Attendance Policy

ChallengeU Ohio Community School students are required by the Ohio Department of Education to work 920 hours during the full school year for perfect attendance. Students who enroll after the first day of school will have their number of hours required for perfect attendance reduced based on their enrollment date. To meet the 920 hours requirement, students must work 5 hours per day on schoolwork, for a total of 25 hours per week. Our graduation coaches work with students and families to come up with a personalized schedule that works for them, and enables students to complete these hours any time of day and any day of the week. Students and Graduation Coaches also log offline learning hours which count toward the 920 hours requirement. In short, students are considered fully attending school if they log 25 hours of work per week.

Attendance Policy

ChallengeU 41
challengeu 19

Graduation Requirements

To receive a high school diploma in the state of Ohio, a student must do all of the following:

  • Earn required credits
  • Demonstrate competency
  • Obtain seals

In Ohio, high school students are required to earn a minimum of 20 credits in specific subject areas in order to graduate. These requirements are set by the Ohio Department of Education and apply to all public and charter high schools in the state based upon a student’s date of enrollment into 9th grade. For students who enrolled in 9th grade on or after July 1, 2019, they must meet the following credit requirements by subject area:

Here is a breakdown of the required credits by subject area:

  • English/Language Arts: 4 credits
  • Mathematics:4 credits (including 1 credit of Algebra II or equivalent)
  • Science:3 credits (including one credit each in Physical Science, Biology, and a third lab-based science course)
  • Social Studies: 3 credits (including ½ credit in each of the following: American History, American Government, and World History)
  • Health: ½ credit
  • Electives:5 credits

*Student must receive instruction in economics and financial literacy

**Students must complete two semesters of fine arts between 7th-12th grade

It’s important to note that these are minimum requirements, and you may need to earn additional credits or meet other requirements in order to graduate from their particular school. Our school counselor will take care in your enrollment process to determine with you what your specific graduation requirements are.

Click here for more information about the graduation requirements:

In addition to earning required credits, students must demonstrate competency. This can be done by scoring proficient (684) on the algebra I Ohio State Test (OST) and the English II Ohio State Test (OST). If a student does not score proficient on these OSTs, they will be provided additional supports and must retake OST at least once before being eligible for following additional options to demonstrate competency:

  • Demonstrate two career-focused activities (one must be foundational):
    • Foundational: score proficient on WebXam, earn 12 industry credentials in same career field, complete a pre-apprenticeship or acceptance into an approved apprenticeship program
    • Supporting: complete 250 hours of work based learning (WBL), earn the required score on Workkeys exam, earn the OhioMeansJobs Readiness Seal
  • Enlist in the military:
    • Show evidence that you have a signed contract to enter a branch of the U.S. armed services upon graduation
  • Complete college coursework
    • Enroll in the College Credit Plus program and earn credit for one college-level math and/or college-level English course

Lastly, a student must earn two seals. One of the seals must be state defined while the either may be state or locally defined. Below you will find a list of seals:

  • Seal of Biliteracy
  • Citizenship Seal
  • College-Ready Seal
  • Honors Diploma Seal
  • Industry Recognized Credential Seal
  • Military Enlistment Seal
  • OhioMeansJob Seal
  • Science Seal
  • Technology
  • Student Engagement Seal (local)
  • Community-Service Seal (local)
  • Fine and Performing Arts Seal (local)