Math- 4 Total Credits

• Geometry w/ Data Analysis (regular or honors)
• Algebra I w/ Probability
• Algebra II w/ Statistics (regular or honors)
• 4th math (see options in course catalog)

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Science- 4 Total Credits

• Biology (regular or honors)
• A physical science (2 options):
• Physical Science
• Chemistry
• 3rd and 4th science are student choice as long as prerequisites are met

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History- 4 Total Credits

• World History (regular or AP)
• United States History I (regular or AP)
• United States History II (regular or AP)
• United States Gov (regular (0.5) or AP (1.0))
• Economics (regular (0.5) or AP (1.0))

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English- 4 Total Credits

• English 9 (regular or honors)
• English 10 (regular or honors)
• English 11 (regular, honors, or AP)
• English 12 (regular, honors, or AP)

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Graduation Requirements

Academic Core Classes

26 CREDITS MINIMUM ARE REQUIRED TO GRADUATE

Graduation Requirements

Electives

Required

Electives:

Health (2 options; 1 required)

• Health Education (0.5 credits)
• Foundations of Health Science

Beginning Kinesiology (1 required):

• Team Sport (if you play a JC sport)
• ROTC 1b
• Marching Band
• Beginning Kinesiology

Career Preparedness (1 required):

• Career Preparedness

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3 CREDITS

REQUIRED

from the following-

can mix and match:

• Fine Art
• World Language
• Career Tech

We encourage students to complete at least 2 courses in sequence, but preferably we would love to see 3 in the same area

Other

Electives

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4- 4.5 credits to satisfy the 26 credits needed. These are your choice.

**If you have specific questions regarding these career tech academies, languages offered, and fine arts options: please refer to the MCS course catalog for more specific descriptions.

Dual Enrollment

Schools that we partner with include: Calhoun, UAH, UNA, Drake State. AU First, and UA Early College

IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE:

We will have a dual enrollment meeting in the Auditorium for any student who is interested on March 25th during Refuel. This meeting will be held with our dual enrollment partners so all juniors and seniors planning to dual enroll next year are encouraged to attend.

GPA Requirements are as follows:

• Auburn First requires a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• Calhoun requires a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• Drake State requires a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• UAH requires a cumulative GPA of 2.9 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• UA Early College requires a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale
• UNA Early college required a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale
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You must be able to pay tuition for 3 college credit hours and have transportation

If you plan to dual enroll all paperwork must be completed by May 1st (except Auburn 1st- deadline has passed for Fall) This paperwork must be submitted to your counselor first, including the Madison City Schools Dual Enrollment Program Agreement (located in course catalog). We will then submit paperwork required to your designated school.

Please reference the dual enrollment link on the JCHS Guidance homepage. There is a lot of information regarding dual enrollment requirements that will answer many additional questions!

Must meet course prerequisite by providing ACT, SAT or appropriate placement test scores

Work Based Education (Co-op)

• You can co-op one or both semesters and have up to 2 blocks of co-op per semester
• 1 block is a minimum of 8 hours per week
• 2 blocks is a minimum of 16 hours per week
• Weekend hours do count towards the total number of hours needed
• Students are required to log work schedules each week
• Students are required to upload copies of pay statements received each month and fill out the weekly schedule form

The educator over co-op is Lindsey Leman so she can assist with any additional questions you may have.

Email: lbleman@madisoncity.k12.al.us

What would it look like on my schedule?

One block=

8 hours per week

Two blocks=

16 hours per week

What about summer school?

Summer school registration is completely separate from your registration for the 26-27 school year. Summer school registration typically opens up around the beginning of May and you are responsible for registering yourself via the the JCHS website.

Courses for credit advancement include: Beginning Kinesiology, Health Education, Career Preparedness, Driver’s Ed.

United States Government and Economics- seniors

Credit advancement courses do come with a fee and are fully online with tests being proctored at JC (with the exception of driver’s ed). These courses usually last through the month of June.

If you plan to take any courses over the summer be mindful of that when registering for your senior year courses.

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Be on the lookout for summer school registration in the months to come!

How will I know what I need to graduate?

All rising seniors should have received a copy of their graduation requirements checklist and transcript via advisory on February 5th. If you did not receive yours, please check with your advisory teacher first. If you are in a co-op, dual enrollment, or virtual advisory you will need to come to the guidance office to pick yours up.

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You will be able to see on your checklist what credits you have remaining. Your Spring 2026 classes are not yet checked or marked, but if you look on the bottom right hand side of your transcript you can see all the courses you are taking for this current school year. Use process of elimination to see which courses you will have remaining senior year.

**THESE CHECKLISTS MUST BE SIGNED BY A PARENT AND THEN RETURNED TO YOUR ADVISORY TEACHER.**

Counseling Team for Cohort 2027 and 2028

Lana Meskunas

llmeskunas@madisoncity.k12.al.us

College and Career Counselor

Michelle Hyams

mghyams@madisoncity.k12.al.us

Career Coach

Eric Cleaves

ejcleaves@madisoncity.k12.al.us

Grade Level Counselor

Cohort 2027

Grade Level Counselor

Cohort 2028

Meliaine Vaughan

mevaughan@madisoncity.k12.al.us

• Outside of required credits remaining, if you are questioning what classes to take for next school year, reach out to your current teachers (both academic and career tech) to get their feedback and guidance. They are great resources when it comes to recommendations for next year's classes.

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• Look through the curriculum catalog for various pre-requisites and specific information related to each course. The 2026-2027 curriculum catalog is available on the MCS website

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• Check your email and make an appointment with us, if needed, to review your credits and to make sure you are on track to complete all graduation requirements. In the email you should have received you can click that link and it will take you directly to our appointment slots and availability.

Counselor Tidbits

ejcleaves@madisoncity.k12.al.us

Reach out anytime!

Eric Cleaves (Cohort 2027):

Melanie Vaughan (Cohort 2028):

mevaughan@madisoncity.k12.al.us

March 23rd: PowerSchool registration opens and Distribution of 2026-2027 Registration Packets

• Course Request Submissions: PowerSchool opens to enter course requests from home/school (Directions on school website).
• Students will complete registration two ways
• Online through PowerSchool
• Turn in course request form to 3rd block teacher

March 24th : Cookies with Counselors (6:00pm - 8:00pm)

March 26th : Curriculum Night (5:00pm-7:00pm)

March 23rd- April 10th: Registration Meetings

• Grade level registration videos will be posted on the JCHS website under “Registration”
• Students and parents can then make an appointment with counselors as needed.

April 10th: Last Day for Student Schedule Requests

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Registration

Timeline

Questions for Our Counselors