Course Selection and Enrollment

Students must be formally enrolled at Valley Christian High School for the upcoming school year in order to select courses. The course selection process for currently enrolled students occurs between February and April.

Student Course Advising

Each year counselors and teachers assist students in selecting the best courses for the following year. Advice is given in a variety of formats including individual counselor meetings, counselor presentations, a course fair, and teacher input.

Students may make an appointment with their counselor to further discuss course selection, but it is strongly advised to first ask and follow the recommendation of the current teacher. Teachers will provide the most individualized and subject-specific advice.

Prerequisites, Recommendations, and Placement

The course catalog includes prerequisites and/or recommendations for each course. Please read them carefully before selecting courses. All grade prerequisites are listed as a general letter grade (no pluses/minuses), but the student’s specific grade percentage may be considered when the course list is reviewed by counselors and teachers. Recommendations are important factors that have proven consistent with student success in the classroom.

Mathematics course selection will be determined by the student's current math teacher. Students are placed in their math course and must create an acceleration request if they disagree with their placement and want it reviewed by counselors. Students are also placed in Bible courses based on the completion of a student survey.

Course List Review

Counselors and teachers review course lists, checking that each student has met the prerequisites, but it is ultimately the student’s responsibility to be aware of the prerequisites and to be sure he/she is enrolled in appropriate courses.

If a student has not met the prerequisite, he/she may be removed from the course and placed in the appropriate level course.

If a teacher or counselor has a concern about a student’s ability to succeed in a course, the counselor or teacher will notify the student of the concern and review possible options.

Prerequisite Appeal

For students who do not meet the prerequisite for a course and feel there should be an exception made due to a unique circumstance, there is a prerequisite appeal process. Students should complete the prerequisite appeal form found in Class Choice to show their interest.

To ensure equity, the VCHS Counseling Team and academic department collectively process all requests by completing a comprehensive review of the following criteria: performance in a particular subject area, current and historical grades in all classes, and the overall course load requested for the given school year. Please note that each student may only be granted one prerequisite appeal over their 4-years at VCHS. Students who enter an Honors or AP course as a result of an appeal may not be able to shift to the corresponding college preparatory course until the following semester, and course availability is not guaranteed. 

Note that for the 2024-25 school year and moving forward, students in 9th grade are not permitted to take two science courses. In addition, taking AP Physics 1 as a 9th or 10th grade student is not eligible for academic acceleration. 

Course Conflicts

Valley Christian High School works diligently to minimize course conflicts, but students with several specialized course requests may be asked to prioritize their course requests. If a student is unable to take a course due to a conflict, the counselor will notify him/her. If the counselor notifies a student of a conflict, the school has already made attempts to move the courses to make the schedule work but was unable to find a solution.

Course Change Requests

Once the course list is posted in Class Choice for parental review, the student’s course list becomes finalized for the upcoming year. The counseling team will provide an opportunity in the early summer to complete a course change request form. There are no guarantees that courses can be changed after choices are made in the spring. The administration teams build the master schedule based on spring requests. Unless a counselor contacts the student with a conflict or concern or a change request is approved, the course list is considered fixed until the start of school. Counselors will not make changes based on preference requests, and student course lists are frozen until the Back2S Bash.

Auditing Courses

The VCHS  Summer School program allows for courses to be audited, but there are no auditing options during the regular school year.  

8th Period Course Fee

VCHS charges a tuition fee for students adding an 8th-period course to their schedule.  The fee amount is approximately one-seventh of the annual tuition rate. 

 There are a few exceptions to this fee.  Any specialized, non-credit bearing extracurricular activity that is placed within the school day is billed as part of a different cost structure and is not considered an 8th period.

 VCHS will not charge an 8th-period fee for the following courses:

• Daily Math courses included Algebra I A/B, Geometry A/B, and Algebra II A/B
• Study Hall/Resource Study Hall
• Teacher’s Aid/Peer Tutor
• REACH I/ REACH II
• Applied English and Bible Fundamentals
• Quest Incubator
• DECA Advisory
• Foundations of Baseball/ Water Polo
• Football Performance
• Outdoor/ Indoor Athletic Performance
• Worship and Production Arts