ANGELICUM ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA REQUIREMENTS

Students who do not complete the minimum courses set forth above for The Greats Honors Program diploma may instead qualify to receive a Graduation diploma (High School) from the Angelicum Academy (not Angelicum’s Greats Honors Program diploma), for which a student must have completed the following 9th-12th grade level courses (or substantial equivalents):

• 4 Years of Religion or Theology
• 4 Years of English Language Arts (e.g., Grammar and Usage, Composition, College Essay Writing, Critical Reading, Rhetoric)
• 3 Years of Math (Algebra I & II and Geometry; note: the ACT also tests Trigonometry; the SAT tests data analysis, statistics and probability, but we do not require these)
• 3 Years of Science (normally consisting of : Biology, Chemistry, Physics, but sometimes Astronomy or other science courses)
• 3 Years of Social Studies (any of the following: History, Ethics, Civics, Socratic Logic, Geography, Economics)
17 Total High School Credits (1 Credit = 2 Semesters)

Our 4-Year Great Books Program satisfies the Social Studies and English Language Arts requirements, as it is both the core of our educational approach, and “the backbone of a liberal education.” This interdisciplinary program, which studies 120 great works of Western civilization over four years/8 semesters includes great works of literature, history, philosophy, theology, poetry, political science, social science and psychology. Consequently, it includes the substantial equivalent of four years of English language arts courses, and three years of social studies, inter alia. It includes much more as well, but students who take this program do not need to take additional English language arts courses (assuming they completed 8th grade grammar) or social science courses to fulfill our graduation requirements. They are of course free to do so – and we do offer such courses – but for them it is not required.In more detail: the Great Books courses include much Ancient History, World History, US History, US State Papers/Civics, Western Civilization, World Literature, English Literature, American Literature, Poetry, Shakespeare, Ancient Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Vocabulary. See HS credit chart HERE.

[Note: Some States also require, two years of Foreign Language (Ancient Greek or Latin are recommended, but any foreign language qualifies) and one year of Art or Music (Art History –e.g. Art in Focus or instrumental or vocal Music lessons are also recommended); however these are not required by the Academy nor for its diploma.]