Completing a Planning Guide

Non-A-G Planning Guides

➢ If a core class (Math, English, History, Science) appears in a first-semester column on the
transcript, enter it into the first-semester space for that class on the planning guide.
○ Core classes are semester sensitive
○ Fall/Spring courses correlate to our A/B courses
➢ Elective classes can be placed in the elective spaces on our planning guide regardless of the
semester and grade level. However, double check courses that you assign to our A-G elective
spaces.
○ Check in with the Post Secondary Counselor to determine if an elective can be
placed under the career development sections.
➢ Keep a look out for withdraw credits from previous schools. Students may be able to pick
up where they left off at their previous school and receive full credit if finished by the
following semester. These can be on a separate sheet provided at enrollment or on their
previous school’s transcript. See counselor for withdraw calculator and assistance with this

A-G Planning Guides

➢ All A-G courses need to be completed with a C- or higher. Courses with a grade below a C-
will need to be repeated.* If courses need to be repeated, we recommend holding off until all
other course work is completed. *With exception of the following conditional validations:
○ Math Validation:
■ ‘C’ grades or better in an advanced math class can validate a lower-level math
course.
● Ex. A “C” grade in Math 1 S2 can validate a “D” grade in Math 1 S1
○ Language Other than English (LOTE) Validation:
■ Any higher level/year of the same LOTE validates a lower-level course.
➢ LOTE and Science courses are required to be year-long A-G courses and cannot be mixed
and matched:
○ Ex. The LOTE requirement cannot be mixed and matched with American Sign
Language and Spanish; both years must consist of one language course like Spanish
1 and Spanish 2.
○ A-G Coursework that does not need to be consecutive year-long courses include:
English, Mathematics, Electives, Fine Art (this can be 2 courses within the same
discipline - ex. Art and Ceramics).
○ Ask your counselor for other similar course requirements examples.
➢ The A-G planning guide does not account for the G-elective requirement. Please be sure to
reserve 1 elective space to fulfill this requirement with a college prep course (consider
creating a habit of which box you will select consistently on the planning guide. See counselor
for examples of which courses qualify as an g-elective course.
➢ The following website can help you determine whether a class is considered A-G:
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
○ Simply type the school where the student earned the credit and search by the
subject and school year in which the course was completed.
 Some key rules to consider

➢ Never guess, always ask! – The planning guide will drive the courses we assign/do not assign
to a student, so we must be precise and accurate. Course placement is not up for discretion,
so please ask if you are unsure.
➢ Be sure to check for unassigned courses; if a student received credit for a course, but there is
no space on the planning guide, remaining classes should be placed in extraneous.
➢ If something looks off, follow up – sometimes you will see a course/credit count that does
not add up or you have questions about a course a student took at their previous school. Call
and follow up with the school to be on the safe side.
➢ Never place classes without the student's transcripts on hand. This ensures that courses are
placed properly according to the semester that they were earned. Misplaced courses can
cause students to repeat coursework unnecessarily.
➢ Measure twice, cut once – imagine we completed a guide too hastily and forgot to place
Geometry A on the planning guide. We have the student take Geometry A to fill the
requirement and later realize the student took 5 credits of a class they already passed. It is
crucial to double-check planning guides for accuracy to ensure courses are placed in the
right boxes and all credits are accounted for.
○ If you are unsure where to place a course or if you come across any repeated
courses, please check in with your post-secondary counselor for guidance.
➢ Best practice! Look at the credit breakdown on the student’s previous transcript and match it
to what you have charted out in the planning. I.e. if they were given math credit for a course
we don’t offer, they should still get that math credit when transferring to OFY.