1. Course Selection Information
The Foundation High School Program + Endorsement
(FHSPE)
Katy ISD Freshman Class of
Information for Students and Parents
The information contained in this presentation is accurate as of January 3, Information will be updated online if/when changes should occur based on Texas Education Agency decisions.

2. The foundation high school program: Basic information
All FHSPE students must choose an endorsement in one of 5 areas at the time they enter 9th grade.
The endorsement should be selected based on the student’s individual interests and goals.
Students are allowed to change endorsements with parent signature.
All students are required to choose an endorsement in one of 5 areas: STEM, Business & Industry, Public Services, Arts & Humanities, or Multidisciplinary Studies. We’ll have more information on the endorsement areas a little later in this presentation.
The endorsement should be chosen based on the student’s individual interests and career goals, and should align with courses the student intends to take while in high school. There are notes throughout the course catalog about which endorsement areas certain courses support.
Course Catalog, page 11

3. The FHSP + Endorsement Course/credit requirements
English – 4 credits
English I, II, III, and an additional/advanced English
Math – 4 credits
Algebra I, Geometry, and two additional/advanced math
Science – 4 credits
Biology, and one course from IPC, or Chemistry, or Physics, and two additional/advanced science
Social Studies – 3 credits
World Geography or World History
US History, Government & Economics
LOTE – 2 credits
Credits must be in the same language
Fine Arts – 1 credit
Physical Education – 1 credit
Health – .5 credit
Electives – 6.5 credits, including
A communication skills component
Two endorsement specific electives
Total - 26 credits
The foundation high school program includes 22 credits: 4 credits in English, 3 maths, 3 sciences, 3 social studies, 2 credits in the same language in a language other than English, 1 fine arts, 1 PE a half credit health and 4.5 elective credits.
The endorsement requires an additional 4 credits. .
Course Catalog, page 9

4. Course notes
PE substitutions – All students must earn one PE credit. The following are approved PE substitutions:
Athletics
Fall semesters of Marching Band I and Marching Band II
Fall semesters of Color Guard I and Color Guard II
Dance I
Dance Team Training I
Dance Team I,
Cheer – 1st year (if PE credit has not already been earned), or
NJROTC – 1st year.
There are several allowable substitutions for the PE requirement. These include athletics, the fall semesters of marching band or color guard, and the first year of dance, cheer and NJROTC.

5. Course notes
Health – Health is a Katy ISD-required course for all students.
Communication Skills – Students on the FHSPE must have a communication skills component. The communication skills component can be satisfied through any of the following courses:
Professional Communications
Debate (must be full year)
Professional Standards in Agribusiness
Teen Leadership
Theatre or Theatre Production (must be full year)
AP Seminar (must be full year)
Dual Credit Speech
Katy ISD requires all students to have a Health course.
The FHSPE requires all students to have a communication skills component. This can component can be satisfied through a variety of courses which are marked with the conversation bubble icon throughout the course catalog.
Look for to identify courses marked that satisfy the communication skills component

6. Distinguished Level Of achievement (DLA)
A Distinguished Level of Achievement (DLA) may be earned through successful completion of:
All requirements for the Foundation High School Program, plus
The requirements of at least one endorsement, including
Algebra II among the four required math credits, and
A fourth science credit
A student must graduate with a Distinguished Level of Achievement (DLA) to be considered for the Top 10% and eligibility for automatic admission to a Texas public college or university.
Before we talk about the endorsements, it’s important to note that each of the five endorsements require a fourth math credit and a fourth science credit.
Algebra II is required for the Distinguished Level of Achievement, or DLA.
The DLA is important because it is REQUIRED for the student to be considered for the Top 10% and therefore be eligible for automatic admission to a Texas public college or university.
The requirements for a DLA are pretty much the same as those for any endorsement; but, Algebra II is specified as a requirement for earning the DLA, regardless of which endorsement you choose to pursue.
Course Catalog, page 10, under “Recognitions”

7. The Endorsements STEM (Science – Technology – Engineering – Math)
Business & Industry
Public Services
Arts & Humanities
Multidisciplinary Studies
There are five endorsement categories. Each one is quite different and has its own requirements.
When selecting the endorsement, students should think about the courses they want to take and their own specific areas of interest.
The endorsements are listed at the top of the 9th grade course selection sheet.
The course catalog includes information on the endorsements in greater detail, but we will briefly go over each one here.

