High school course options in PAUSD

Palo Alto Unified runs two comprehensive high schools, Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School, plus Palo Alto Middle College on the Foothill College campus. Paly and Gunn publish thick course catalogs each winter before students choose classes for the next year. This page summarizes what the 2026 to 2027 catalogs say, without ranking schools or courses.

Course lists change every year. Use this page as an orientation and read the current catalog on each school's site before planning a schedule: Paly posts its catalog under Learning on paly.net and Gunn links its catalogs from its course catalogs page. For the schools themselves, see our guides to Paly and Gunn.

Graduation requirements

PAUSD students need 220 semester credits to graduate. A course that meets daily for a full year earns 10 credits and a semester course earns 5. Paly's graduation requirements page breaks it down this way:

The district requirements line up closely with the University of California and California State University A to G course list, though UC and CSU have their own minimums and want a C or better. Paly notes it has no community service graduation requirement.

Honors, AP and weighted grades

Both schools offer three kinds of advanced courses: honors (H), Advanced Placement (AP) and dual enrollment (D). Paly's catalog describes them this way:

• Honors courses go faster and deeper than college prep courses and earn high school credit only.
• AP courses follow College Board curricula and end with a national exam in May that may earn college credit.
• Dual enrollment courses are college classes aligned with Foothill College. Students are enrolled at both schools.

In grades 10 to 12, grades in these courses are weighted on a 5-point scale. Paly's catalog adds that it does not weight any ninth grade coursework. Most AP classes are reserved for juniors and seniors. Both catalogs stress balance. Gunn encourages no more than two AP courses a year and calls nine hours of sleep a night non-negotiable. Paly's principal letter makes the same two-per-year suggestion, while its honors section suggests at most two per semester.

Math lanes

Math is where levels show up first. Gunn's catalog describes an advanced pathway that leads to AP Calculus AB and an honors pathway through Geometry H, Algebra 2/Trig H and Analysis H to AP Calculus BC. Students can change levels. Gunn asks them to complete at least one full assessment cycle first and considers requests to drop down from some courses only at set times.

AP courses as published

The AP lists below come straight from the 2026 to 2027 catalogs. They are not identical.

Paly

2D Art and Design, 3D Art and Design, Art History, Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Chinese Language and Culture, Computer Science Principles, Cybersecurity, Macroeconomics, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, French Language and Culture, Japanese Language and Culture, Music Theory, Physics C, Psychology, Research, Seminar, Spanish Language and Culture, Spanish Literature, Statistics and U.S. History.

Gunn

Gunn's catalog includes AP Business with Personal Finance, Computer Science Principles, Computer Science A, English Literature and Composition, Seminar, U.S. History, Psychology, Economics (micro and macro), Human Geography, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Statistics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics 1, Physics 2, Physics C (mechanics and electricity and magnetism), Environmental Science, Art History, Music Theory and language courses in French, German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, plus Spanish Literature.

Paly also offers the AP Capstone program, in which students who complete AP Seminar and AP Research can earn a College Board award. Both schools list a long set of honors courses in math, science, world languages, journalism and the arts.

Career technical education

CTE courses are organized into pathways within the 15 industry sectors defined by the California Department of Education. Every student needs 10 CTE credits. Students who take an additional year in one pathway become pathway completers and can earn industry certifications. PAUSD's career tech page lists these completable pathways:

• Design, visual and media arts; production and managerial arts; performing arts
• Business management and child development, each offered at only one high school
• Engineering design and biotechnology, the latter at one school only
• Software and systems development; games and simulations
• Systems diagnostics, service and repair (automotive)

Gunn's CTE page highlights automotive technology, Project Lead the Way engineering, the robotics team, the BEAM business and entrepreneurship program, criminal and civil law, culinary science, interior and fashion design, biotechnology, broadcast journalism and paid work study for juniors and seniors. Paly lists programs and pathways including child development, design and media arts, STEAM, a social justice pathway and its large journalism program in the Media Arts Center.

Advanced Authentic Research

Advanced Authentic Research, or AAR, is offered for grades 10 to 12. Students pick a research topic and work with an outside mentor in that field. It carries a Foothill dual enrollment option at both schools.

Dual enrollment with Foothill College

Dual enrollment courses are taught on the high school campus by PAUSD teachers, with curriculum aligned to a Foothill College course. Students earn regular high school credit plus Foothill quarter units.

The catalogs carry some cautions. Dual enrollment courses go on a Foothill transcript and are reported as college courses on college applications. They begin a permanent college record. Foothill has its own registration and drop deadlines. Not every dual enrollment course transfers to UC. Students can also take community college classes on their own with prior approval, which Gunn calls concurrent enrollment. Those classes earn double credit, but Gunn's catalog says their grades are not weighted.

Palo Alto Middle College

Palo Alto Middle College opened in the 2024 to 2025 school year as its own PAUSD high school on the Foothill campus. Students take four high school classes with PAUSD teachers, which meet three hours a day on weekdays, plus about 11 Foothill units per quarter. Science, world language, arts and CTE come from Foothill courses. All Foothill tuition, books and supplies are free. The school offers no AP classes. Its students cannot take Paly or Gunn classes during the school day, though they can play sports at their home high school.

The school plans for up to 50 students per grade, or 200 total. Applicants must live within PAUSD boundaries. For 2027 to 2028 the application opened October 12, 2026. Round 1 closes February 19, 2027 with notifications in March, round 2 closes April 2, 2027 and a mandatory orientation is set for Saturday, April 24, 2027. Students and a parent must attend an information session, submit an essay and two recommendations and interview with staff.

Other paths

A few other options appear in the catalogs. English learners at Gunn can take ELL social studies courses that count for University of California admission, described in our English learners guide. Bridges, a smaller program for students with IEPs, offers A to G aligned courses on the Paly and Gunn schedules. See our special education guide. Paly's catalog also describes Alta Vista High School, a continuation school shared with the Mountain View Los Altos district that students join by staff referral. It also mentions a small independent study option for students close to graduation. For athletics and the clearance steps for teams, see our school sports guide.

Choosing courses

Course selection happens in January and February. For 2026 to 2027, Gunn's online course selection ran from January 26 to February 17, 2026. Students new to PAUSD register first, then meet a counselor. Gunn asks new families to fill out a math placement form. Paly students go through course selection with their teacher advisor. Families looking for help outside school can see our tutoring and enrichment guide.

Frequently asked questions