Transferring Back to Alameda or Encinal

Transferring Back to Alameda or Encinal
Written by Miguel Gamalinda
From the December 2009 Edition of the Island High School Tiki Times


When you transfer to Island from Alameda or Encinal, you leave the old traditional high school format for a more flexible, alternative environment that is designed to help students earn credits in time to graduate by their expected graduation date. The format of this school is relatively easier than that of AHS or EHS, and its smaller population and class sizes make it so that teachers can provide more individual attention to each student in an effort to help him or her graduate.

Almost every student that transfers to Island is quick to determine that they will transfer back to the high school that they came from, however most students end up changing their minds due to Island’s flexibility and alternative atmosphere. Students find it reassuring that they earn the first good report card they have received in a long time, and decide to stay where they do well rather than go back to where they were doing poorly. However, there are always some students who remain adamant in transferring back, developing a “game plan” of sorts so that they will be able to return to their preferred high school.

Students who transfer back to Alameda or Encinal must keep in mind that they, along with every other traditional high school in the State of California, can only give credit at the end of each semester, instead of at the end of every hexemester. Students must also remember that classes at Alameda and Encinal give homework, which must be completed in order to pass the classes. Also, regardless of how many credits you may be deficient, the law requires students to have at least four classes in their schedule.
For a student to transfer back to Alameda or Encinal, he/she needs to meet the following credit requirements:

2nd Semester Seniors: 200 Credits
1st Semester Seniors: 170 Credits
2nd Semester Juniors: 140 Credits
1st Semester Juniors: 110 Credits

Also, a student must have made up a course that isn’t offered by Alameda or Encinal at the time that they transfer. For example: If you are a 2nd Semester Senior transferring back to Alameda High, you have to take and pass Government before you transfer back, as it is not offered during the 2nd Semester.

Students are strongly encouraged to stay at Island once they have transferred in order to increase the chances of earning a High School Diploma. Some students that have transferred back to Alameda or Encinal have ended up going back to their old habits that developed before transferring to Island and as a result, did not earn a High School diploma; however some have matured and done what they needed to do in order to graduate. If you are thinking of transferring back, you should consider all the possible consequences (Good and bad) of what could happen once you have returned there. Also remember that if you transfer back and end up performing poorly, you will not be permitted to return to Island.

UPDATE 1/29/2010:

Statistics show that five out of every eight students that transfer back end up not earning a High School Diploma.