurricular athletics in the 2008/2009; however, it is possible that curricular electives such as orchestra, drama, constitution bowl, or science bowl events may require some extracurricular rehearsals and meetings.

Student Government, Academic Competitions, and Other Special Events. High school student government will continue to operate with class officers from both the 9 th and 10 th Grades. The elected Student Council will continue to have access to administration through attendance by Mr. Beckwith of the monthly Student Council meeting. On Friday, May 2, 2008, we are holding our first dance with Liahona Academy here at American Heritage School for all students ages 14 and up. Our 9 th Student Council has organized this event and we will likely continue this tradition next year (frequency to be determined with feedback from the May 2 dance). Beginning in 2008/2009, we plan to compete in a Constitution Bowl in connection with our debate team. We also are considering sending selected students from our high school to attend a student diversity conference to be held in Salt Lake City in 2009.

Uniforms and Dress Code. With feedback from the 9 th Grade Student Council, we anticipate including more uniform options for high school beginning with the 2008/2009 year. With a few exceptions, we have been very pleased with the dignity and maturity with which our 9 th Grade Scholars have approached the uniform standards this year and feel that we can continue to recognize that maturity through increased uniform options.

Calendar and Daily Schedule. Beginning with the 2008/2009 school year, all students in grades 7-10 will attend school Monday through Friday (no non-school Fridays) and the school day will begin at 8:10 a.m. and end at 3:10 p.m., excluding early morning seminary and extracurricular electives. For grades 9 and 10 only , we will operate on a modified balanced block schedule with an 8-period “A/B” schedule to allow high school students to take more classes that are held less frequently and for more continuous teaching-time per class period. (See attached “American Heritage School Modified Balanced Block Schedule” for more details.)

The daily schedule for grades K-6 will remain unchanged (begin classes at 8:30 a.m. and conclude the day at 3:05 p.m.). As is currently the practice in most classrooms, beginning at 8:15 a.m., teachers in grades K-6 will provide supplemental enrichment activities for students who arrive early and are awating the 8:30 a.m. bell. As always, if famlies have special circumstances pertaining to arrival or dismissal, we will be as flexible as possible to accommodate those schedules.

Technology Initiative. Recognizing the vital role of technology in education, we will continue to provide the option for high school students (9 th and 10 th grades) to use personal laptops at School for notetaking, research and writing purposes related to School curriculum. Any non-approved use of a personal laptop computer at School (including but not limited to video games, e-mail, or text messaging) will result in the temporary or permanent loss of laptop privileges for the student at School. If you choose to purchase a laptop, we recommend that you purchase one that will meet the suggested minimum requirements set forth below:

A PC operating system is strongly recommend for compatibility and on-site trouble-shooting purposes; however, to our current knowledge, most programs that we will be using, are Macintosh compatible or have special Macintosh versions of their software.

Academic Probation. As announced previously, the academic probation policy set forth below was modified for all students in grades 7 and higher effective January 2008, as follows:

A student will be placed on a thirty-day “academic warning ” immediately upon their overall grade falling below a C- in any single course. A student on “academic warning” may participate fully in all curricular and extracurricular activities. A student will be placed on “academic probation ” for either (1) remaining on “academic warning” for longer than 30 days, or (2) receiving a single F or two or more grades below a C- on any end-of-term report card. Students who are on “academic probation” may not participate in any extracurricular activities sponsored by the school for a minimum of 30 days; however, they will continue to participate in curricular electives. A student will be removed from academic probation at the end of the 30-day probation period so long as no grade is currently below a C- average for the current term. At the conclusion of the year (or at the conclusion of the course if it is shorter than a full year), any student that receives an overall (average of all terms) grade in a course that is less than a C- will not be given credit for the course and must repeat the failed terms to receive credit.

Repeating Terms and Making Up Credit. For a variety of reasons, students may from time-to-time encounter the need to make up credit that was not received as a result of one or more incomplete or failed terms. In such cases, the teacher will provide a packet of materials and assignments for the incomplete or failed term that must be completed by the student to receive the make-up credit.

Accreditation. In April of 2007 American Heritage School was formally inducted as a candidate member of the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS) – an association that is well respected in Utah and around the country. If all goes as planned, fully accredited diplomas will be offered for the first graduating class of 2010/2011 and transfer credit to local high schools should be honored subsequent to 2010/2011. Although we have every expectation of full accreditation (expected as early as December of 2010 and not later than April of 2011), we cannot promise that American Heritage School will ultimately be accredited at that time, or indeed at all, nor can we make any definitive representations about high school transfer-credit, which is largely a function of policies of the Utah State Office of Education and individual high schools. Please note that most college admissions offices care far less about accreditation of a student's school than they do about the track-record of the individual student, as measured by the student's academic performance, the array of classes taken, and, most importantly, the standardized test scores of the student. See the attached article from a national private school trade journal, Independent School Management, on prevailing views of accreditation from the perspective of most private schools and college admissions offices.

Advanced Placement Courses. Advancement placement (A.P.) courses are generally offered beginning in the 11 th Grade. Accordingly, we anticipate offering A.P. courses beginning not later than the 2009/2010 academic year and will provide more details about those course offerings next year.

Standardized Testing. We will continue to administer standardized tests as necessary and appropriate to provide parents, teachers and college admissions offices with the benefit of comparable and credible performance data for each of our students. Based upon our research and consistent with the trend of various other private schools in Utah, we plan to administer the ACT PLAN exam to 9 th Grade students and the Pre-ACT exam to 10 th Grade students (both in place of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills). Both the ACT PLAN and the Pre-ACT have value not only as a norm-referenced national standardized exams, but also as preparatory exams for the ACT, which is now accepted by all universities in the nation.

Qualification for High School and College Athletics. For families that are serious about high school and college athletics, please be aware that particular academic requirements may apply to you depending upon the high school and college that you want to attend. At least two organizations that you should be aware of include: (1) the Utah High School Athletic Association (UHSAA) http://www.uhsaa.org/info/ and, (2) National Collegiate Athletic Association- (NCAA), http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal .

College Admissions. We have confidence that our high school program will produce outstanding students that will be sought after by the best colleges in the country. Obviously, we cannot guarantee that a student graduating from American Heritage High School will be accepted to any school of his/her choice; however, we are confident that our students will be well qualified for great colleges and universities – and that if they will diligently apply themselves not only to their coursework here, but also to the spirit and mission of American Heritage School, they will prove to be some of the most successful college students, community members, husbands and wives, and fathers and mothers in their national graduating class.

High School Graduation Requirements
Course Offerings
High School Block Schedule