Walden III's R.O.P.E. Requirement, the Rite of Passage Experience, is one factor that makes Walden different from other area high schools and from most high schools in the United States. R.O.P.E. is a modern Rite of Passage designed to evaluate students' readiness for high school graduation and life beyond high school.

In American education generally, there has been an increased concern with competency as a standard for high school graduation. Many methods of determining competency, usually involving standardized testing, have been investigated in recent years across the United States.

At Walden III, however, interest in competency has been a reality since 1973. The unique R.O.P.E. requirement is designed to measure competency in terms of actual mastery, not just credit-counting or superficial standardized test scores in a limited number of areas. Based on the belief that knowledge should be cumulative, this approach bases graduation upon real knowledge inside a student's head when the student finally walks out the doors of Walden for the last time.

The R.O.P.E. Program is also unique because it goes beyond just measurements and scores. In R.O.P.E., young adults are afforded a rather unique and necessary opportunity for self-assessment; an opportunity, in other words, to take a close look at themselves -- past, present, and future -- and to assess their own skills and potential.


Consequently, Walden's mastery approach is the culmination of a quality high school education. With this in mind, students who finish the Rite of Passage have every right to be proud of having completed one of the finest high school education in the United States.

R.O.P.E. students are required to demonstrate mastery in the thirteen areas in presentations before a R.O.P.E. Committee consisting of staff, a student, and an outside adult. The committee helps guide the student through R.O.P.E. and eventually evaluates the student's performance in the presentations on the specific R.O.P.E. areas.

During the first and second quarters of the senior year, potential graduates are enrolled in a special R.O.P.E. class designed to assist students in the mechanics of preparing R.O.P.E. materials and presentations. The R.O.P.E. class, which is taken for credit, is required of all potential graduates.

Preparation for the R.O.P.E. presentations involves three required phases: a written PORTFOLIO, a written THESIS and oral DEMONSTRATIONS. These features of R.O.P.E. serve as a focus for the student to gather information and prepare for presenting the specific areas to the R.O.P.E. Committee.

The actual R.O.P.E. presentations usually start at the beginning of the third quarter. Presentations are required to be completed, and the R.O.P.E. requirement finished, by the time of the Memorial Day break.