Recently, Waterford High School administration has altered the requirements for students to graduate.
Up until 2023, the mandatory number of LTS (Learning Through Service) hours was 80. For the past two years, the requirement has been removed, leaving no LTS requirement for the Class of 2025 and below. Other than WHS, there aren’t many schools in Connecticut that still hold this as a graduation requirement.
Even though this standard has been dropped, it is still encouraged that students participate in volunteering activities. LTS gives students the opportunity to help the community and learn new skills.
Mr. Seltzer, manager of LTS , says that there were several reasons for eliminating this requirement, but the most significant reason was the challenge that many students had in finding time for volunteering opportunities.
“I am saddened by this but not surprised. Students in Waterford are so busy and removing the mandatory condition for volunteering drops this down the list of student priorities,” Mr. Seltzer says.
“Colleges receive our School Profile, which includes our graduation requirements. Now when a student reports a certain number of hours, they will see that there is no longer a requirement, so the hours spent volunteering are more meaningful and a reflection of the student’s interests and character,” head of guidance, Mrs. Saad states.
Starting with the Class of 2027, students have been excused from the Capstone Project. Instead, students will be required to complete a Financial Literacy Course (worth 0.5 credit) . These changes were dictated by the state, which now requires financial literacy courses but made capstone projects optional.
Mrs. Saad says, with regard to the Capstone Project, the biggest reason that this is not mandatory anymore is because of some students’ inability to access resources to complete the project.
Even though WHS still encourages students to take action in internship experiences, it should ultimately represent the students’ courage and leadership to go out of their comfort-zone, instead of them doing it just to complete the mandatory requirement.
Additionally, the total number of credits needed to graduate is now 26 instead of 24. With the removal of the Capstone course and project credit (1.0 credit) and the addition of the Financial Literacy course requirement (0.5 credits), this leaves one 0.5 credit opportunity for an elective.
