The personal graduation plan is a working document used by counselors/administrators to assist students in completing graduation requirements to plan for life after high school. It is a tool used to document grades, assessments, and other requirements in law. 

Your role as a parent is to meet with school counselor or administrator to review the personal graduation plan, endorsement options, and Distinguished Level of Achievement (DLA) with your child. Parents have a virtual option to be able to access their child’s PGP through HISD Connect. A parent’s signature is required for acknowledgment of their child’s Personal Graduation Plan.  

DLA is an advanced level of academic achievement earned by going beyond the Foundation High School Program. It requires a total of 26 course credits, including Algebra II, a fourth science credit and an endorsement. Every student in HISD begins high school on a DLA graduation plan, which allows students: 

• To compete for top percentage of graduating class for automatic admissions eligibility at any Texas public university
• To be first in line for a TEXAS Grant to help pay for university tuition and fees
• To be a competitive applicant at the most selective colleges and universities.

A student may opt for the 22-credit HISD or TEA foundation plan after achieving 12 credits, which is the core of the Texas high school diploma. Additional information can be found in our district’s school guidelines chapter 10 under graduation requirements.

An endorsement is an area of specialized study. Endorsements consist of a related series of courses that are grouped together by interest or skill set. They provide students with in-depth knowledge of a subject area. There are five endorsement areas: Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM), Business & Industry, Public Services, Multidisciplinary, and Arts & Humanities. 

A PGP should identify student demographic information, the date the plan was initiated, graduation plan type, post-high school plan, an endorsement, the planned coherent sequence of courses for all four years, student signature, parent signature, and counselor or administrator signature before the end of the student’s 9th grade year.  

No, you do not need to re-sign a plan if your student changes courses but remains within the same endorsement.  

No, you do not need to re-sign, however the campus must communicate to the parent or guardian there has been a change or if additional endorsements are going to be added to the students’ PGP. 

Yes, all students must have a HISD PGP on file. Meeting with a counselor or administrator in completing a PGP is part of the high school planning process.  

No, students who are transferring from one HISD campus to another will have access to their PGP through HISD Connect. 

Parents may access their child’s PGP at any given time through the HISD Connect Parent Portal.