Choosing junior- and senior-year courses at Paly and Gunn
Use this page if you are choosing junior- or senior-year courses at Palo Alto High School (Paly) or Henry M. Gunn High School and need the current school documents, not a shared AP target.
The materials checked on September 27, 2026, are labeled 2026-27. Gunn's course-selection page lists portal dates of January 26, 2026, through February 17, 2026. That window had already closed. No 2027-28 selection page was published at this check. Do not rename the 2026-27 sheets as next year's deadlines.
Students: start from the sheet for your school and grade, then mark the question you still need a counselor to answer. Parents: check workload, graduation, and approval rules. Do not pick the courses for your student.
Read each school's sheet on its own.
Paly and Gunn are both in the Palo Alto Unified School District, and some course numbers look alike. That is not a reason to treat the menus as interchangeable.
Gunn's 2026-27 grade 11 worksheet says every 11th grader must enroll in two semesters of English (one required course and one elective), US History, and math if the student has not completed math through Algebra 2. The required English choices printed there are American Literature (1263) or American Classics H (1309), plus an elective and two alternates.
Paly's 2026-27 grade 11 sheet is organized as CSU/UC subject rows. English is "choose one." The history line includes US History (1686) and AP US History (1699). Math and science are year-long requests with alternates. A Paly course number ending in D is the sheet's note for a dual-enrollment course that also enrolls the student at Foothill College.
Gunn's grade 12 worksheet says every 12th grader must be enrolled in at least five courses. English is one required course plus one elective. The required options printed there include American Literature (1263), American Classics H (1309), AP English Literature and Composition (1279, a year course), or Expository Reading and Writing (7650). Paly's grade 12 sheet, marked updated January 2026, lists AP English Literature and Composition (1279) and AP English Language (8409) among English choices, and lists Living Skills (8458) under general education. Those are Paly lines. They are not a translation of Gunn's list.
Two hypothetical schedule comparisons.
These are not clients, and they are not schedules to copy. Each comparison uses only courses and rules printed on that school's 2026-27 sheet. A matching course number is not proof that Paly and Gunn mean the same class.
Comparison 1: a hypothetical Gunn 11th grader who has not finished Algebra 2.
The grade 11 worksheet already requires two semesters of English, US History, and math when Algebra 2 is not finished. The two schedules below change only the required English choice. They do not add an AP target.
| Piece of the week | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Question still open |
|---|---|---|---|
| Required English | American Literature (1263) | American Classics H (1309) | The sheet lists both. It does not say either one helps an application. |
| English elective | One elective, plus two alternates | The same structure | Whether that elective is a catalog prerequisite or only a prior recommendation |
| History | US History, because the worksheet requires it | The same | None from the sheet itself |
| Math | Some math course, because Algebra 2 is not finished | The same | Which course the catalog places next. This table does not name one. |
| Workload | The required rows already fill much of the week before electives | The same | Whether the Time Management worksheet, which Gunn calls strongly recommended, shows the week is too full |
Gunn's 2026-27 catalog says a prerequisite is a condition the student must have completed, or prior approval from the teacher of the desired course. A prior recommended course is not that rule. The counselor question is which label the catalog uses for the elective in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2. This comparison does not invent that label, and it does not set an AP count.
Comparison 2: a hypothetical Paly 12th grader looking at the January 2026 grade 12 sheet.
| Piece of the week | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Question still open |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | AP English Literature and Composition (1279) | AP English Language (8409) | The sheet lists both. It does not say a college requires either one. |
| Living Skills (8458) | Kept this term if it is still unmet | Moved, or dropped from this term if it is already met | Whether this student still needs it for graduation |
| Other requests | Year-long math or science requests, with alternates, only if the sheet still requires them | The same | What comes off the week if those year-long requests plus English do not fit |
| AP load | Unsettled | Unsettled | The honors, AP, and dual-enrollment agreement says two different things. See below. |
That Paly agreement suggests a maximum of two AP classes per semester, and later says Paly does not recommend more than two AP classes per year. The file linked from the 2026-27 resources page is still named 25-26. Neither sentence is a family rule, and neither sentence is an admissions advantage. A program the student is actually considering may still list a course as required or only as recommended. That check belongs on the college and major course requirements check, not in a copied AP count.
Put the real courses on the senior-year course load review. Use the college and major course requirements check only for programs the student is actually considering, and keep required coursework separate from recommended coursework.
Off-campus approval is not the same form.
Both schools can place an approved outside course on the PAUSD transcript as credit/no credit, outside the PAUSD GPA, with exceptions that are written differently.
Paly's off-campus FAQ, linked from the 2026-27 course-selection page, says the July 2023 label and later sentences are both on that document. It cites Administrative Regulation 6146.11 from summer 2023. Ordinary prior-approved courses transfer as credit/no credit. The stated exceptions include repeats, CCAP dual enrollment through PAUSD, and world-language courses Paly does not offer. Core graduation requirements in a subject must be completed on campus before an off-campus course in that subject. Math approval for other off-campus math waits until Algebra 2 or an equivalent is done on campus. Science waits until Biology and one physical science are done on campus. The request has to be approved before the course starts. The same FAQ says the Summer 2026 through spring 2027 form is available until spring break 2027.
Gunn's off-campus page, checked the same day, still labels a request form "summer 2025 through spring 2026." Gunn's Electronic Forms page separately lists an Off-Campus Course Approval Form 26-27. The visible list item reads 26-27. The older label and the 26-27 form are both on Gunn's site. For a course in the 2026-27 cycle, start with the Electronic Forms 26-27 form, then ask the counselor whether the older page still controls a course that already started. This guide does not guess that the two forms ask for the same signatures. Gunn's stated exceptions for a letter grade on the PAUSD transcript are credit recovery below a C-, a CCAP dual-enrollment course whose number includes D, and a world-language course used for the minimum graduation requirement. Gunn's off-campus page says the school cannot sign for a student before 9th grade starts.
A course that is allowed at one school is not automatically allowed at the other. When that outside course is a college class, enrollment at the college is a different check from this approval form. See college classes during high school.
Questions to take to the counselor.
| Question | Paly source to bring | Gunn source to bring |
|---|---|---|
| What must this grade include? | 2026-27 grade-level sheet | 2026-27 grade-level worksheet |
| Is the next course a prerequisite or a recommendation? | 2026-27 course catalog | 2026-27 catalog section on prior recommended courses versus prerequisites |
| Can this outside course go on the PAUSD transcript? | Off-campus FAQ and the Summer 2026 through spring 2027 form | Electronic Forms 26-27 approval form. The off-campus page still shows a summer 2025 through spring 2026 label. |
| What is still unpublished? | No 2027-28 Paly selection dates were on the resources page | No 2027-28 Gunn portal dates were on the selection page |
Students: write one course you want and one course the sheet says you still have to place. Parents: write one approval you will not assume, including any off-campus class.
If you want help reading the sheet your school actually published, book an Ivy Ready consultation. Tell us the school, the grade, and the course decision that is still open.