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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One thing to note at GDS regarding honors/UL classes, there aren't defined tracks for stronger students only.  This is helpful especially for math. Freshmen select their math level (regular, extended, honors/UL). There is no math placement test--students just take the next math topic in the sequence based off their 8th grade math. In fact some students who finished Alg 1 in 8th take geometry over the summer to start in Alg 2 as freshmen. There is also the occasional freshman that will have finished Alg 2 in 8th, who will take Pre-Calc in 9th or even one who took Pre-Calc in 8th who can take Calc in 9th.  Students can move up or down through the levels of math (regular, extended, honors/UL) year over year as they feel able. Students can take extended one year then move down to regular or up to UL the next year all the way through senior year. Honors pre-calc is notoriously hard, some take extended that year and move back up to UL for calc. UL Physics has a co-req of calculus because without it the class would be way too hard, but the vast majority of students would be in calc by senior year so it's possible to take both classes then.
The exception to this may be UL world language where if the student just isn't fluent enough to keep up, the teacher will strongly recommend they take the regular level. Even with that, if a student was willing to self-study over the summer, they'd probably let them in.
With a large course catalog, and multiple levels, there isn't a stigma involved with which classes kids are taking. As someone stated above, excellence can take many forms at GDS.[/quote]

Yes, the flexibility is one of the best things about GDS. Others schools can be much more rigid.
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