To graduate from The Putney School,a student must earn a total of 20 or more course credits during his or her high school years. Seniors must pass all courses in the second semester, in order to graduate. A full-year course is worth 1 credit. A student must earn 5 credits per year normally 2 1/2 per semester), distributed thus:

Academic Courses

To graduate from The Putney School, a student must earn a total of 20 or more course credits during his or her high school years. Seniors must pass all courses in the second semester, in order to graduate. A full-year course is worth 1 credit.A student must earn 5 credits per year (normally 2 1/2 per semester), distributed thus:
 

• 4 years of English (must be taken each year).
• 2 1/2 years of history, including a year of U.S. History* and a semester in the senior year (the senior history requirement will be waived for students entering the senior year with 3 full years of history credit).
• 1 additional semester of either history or English electives in the senior year (this is a senior humanities requirement, focused on reading and writing. Fifth year language study in the senior year meets this requirement).
• 3 years of a foreign language, normally through the third level; in rare cases, the department may require a student to repeat the first or second level for full credit, even though she has passed the course, if her study has not adequately prepared her to advance to the next level. A student who arrives with only 2 years of a language that Putney does not offer (Chinese, Latin or German, for example) will be required to study either French or Spanish at Putney; new sophomores are expected to meet the language requirement above, while new seniors and juniors are expected to study the new language for 1 or 2 years, respectively. (See the Language department section of this catalog for further discussion of graduation requirements.)
• 3 years of mathematics (normally through the Math 3 level).
• 3 years of laboratory science including at least one year of biology and at least one year of physical science.
• 1 year of the arts
• Health and Lifestyles course (for students who enter as 9th or 10th graders).
• 3 additional elective credits

*If a student is given research credit for U.S. History at another school, they are required to take Research Seminar.

All students must take classes in at least four departments each semester (that is, no student may take three of five courses in the same department in any semester). Exceptions to or waivers of these requirements are granted only by special petition to the Educational Program Committee or its delegates.