Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Honor Roll Changes!

Today's Topic: The Honor Roll

 Merriam Webster's simple definition: a list of people who deserve to be honored; especially : a list of students who have received good grades in school. The first recorded use was 1909.  

We can acknowledge that Honor Roll has traditionally been a recognition of academic performance published by quarters, semesters, or in our case trimesters.  You can find that list of students in the local papers, school website, and posted in the halls of the school.  It is a tradition that has been around for a long time!

Being an Honor Roll student in Fort Kent Community High School earns the privilege of an Honors Pass, meaning you can sign out of an assigned Learning Lab and instead go to the library or into an unoccupied classroom - the idea being that you have shown responsibilities as a student and distinguished yourself as a student worthy of this extra privilege.  However, in multiple talks with students, staff, and community it has become evident that academics are but one piece of what makes an Honor Student.

In an effort to truly recognize the Honor Students in our school we will be using the following 4 categories to determine eligibility beginning this upcoming school year 2016 - 2017: Academics, Habits of Work, Attendance, and Behavior.  (Keep in mind we have a mix of proficiency implementation, the Class of 2017 being our last traditionally scored classes, the Classes of 2018 & 2019 who have BOTH traditionally scored classes and proficiency based classes, and the Class of 2020 and beyond who have fully implemented proficiency based classes.)  Depending on which class you are in determines the academic track, however the last 3 categories apply to all classes.

Academics -
  • The summative assessment average 3.0 or higher with no standard lower than a 2 AND no incomplete in any course. (Class of 2020 and beyond)   
  • The summative assessment average is 3.0 or higher with no standard lower than a 2 AND the traditional average 87.5 with no grade lower than an 85  AND no incomplete in any course. (Classes of 2018 & 2019)
  • The traditional average for High Honors is 92.5 with no grade lower than a 90. Honors 87.5 average with no grade less than an 85 AND no incomplete in any course. (Class of 2017)
Habits of Work  -
  • The majority of of indicators must be a 2 AND no indicator can be a 1. (We have only 3 indicators so it must be a combination of 2's and 3's.) 
Attendance -
  • The student must have less than 10 days unexcused for the year. (Excused absences will not effect this category.)
Behavior -
  • Students have no suspensions (in school or out of school) AND have no outstanding behavioral detentions to serve with the office or individual teachers.
The following graphics were created to help guide you in determining if a student qualifies.  Be sure to choose the appropriate graphic determined on the student's graduation date.  The end of the first Trimester is Tuesday, November 29 and will be our first run through using this format.  We will be sharing this with students during the first week of school.  I encourage you to review the information to better prepare yourself and your child for the shift we are making with the Honor Roll.

2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What defines an 'excused' absence. Some students face extraordinary circumstances involving attendance. I hope this will be considered when including or excluding them for honors achievement.

    ReplyDelete