Free College Credit through DMACC
Over 1,300 VHS students earned college credit in 2014-2015
Many students complete one or more semesters of college while at VHS.
College Credit Courses Through DMACC
Students will find a great variety of courses available for college credit. Many courses are offered as electives in the Valley High School curriculum with the benefit of earning DMACC credit. Below is the name of each course followed by the number of credit hours.
NOTE: Some DMACC courses have prerequisites that must be successfully completed.
Art
Ceramics Applications: 3
Drawing Applications: 3
Painting Applications: 3
Photo I-Principles of Photography: 3
Photo II-Principles of Digital Photography: 3
Video Production: 3
Business
Bus Computer Apps: 1
Entrepreneurship & Bus Mgmt: 3
Financial Mgmt: 3
Marketing & Sales: 3
Workforce Dev & Skills: 2
Occupational Experience: 3
Per Computer Apps I: 3
Per Computer Apps II: 3
Family and Consumer Science
- Child Dev: 4
- Culinary Arts: 5
- Design Studio: 6
- Fashion: 3
College Credit Courses to Fulfill a Graduation Requirement
Some college credit courses may be taken in place of a specific course required to graduate at Valley. For example, one may take Advanced Placement United States History to fulfill the school district's United States History requirement. Additionally, one may take Advanced Placement United States' Government and Politics to fulfill the school district's American Government requirement.
Likewise, one can take a number of different college credit courses to meet the number of credits in an academic area (e.g. math) required for graduation or to meet the total number of credits required for graduation.
NOTE: Students are responsible for paying the cost of any AP test that they take.
Language Arts
- Advanced Speech Communication: 3
- AP Language and Composition: 6 (2 semesters)
- AP Literature and Composition: 6 (2 semesters)
- Advanced Creative Writing: 3
Math
- AP Calculus AB: 5 (2 semesters)
- AP Statistics: 4
- Pre-Calculus: 5 (2 semesters)
Education
- Edu Practicum: 2
- Introduction to Education: 3
Science
- Principles of Engineering: 3
- AP Biology: 8 (2 semesters)
- AP Chemistry: 8 (2 semesters)
- AP Environmental Science: 4 (2 semesters)
Social Studies
- AP European History: 8 (2 semesters)
- AP U.S. Government and Politics: 3
- AP U.S. History: 8 (2 semesters)
- AP World History: 8 (2 semesters)
Technology Education
- Digital Electronics: 3
World Language
- AP Spanish Language: 8 (2 semesters)
- German IV: 8 (2 semesters)
Engineering
Civil Engineering and Architecture:3
Introduction to Broadcasting (Electronic Media Performance)
Focus on DMACC Dual Credit Instructors
All DMACC instructors at Valley have earned at least a Masters Degree with at least 18 credit hours in the area they are instructing.
Dan Kelly – AP/DMACC United States History
Dan has a Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law and a Masters of Arts in Political Science from Iowa State. As a Senior James Madison Fellow Dan completed a four week institute on American Constitutionalism at Georgetown and has completed other institutes including: Street Law Summer Institute at the Supreme Court hosted by Georgetown Law School NEH Summer Scholar in Washington DC on Congress, the President and War Powers, University of California at Davis on the Transcontinental Railroad, and at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell on Early Industrialization. Dan has been a reader for the College Board for Advanced Placement United States History since 2008.
Karen Downing - World Literature and Advanced Creative Writing
Karen Downing has an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa and the Iowa Writers Workshop. She is a National Board Certified teacher in English Language Arts, and she participated in a Fulbright teacher exchange in England. She attended an institute on Emily Dickinson, The Pleasure of Poetry and Global Contexts in the Classroom. In addition to teaching World Literature and Advanced Creative Writing for dual enrollment, Downing is Talented and Gifted endorsed and is a member of the Extended Learning Department at Valley.
Advanced Placement Courses for College Credit, Not DMACC
The core academic areas have some courses that are AP only, some that are DMACC credit only, and some that are both. Following are those courses that are AP only.
Students may take certain Advanced Placement courses not affiliated with DMACC in order to receive college credit:
AP Psychology
AP Chinese Language and Culture
AP French
AP Latin
AP Physics
AP Music Theory
AP Computer Science A
AP Studio Art
AP Calculus BC.
AP MAcroeconomics
College credit may be earned through successful completion of the corresponding exam.
NOTE: Students are responsible for paying the cost of any AP test that they take.
The following is a link to the school district's web page information on Advanced Placement courses. AP LINK