A high school guidance counselor was talking about course selection to a junior with a straight-A record. "But certainly you don't want to carry more than three academic subjects your senior year?" she said. "You'll want to devote plenty of time to your school's activities."

The counselor was serious. At Horace Mann High School, a public school of about 800 in Gary, Indiana, the average pupil's load is three "solids" or academic courses. The rest of his school time is spent in study hall, physical education, or "specials" ranging from dramatics to home economics.

Olive Greensfelder, another guidance counselor at the school, explained that Horace Mann discourages four solids for incoming freshmen "whose grades are not A's and B's and whose IQ tests do not indicate they have at least 'high average' ability. . . . Through counseling, we are interested in urging pupils to do well what they do rather than spread themselves too thin."

"My guess," she said, "is that about half of our pupils take about four solids and no more than ten percent take five or more at any time. Many pupils take five solids the semester they take safety"--a required half-year course, which is considered a solid.

With such a light load of academic subjects, it is not surprising to find low minimal requirements for graduation in Gary high schools. To receive a diploma, a student must take at least three years of English, two of social studies, one of math, one of science, one-half of safety, and one of physical education.

He must also amass at least 18 "credits" during his four years. One full credit is granted for each year of a subject whether solid or special. As long as a student fulfills the minimum academic requirements, he can earn the rest of his credits in a variety of ways.

For instance, he might get four credits for spending an hour a day through high school in the band--complete with purple and red uniforms and more than 20 majorettes.

"Living" and "Clothing"

A girl can elect Modern Living as one of her solids, a half-year course "looking toward marriage, home planning, and learning to use money wisely." Or she might take Advanced Clothing, described in the school catalogue as "a second semester of clothing . . . designed particularly for twelfth grade girls to construct clothing for graduation activities."

A year's assistance in the school office, library, or audio-visual classes yields one-half unit of credit. Once, students received credit for assisting teachers with grading papers and checking roll, but this is now discouraged.

Several Gary high schools offer four years of ROTC for credit. The course is intended to "develop habits of orderliness and precision, discipline and respect for constituted authority, patriotism and honorable deportment; and to develop understanding and appreciation of the Army in its role of defense and of the opportunities available in military service."

For the student preparing for college, there are academic courses. But the selection is often limited. Some Gary schools are particularly lacking in the variety of sciences and languages.

Small Size of Schools

The small size of most Gary high schools handicaps the range of courses each school can offer. With a population of 175,000, Gary has eight high schools. This arrangement was instituted so that students would not have far to travel to school even though the city is sprawled over a large area. Each high school has an elementary school in the same building, and many pupils attend Horace Mann from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

While the system enables students to avoid bus fares and go home for lunch, the disadvantage is in the comparatively small size of most of the high schools. In some the average graduating class is under 100 students, and few are over 250.