Revised Physical Education & Athletic Participation Policies

Friday, 8 October 2010

Greetings Upper School Parents:

I am writing to share some exciting enhancements to the MVS Physical Education and athletic participation policies in the Upper School. In compliance with the guidelines of the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), by seeking to provide a range of options that reflect a variety of student opportunities, interests and abilities, beginning in the Winter Trimester, there will be three options available for students to achieve (or be waived from) required Physical Education credit:

1. completing PE credit (during the academic day or via approved summer coursework),
2. participating in two seasons of MVS sports (with an additional ½ credit academic course of choice),
3. designing and completing an approved CreditFlex program, to be overseen by the MVS Credit Flex & Independent Study Committee.

Beginning in the Winter Trimester, Physical Education will be available as a full academic offering during the school day. A course description will soon be available on the MVS web.

Students can continue to receive a waiver from PE credit by electing to participate in two seasons of MVS sports. In order to fully satisfy the equivalent ODE course credit requirement, students pursuing this option must also complete an additional ½ credit course in an academic elective of their choice.

Adapted from the existing guidelines, policies, and procedures of the MVS Independent Study Committee (chaired by Anne Griffith), the CreditFlex program allows students in grades 9-12 to receive PE credit by designing, pursuing, and completing a specialized athletic-oriented activity, according to the ODE’s CreditFlex option. As a stated expectation for a valid proposal, CreditFlex proposals assume a student’s robust involvement in a specialized outside athletic pursuit, one that should equal the practice and game participation time of a season’s participation on an MVS team sport. Before the start of each term, students must submit an application for review by the CreditFlex & Independent Study Committee. For guidelines and procedures, please refer to the CreditFlex guidelines on the upper school homepage of the MVS web.

Anticipating that there will be a number of questions unique to your child’s interests, a question and answer session is scheduled for Friday, 22 October at 4:00PM in the Upper School Commons. As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions.

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School