5032 Weighted Grade and Class Ranking Procedures
It is the philosophy of the Union Public School District, and the policy of the Board of Education to encourage students to enroll in those courses that challenge even the most academically able student. Students who enroll in these challenging courses are to be compensated by awarding grades that are weighted more than the grades awarded in less academically demanding courses. The basic purpose of the “weighted grade” is to provide an incentive for students to enroll in a program of advanced studies.
A. All courses taken for high school credit will be included on the student transcript. Courses taken in grades 9-12 will be considered when calculating the grade point average (GPA).
B. For purposes of determining class rank, the following weight systems will be used:
|
|
Weight |
Grades |
||||
|
|
A |
B |
C |
D |
F |
|
|
AP courses: |
2.0 |
6.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
1.0 |
0 |
|
PreAP/Designated |
1.0 |
5.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
1.0 |
0 |
|
All others: |
0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
0 |
C. Students may receive an AP-weighted grade for certain courses that exceed AP course offerings. This may include high school or college courses. In order for this to occur, the course content must exceed the level of content and be consistent with the rigor of the AP courses that are offered at Union High School.
D. Students may receive an AP-weighted grade for college courses taken concurrently that are recognized as sophomore level or above. For example: ENGL 2XXX or MATH 2XXX
E. Students may receive a Pre-AP/Designated weighted grade for courses that have been identified as Pre-AP or designated as Pre-AP level and approved by the board of education.
F. The high school administration will maintain the approved list of courses that qualify for a weighted grade. Requests for adding courses to the approved list should be made to the Executive Director of Secondary Education.
G. The following designations and/or programs exist to recognize outstanding achievement in the district:
• Students with a weighted GPA of 5.00 and above will be designated as valedictorians. Students with a weighted GPA of 4.80-4.99 will be designated as salutatorians. To be sure that a minimum of 2% of students are selected for valedictorian and salutatorian designations, at least the upper 1% of students are to be selected for valedictorian and at least a total of the upper 2% of students are to be selected for both valedictorian and salutatorian designations combined. The valedictorian or salutatorian designation will be official only if the above criteria are met on the final high school transcript. Two students from among the valedictorians will give the commencement address. The two students will be chosen by a graduation program committee appointed by the administration.
• Students who rank in the top ten percent of the class ranking will be known as “Honor Graduates.”
• “Union Distinguished Graduates” and “Honor Graduates” will have special seals affixed to their diplomas and the special status will be designated on the transcript.
The designation of “Union Distinguished Graduate” will be made for the students who meet the following requirements:
• No grade lower than a “C”
• 4.0 GPA on a 6.0 scale
• Advanced Coursework Requirement: Minimum of 12 units of Pre-AP and/or AP classes, Tulsa Technology Engineering, Biomedical, or Computer Science classes (limit two) or dual credit/concurrent. Three of the 12 units must be AP classes.
• Participation in the EDGE: Earn a Degree, Graduate Early program or the completion of more than 30 college hours concurrently while in high school will satisfy the advanced coursework requirement for Distinguished Graduate.
• 100 hours of school or community service
• Formal application in second semester of senior year
• Specific course requirements as listed:
• math (4 credits including one credit of higher math - Pre-Calculus Trig or AP Statistics)
• four years of English;
• four years of social studies;
• four years of science; and
• two years of foreign language or computer science;
• a total of two credits from any of the following areas with no restrictions on the number of credits from any given area: fine arts, athletics, business, leadership, computer science, foreign language and other electives offered in Core Curriculum subjects.
Revised 6/10/96
Revised 1/11/99
Revised 12/13/99
Revised 8/14/00
Revised 1/8/01
Revised 6/11/01
Revised 1/14/02
Revised 1/13/03
Revised 12/8/03
Revised 2/12/07
Revised 12/10/07
Revised 1/18/10
Revised 7/9/12
Revised 12/14/15
Revised 11/14/16
Revised 12/11/17
Revised 12/10/18
Revised 5/20/19
Revised 12/14/2020
Revised 12/12/22