Frequently Asked Questions About 13th Year Plans and High School Planning Night

Q. What is the 13th Year Plan?
A. Here’s what you need to know about the 13th Year Plan:

• Students go through 12 years of school from first grade to their senior year of high school.
• The 13th year is the first year of a student’s adulthood.  We want to help make it as successful as possible.
• The 13th Year Plan is a State graduation requirement as well. It’s important that the plan your student develops now provides the best possible guidance for his or her journey after high school.

Q. What are the schools doing to prepare students for this requirement?
A. All of the students in our middle schools have been taught a curriculum that prepares them for developing a personal 13th year plan.

• Students have taken career surveys and engaged in conversations regarding their post high school choices. 
• Now is when they goals begin to take shape.

Q. What are High School Planning Nights?
A.  High School Planning Nights are scheduled to give middle school students and parents or guardians a chance to work together to develop a Graduation Plan.

Q. Why should we attend High School Planning Night?

• Attending will give you and your student the opportunity to work with middle school staff, high school staff and program people to determine which Graduation Plan best fits your student’s goals beyond high school.
• It will give you a chance to learn about special programs in Federal Way Public Schools that may be of special interest, and how to get into those programs by participating in what we call the Choice process.
• The event is an exciting and valuable opportunity because all resources are readily available at one time. 
• Because the events are held at the high schools, students and parents will have an opportunity to see the school they are scheduled to attend next year.

Q. What should we expect to come away with?
A. The most important thing you’ll get out of High School Planning Night is a Graduation Plan.  There are three basic plans.

Q. What does Plan A prepare a student for, and what does it require?

• Plan A is a plan that would take students to an internship, apprenticeship, the Military, Tech School, or Community College.  It also provides the number of requirements and electives a student needs to prepare to qualify for one of these options when he or she graduates from high school.

Q. What about Plan B?

• Plan B is appropriate for students who are considering attending a 4-year college or university for a Liberal Arts Degree. 
• There are important requirements to keep in mind when you create your high school schedule:
•  For example, students need at least 2 years of a World Language and 3 years of math up to Advanced Algebra. 

Q. What about Plan C?

• This is the most rigorous plan.  This selection prepares students for attendance at a 4-Year college or university with a degree in a math/science focus. 
• It’s important to clearly understand what subjects and credits a student needs by the time he or she graduates is the goal is a career in a field such as engineering or medicine.

Q. Why are we asking our students to start thinking about high school graduation in 8th grade?
A. You may think that it’s too early to know exactly what a student wants to do in his/her 13th Year.  Students understand that they need to have a plan. We all know that their plans may change. These plans are not written in stone; changes can be made with parents’ approval.

• All freshmen take the same core classes:  English, History of the Pacific Region, Algebra/Geometry, and a lab Science -- either Freshman Science or Biology. 
• They take all of these classes whether they are preparing for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate, or regular classes in these subjects. 

Q. What is my student required to do, and what do you need from parents?
A. All Choice letters and the student’s graduation plan must be signed and returned, either on the event night or no later than February 25, 2009.  Your student cannot be scheduled into high school classes until the Graduation Plan is signed BY A PARENT and returned. 

• If you need additional information please contact your middle school or see our website, www.fwps.org/info/ under Graduation Requirements -13th year plan.