Rising 9th Grade Course Registration

Important Dates

Rising 9th Grade Night
February 17, 2026
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Interested in learning about gifted, accelerated, and dual enrollment course options? Join us at 5:30 p.m. for an informational meeting.

Course Request Forms

Students will also see one of the following options as a course selection: Peer Facilitation, Algebra Strategies, Reading/Writing I, or Communication Skills I. These classes are 30 minutes in length and are paired with lunch. Students were placed in these courses to receive remediation or enrichment based off their academic performance.

Rising 9th Grade Handbook

2026-27 Elective Course Offerings

Choose wisely, as you are not going to have the chance to change your mind. GHS uses year long scheduling, which limits changes.

You need three credits from the Career & Technical Education / Foreign Language / Fine Arts options for graduation.

You only have spots for six classes in your schedule and four of them are taken by the traditional core classes. The other two choices should prepare you for college or at least be something you are interested in.

Advanced Placement

All AP courses are taught & evaluated at the college level. These courses will require 5-10 hours of study per week and the commitment is for the entire school year. AP Exams will be administered in May with the opportunity to earn college credit. It is the expectation that if you take the course, you take the AP exam. The AP course of study is based on a national curriculum.

Most highly selective four-year institutions require between six and twelve AP courses on a student’s transcript.

AP Human Geography
Study of patterns & processes of human languages, religion, politics, & population. There is a strong emphasis on vocabulary as well as how geography impacts the economic and political development of nations. Great first course for being introduced to the rigors of the AP Curriculum.

AP Biology: 4th year Science
College-level biology coursework; advanced labs; analyze & explain the “whys” of biological science. Students interested in this option must complete summer work to learn the basics of Chemistry. This course is also an option for Juniors and Seniors during their career.

AP Environmental Science: 4th year Science
College level course work that covers ecology, energy resources & conversation, pollution, and biotechnology. This course has a high level of homework and outside labs for students to complete. This is a great option for students that have completed Biology in 8th grade and would like to AP Biology later in their high school career.

Physical Education

*Intro to Lifetime Fitness is a pre-requisite for Body Sculpting, Weight Training, and Personal Fitness

Personal Fitness & Health:
Each course is a semester course and required courses for graduation; Personal Fitness requires dressing out everyday. All students are enrolled for these courses automatically and must Complete BOTH by the end of the 9th grade school year.

Body Sculpting* (Girls only)
Basic instruction on methods to condition the body; Lifting weights & physical fitness training. PE & Health during the summer are prerequisites for enrollment into this course.

Weight Training* (Boys only)
Focuses on building strength & endurance; requires lifting weights & physical fitness training. PE & Health during the summer are prerequisites for enrollment into this course.

Team Sports*
Focuses on team sports and providing a period to practice these activities. PE & Health during the summer are prerequisites for enrollment into this course.

Foreign Language

Grayson High School offers four different language pathways: Spanish, French, Latin and German. For 9th graders, space is extremely limited unless a students has already started their language at the middle school level (Spanish or French). We will have each of these languages on the course selection sheet, but know that space is very limited.

For students that have successfully completed Spanish 1 or French 1 at the middle school level, your second level course will automatically be put in your schedule.

Please understand that students are not required to take a foreign language to graduate from high school. A very high percentage of four year colleges require a minimum of two consecutive years of a language for admissions.

Nutrition and Education

Food, Nutrition and Wellness
The Food, Nutrition, and Wellness course is an introductory course under the nutritional and food science pathway. This course examines the relationship between food and health, dietary restrictions, and proper food safety to promote health and wellbeing. Counts as a Technical Education credit.

Early Childhood Education I
The Early Childhood Education I course is the foundational course under the Early Childhood Care & Education pathway . This course explores prenatal development as well as the growth and development of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and middle childhood. Counts as a Technical Education credit.

Performing Arts

*Audition or teacher recommendation required for courses above Beginning. Each course counts as a Fine Arts credit.

Band
Intermediate, Advanced, Intermediate and Advanced Instrumental Ensemble

Chorus
Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, or Mastery Men’s, Women’s or Mixed Chorus.

Dance
Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced with a focus on all genres. We will also offer Dance Production for those interested in dance without performing.

Orchestra
Intermediate, Advanced, or Mastery Chamber

Piano
Introduction to Piano and Basics of Piano

Theatre Fundamentals
Fundamentals of Theatre, I/II. Learn the basics of drama in this intro course leading to various options through a student’s four years at Grayson High School.

Engineering

Marketing & Information Technology

Each course counts as a Technical Education credit.

Intro to Software Technology
Program robots, Webpage design (HTML & CSS), Programming with Scratch & Alice, create android apps, networking concepts & computer hardware & software. In this course, students are asked to continually produce work and practice the skills learned. This course is extremely popular.

Marketing Principles
Open to all students! Learn the basics of bringing products to market, public speaking, trends in the marketplace, problem solving, selling and interview skills. This course is a great fit for students that enjoy collaboration and project based learning activities.

Intro to Business and Technology
This course provides an overview of business and technology skills required for today’s business environment. Students will master Microsoft Office word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software. In this course, students are asked to continually produce work and practice the skills learned in the course.

Fine Arts

Junior ROTC

Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) is a program that teaches students (Cadets) character education, student achievement, wellness, leadership, and diversity. Collectively, these lessons motivate students to be better citizens. In addition to promoting citizenship, JROTC also prepares students for college. Health and physical fitness requirements are met by completing three years of JROTC instruction. JROTC is a voluntary elective. Cadets are required to wear the Army Service Uniform one day per week. Cadets must maintain an acceptable standard of academic achievement, maintain an acceptable standard of conduct and must be able to participate in the physical education program. Extra-curricular teams include; Academic, Leadership, Raider, Drill and Color Guard.

If a student completes three years of the ROTC program, they will not need to take Health & PE.

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