Westside offers two different diplomas.
- The Standard Diploma (SD) fulfills state requirements for a high school diploma and coursework requirements for entrance into most colleges.
- The Advanced Diploma (AD) fulfills coursework for college entrance requirements, including classes recommended by many selective schools.
Important steps to prepare for college.
- You will want to contact the specific colleges you are interested in to determine which diploma fulfills their requirements. Note that the “additional core class” (English, Math, Science, Foreign Language, Social Science) results in 16 core class credits, fulfilling the NCAA requirement to participate in athletics at the Division 1 or 2 level.
- Prepare for college admission through testing
- Advanced Diploma candidates should consider taking their “additional core” class as a third year of Foreign Language to fulfill admission requirements at some colleges. Core classes are considered to be Math, English, Science, Social Science and Foreign Language.
26 credits are required in order to graduate from Westside.
- Bible** -- 4 credits
- English -- 4 credits
- Math -- 3 credits
- Science -- 3 credits (Biology, Chemistry, 1 other)
- Social Science -- 3 credits (World History, US History, Government/Economics)
- Foreign Language -- 2 credits (same language)
- Additional Core Course -- 1 credit (Math, Science, Social Science)
- Physical Education -- 1 credit
- Electives -- 5 credits
*Westside also offers a State-minimum Standard Diploma with no Foreign Language and no additional Core Course requirement. Those three credits are replaced by elective courses for a total of 26 credits.
**Transfer students are only required to earn Bible credits during the years they are enrolled at Westside
Academic Policies Related to Scheduling & Course Selection
- Students may receive one full PE credit through participation in two seasons of an OSAA sanctioned sports teams at Westside or at your public school. Students will receive a grade of P, rather than A through F for this credit. Students do not have to earn the entire credit in the same school year. If a student takes a regular PE class in the future, the credit earned through sports participation will be removed from their transcript.
- Students may take one credit in an online or correspondence format during their enrollment at Westside. There is not a limit on the number of classroom or “instructional” classes a student may take outside of Westside and transfer in to us.
- Students may be an office or teacher’s assistant as many times as they desire, but will only receive credit for the first 2 semesters of this class.
Preparing For College Admission Through Testing
While an increasing number of colleges are adopting test-optional policies, the majority of higher education institutions still use the ACT or SAT for both admission and financial aid decisions. To help our students prepare, we schedule time during the school day for two “pre-ACT” tests and three “pre-SAT” tests, as outlined in the chart below.
Please note: Except for tests administered during the school day, students must register themselves for the official ACT or SAT. This requires creating an account with the respective testing organization.
Students can use the testing agencies’ score-sending feature to have their results sent directly to Westside Christian. Our school code for both the ACT and SAT is 380936.
Westside Christian High School – Standardized Testing Schedule
Freshman
- PSAT 8/9 Spring Semester Administered through WCHS
Sophomore
- PSAT 10 Spring Semester Administered through WCHS
Junior
- PSAT/NMSQT Fall Semester Administered through WCHS
- SAT (School Day) Spring Semester Administered through WCHS
Senior
- SAT or ACT Fall Student/Parent registers directly
