Starting next school year, South will be implementing the new Indiana high school diploma requirements, developed by the Indiana Department of Education. This diploma will only become effective for current eighth graders, so all students currently enrolled at South will not be impacted by this change.

Some parts of the new diploma won’t differ too much compared to previous years. Head of counseling, Patrick Cannon said, “for incoming freshmen, a freshman schedule is not going to look vastly different that it did when current students came in as freshman.” 

Even though the new diploma does not require everything that current students completed their freshmen year, South can still choose to uphold certain stipulations. For example, the new diploma only requires one credit of physical education, but both South and North have decided to keep the two physical education credits as part of their graduation requirements. 

On the changing side of things, “[the new diploma] is different from what kiddo’s brothers or sisters might have had to do in the past,” Assistant Principal Austin Skutnick said. 

There are a few courses that will be required that were not in past years, including computer science, prep for college and careers, and personal finance. These courses don’t necessarily have to happen during a student’s freshman year, they just need to be completed before graduation. 

There are no longer multiple diploma options, only one diploma, with three different potential seals.

The enrollment seal would be for students who are aiming to go to a four year college. The employment seal would be for students interested in utilizing the Hoosier Hills programs, trade schools, or apprenticeships. The enlistment seal would be for students who plan on going into the military after high school. 

Then there are two levels of seals. There is an honors seal and an honors plus seal.

“The honors seal is almost identical to what we currently do for the academic honors diploma,” Cannon said. 

But for an honors plus seal, you need to earn a credential of value, which may include an associates degree, a technical certificate, Indiana college core, or becoming an AP scholar with distinction. You also have to complete 75 hours of work-based learning. Counseling expects that the honors plus seal will be less than 1% of a graduating class. 

“I don’t think that whoever put this together realizes that you guys have lives outside of school,” Cannon said.