8. STEM Science • Technology • Engineering • Math
STEM relates to courses of study in advanced math, science, computer science, Career & Technical Education engineering courses, or a combination of courses from up to two of these categories.

9. Business & Industry
The Business and Industry endorsement includes courses of study from a wide variety of areas of Career & Technical Education, English, in the fields of Journalism or Speech, Technology, or a combination from various Business & Industry categories.

10. Public services
The Public Services endorsement is comprised of Career and Technical Education courses of study in the areas of Health Science, education, cosmetology, law enforcement and NJROTC.
To earn this endorsement, all four CTE credits must be earned in the same category.

11. Arts & Humanities
The Arts and Humanities endorsement relates to English--other than journalism and speech, Social Studies, Languages Other than English, as well as to each of the fine arts disciplines, including Art, Dance, Music and Theatre.
This endorsement cannot be earned through a combination of courses from different Arts & Humanities categories.

12. Multidisciplinary studies
The multidisciplinary studies endorsement allows students to select their course of study from several different areas, and there are various ways to earn this endorsement, including college/workforce readiness, the 4X4, and Advanced Placement, Dual Credit, or International Baccalaureate courses.

13. Choosing courses for NEXT year
Choose or review your endorsement,
Choose courses from the required subject areas.
English,
Math,
Science,
Social Studies
3. Choose courses from other areas to completely
fill all seven class periods.
If a one-semester course is selected, another one-semester course should be selected.
Study hall can be a full year or one semester.
When making course selections, please review the course catalog.
It is important to be aware of any prerequisites, grade restrictions, course fees, or after school commitments associated with different courses and programs. Also, be sure to review “Selecting Courses for the Next School Year” and the Katy ISD schedule change procedures, both on page 35 of the course catalog.
The course selections must include enough courses to fill seven full class periods, and include courses from the required subjects: English, math, science and social studies.
All students are required to take either World Geography or World History; World Geography is an option for 9th grade students.

14. Typical 9th grade course selection
English 1 or Pre-AP English 1
Algebra 1 or Pre-AP Geometry
Biology or Pre-AP Biology
World Geography, Pre-AP World Geography, or AP Human Geography
Physical Education or PE Substitute
Teen Leadership/Health
Elective or Foreign Language
* If a student takes World Geography in summer school, they cannot take AP Human Geography or World History next year.
* List alternative courses!

15. Dropping Pre-ap classes
KISD outlines specific exit guidelines for dropping Pre-AP or AP classes (pg 15)
Students are allowed to move freely the first ten days of the semester.
Students requesting to drop must conference with the teacher and attend tutorials.
Students experiencing success (maintaining a C or better average) should remain in the course for the semester.
Students who fail a six weeks WILL be removed.
For students wanting to drop AP Human Geography, the only time you can drop is at the end of the first six weeks.

16. Choosing courses: P.E. & Fine Arts
For student athletes, only one athletics program should be chosen on the course selection sheet.
Band requires special consideration:
If the student is in band but not in athletics, select the band option that gives fall PE credit and spring Fine Arts credit;
If the student is in both athletics and band, the band option for the full year Fine Arts credit .
If the student is going to take a first year dance course for PE credit, choose the appropriate dance course number listed under the Athletics heading.
There are some special considerations regarding athletics and fine arts.
If the student is an athlete, only ONE athletics program can be chosen. If the student is a multi-sport athlete, the sport can be changed with the season.
For band and dance courses, it is especially important to choose the right course number, depending on whether the credit will count as PE or fine arts. It

17. Course verifications & Schedule changes
Students will receive a course verification sheet later in the spring semester.
The course verification sheet lists course selections for 2018–2019 as well as the endorsement.
Course verification is the only time to change requests if they are needed.
Make any changes on the verification sheet.
List alternate choices in the order of preference.
Turn in the course verification sheet as instructed.
Course verification sheets will be distributed to students a little later in the spring semester.
This is the time to confirm that the course requests are what the student wants and needs to take for the school year.
Any changes should be made during the course verification period. Change requests received after the close of course verification will be made for a limited number of reasons, as explained on page 35 of the course catalog.

18. Final notes
And finally, both the course catalog and this presentation are available online for easy reference.