HONORS GRADES 9 & 10

MVHS Grades 9 & 10

Students who plan to take IB Courses or enroll in the full IB Diploma Program in the last two years of high school start out by taking honors courses in 9th and 10th grade. Students who plan to take individual IB Courses take honors courses in only those individual subjects. 

MV honors courses were not created by IB and are not regulated by IB. They are SCPS courses that have been specifically planned to prepare students for the rigors and assessments of the IB Diploma Program courses that follow them at Mountain View High School. [In the SCPS High School Program of Studies these courses are labeled “honors” or “advanced.”] At MVHS, 9th and 10th grade honors teachers work in vertical planning teams with IB course teachers to ensure that students are being prepared well for IB Diploma Program courses.

MV honors courses have a faster pace and go into more content depth than standard high school courses in the same subject matter. They introduce students to some of the important undergirding aspects of the IB Diploma Program, such as academic honesty, international-mindedness, development of the IB Learner Profile, and incorporation of Theory of Knowledge concepts. Assessments (tests, papers, projects, presentations) in MV honors courses are created to prepare students for the upcoming IB Diploma Program assessments.

These courses require a high degree of personal motivation on the part of the student, in addition to organizational skills and study skills. Attendance is also key to success in MV pre-IB coursework, particularly with 4×4 block classes. Excessive absences can be extremely difficult to recover from in an honors course.

MV honors courses are not weighted in terms of calculating the Grade Point Average. In SCPS, weighted credit is given only for high school courses that feature external end-of-course exams (such as IB and AP courses) or that involve dual-enrollment at a community college.