Announcements & General Info

PE Waivers & Exam

Students need to complete the following Physical Education (PE) graduation requirements:

Complete the PE competency exam by completing ONE of the following:
- taking and passing the Personal Fitness class
- taking the written PE competency exam (contact school counselor)
Complete 3 semesters of PE or submit 3 PE waiver forms

PE Study Guide

The PE Competency Exam is for any student who did not take or successfully complete Personal Fitness. It is a grad requirement – students must either take and pass the Personal Fitness class or take the PE Competency Exam. To access the PE Competency Exam, please reach out to your assigned school counselor.

PE waiver process:

Students must complete the PE Competency Exam or have taken and passed Personal Fitness in order to submit a PE waiver
There are 6 different categories of PE waivers – please review the PE waiver form for details
Category 6: Academic Waiver for having a full schedule of 6 classes at Garfield or the equivalent of 6 credits attempted per year for Running Start students. Students cannot have any late arrivals, early dismissals or Teacher Assistant courses on their schedule.
- Students are eligible to submit a category 6 academic waiver starting with 11th grade semester 2
PE waiver forms are available in hard copy in the lobby of the Counseling Office or online via the Garfield Counseling website in the “Forms” section
Completed PE waiver forms should be submitted to the Counseling Office
Athletic or medical PE waivers can be submitted anytime

Service Learning

Students must complete 15 hours of service learning (community service) for every year they are enrolled in an SPS high school. For students who have attended all 4 years in an SPS high school, this will be a total of 60 hours.

Students must complete the Service Learning Agreement Form for each organization they volunteer for
Students must do their service learning with a non-profit organization without pay.
Students must have a supervisor who oversees their service, tracks their hours, and signs off on the form.
Some common service learning opportunities are:
- Libraries, food banks, community centers, GHS Key Club, various community orgs

Online Credit Retrieval Classes

For Credit Retrieval classes, please contact your assigned counselor in early September for Semester 1 and early January for Semester 2.

If you need Washington State History (typically completed in middle school), please contact your assigned counselor. Washington State History, or the equivalent history course from another state, is a graduation requirement.

Naviance

Naviance is a online tool for students to research and plan for college & career options. There are specific activities that are required at each grade level for graduation. Counselors will work with students individually and in classroom lessons to make sure students complete these activities. Naviance is accessed for students via their Clever page.

More information and set up of a parent Naviance Account

Notes: A Parent Source Account must be set up before setting up a Parent Naviance Account. After setting up the Parent Naviance Account, go to Clever-Student Portal. (Although it says “Student Portal”, this is where parents and staff go to find Naviance and log-in).

Transcript Requests

Official transcripts for current students will need to be ordered by one of the three ways. Option one, contact your assigned counselor if requesting your transcript to be sent out through a portal such as Common App or Coalition App. Option two, request a transcript through Naviance (add your school and request in Naviance). Option three, if your school is not on the Common App or Coalition, or not compatible to go out through Naviance, then notify the Counseling Office Secretary at 206-252-2304.

Records for former students who have been graduated for 2 or more years, or employers seeking graduation verification go through our District Online Request System: Transcript and Records Request
Your order will be fulfilled by the District Archives Office.

If you are a K-12 institution requesting records for a newly transferred student, out of Seattle Public Schools, then request the records through ScribOrder: K-12 Transfer Records Request If your school does not already have an account, one will need to be created with a school email. ScribOrder will route the request to Garfield. Send your questions to SUPPORT@scribsoft.com

2023-2024 Course Registration

For returning Garfield students, 2023-2024 course registration will happen online in mid-February for you. Prior year documents are on the Counseling Office – Course Registration website. As new updated documents for 2023-2024 become available they will be posted to this site. When the final set of directions and date the portal will open is confirmed it will be posted to this site as well as announced in other formats.

If you are not familiar with the graduation requirements, now is the time to take a look at it. If you are going to be in 11th or 12th grade in the Fall and are interested in Running Start, now is the time to learn about it at our Running Start website.

When choosing course selections for next year knowing all this information will come in handy. Use January to do your research.

(All Newly Assigned students for 2023-2024, including all incoming 9th grade, your registration materials will be available to you in Mid-April)

Student Schedules

All student schedules will be available one day before school on the Source.All students should have 6 periods on their schedule.

Exceptions:

Running Start students will have RS placeholders to show full 6 periods on their schedule.
Some Seniors may have a late start or early dismissal; pre-approved by their Counselor.

Student Schedule Key:
Exp = Period 1,2,3,4,5,6
Trm S1 and S2 = Semester 1 and Semester 2
Room = Classroom
Additional Information on bottom of the Schedule:
Exp 9 = SpEd Case Manager
Exp 11 = Athletics
Exp 12 – School Counselor HS = Assigned School Counselor
Exp 13 – Placeholder

Moving Classes Around

My student would prefer a different class schedule. Can we arrange his/her classes?
Unfortunately, no. Our master schedule is created after students make their registration requests in the spring. It is important that students seriously consider their class selections as our course offerings are developed based on these selections and students are expected to take the courses they sign up for. Our first priority is to help students get the courses they need to graduate. We have over 1600 students at Garfield High School. Each student has six periods per day, creating more than 9,600 “slots”. If we were to try to give each student the classes they want in the sequence they prefer, we would have an impossible task.

Switching Teachers

My student would like to change a teacher for any reason including differences in learning styles and/or differences in personality. We are unable to accommodate specific requests for teachers. With over 1600 students at Garfield, it would be impossible to match every student to the teacher of their choice. All teachers hired by Seattle public Schools are well qualified in their subjects. Additionally, they make every attempt to teach to a variety of learning styles.

12th Grade

School Counselors will be meeting with all 12th grade classrooms at the end of September or early October. We will discuss grad requirements, planning for college/career options, and any other questions or topics. School Counselors will also be visiting 12th grade classrooms throughout the year to touch base with students and provide support.

Students can e-mail their school counselor for an appointment using their SPS email account.

Class Rank

Email your assigned counselor for your rank.

Report Cards

Grades and academic progress may be viewed at all times on the Source.

Naviance Lessons required for 12th graders

After High School Plan
SPS Grad Survey

School counselors will be doing Naviance lessons during the school year. If you miss these lessons or if you would like to get a head start on them, please follow the instructions on the forms. If you have questions, please email Mr. Lee at dwlee@seattleschools.org.

Diplomas

Diplomas will be available for pick up in the Main Office starting the 3rd week of September. Diploma’s will not be mailed. You can have a family member pick up your diploma on your behalf by showing ID at the time of pick up.

11th Grade Class Meetings

Counselors will be visiting 11th grade classrooms during 2nd semester to review graduation requirements, plan for college applications, post high school planning and work on Naviance lessons.

Naviance Lessons

10th grade

Counselors will be working with 10th grade students and teachers to ensure they are receiving the supports needed. We will be visiting 10th grade classrooms throughout the year to work on Naviance lessons, do SEL check ins, and to review graduation requirements.

Naviance Lessons

9th Grade

Our dedicated 9th grade Counselor, Ms. Alston, will be visiting 9th grade classrooms throughout the year to support students and ensure they are transitioning well to the high school environment.