High School Credits and Calculating Grade Point Averages
In high school, you will begin the process of earning credits. For every class taken and passed, you will earn one credit.
While at Pisgah High School, every student has the opportunity to earn 32 credits:
· 9th grade: 4 classes fall semester, 4 new
classes spring semester, for a total of 8 classes,
or 8 credits (if all have passing grades, 70 or above)
· 10th grade: 4 classes fall semester, 4 new
classes spring semester, for a total of 8 classes,
or 8 credits (if all have passing grades, 70 or above)
· 11th grade: 4 classes fall semester, 4 new
classes spring semester, for a total of 8 classes,
or 8 credits (if all have passing grades, 70 or above)
· 12th grade: 4 classes fall semester, 4 new
classes spring semester, for a total of 8 classes,
or 8 credits (if all have passing grades, 70 or above)
To graduate from Pisgah High School, you must earn a minimum of 28 credits
Therefore, each and every class, whether or not you like it, is important, because every class you take and pass gets you one credit closer to graduation.
To become a sophomore, or 10th grader, you must earn at least 6 credits in 9th grade, one of which MUST be English I
To become a junior, or 11th grader, you MUST have 12 credits, including
English I and II.
To become a senior, or 12th grader, you MUST have 20 credits, including
English I, II, and III
While in high school, you also begin earning a Grade Point Average, or GPA.
At the end of your first semester at Pisgah, the grades in the 4 classes you take will be calculated, and you will have a GPA. At the end of your second semester, your grades from both semesters will be calculated into a cumulative, or overall GPA.
To calculate a GPA, you must know the following to always be true:
· An “A” in a standard course is equal to 4 points
An “A” in an honors course is equal to 5 points
An “A” in an advanced placement course is equal to 6 points
· A “B” in a standard course is equal to 3 points
A “B” in an honors course is equal to 4 points
A “B” in an advanced placement course is equal to 5 points
· A “C” in a standard course is equal to 2 points
A “C” in an honors course is equal to 3 points
A “C” in an advanced placement course is equal to 4 points
· A “D” in a standard course is equal to 1 point
A “D” in an honors course is equal to 2 points
A “D” in an advanced placement course is equal to 3 points
· An “F” in ANY course is equal to 0 points
So, to calculate a GPA, check out the following example:
9th Grade 1st semester - B = 3
(all standard, no honors) C = 2
F = 0
F = 0
Total Points = 5
5 points ? 4 courses = 1.25 semester GPA
9th Grade 2nd semester A = 4
(all standard, no honors) A = 4
B = 3
C = 2
Total Points = 13
13 points ? 4 courses = 3.25 semester GPA
9th Grade CUMULATIVE (both semesters) GPA
B = 3
C = 2
F = 0
F = 0
A = 4
A = 4
B = 3
C = 2
Total Points = 18
18 points for semester ? 8 classes for semester = 2.25
Cumulative
GPA
So, as you can see, even though this student had a much better second semester, their cumulative, or overall, GPA was still a little low because of the two F’s first semester. Again, this is why every class has to be taken seriously, because a couple of F’s here and there can really hurt your GPA and can always cause you to be unable to graduate with your class.
Final semester grades will always be letter grades as shown above. However, DURING the semester, when you receive a progress report or report card every three weeks, you will be seeing numeric grades.
For example, 9th grader, 1st semester
Earth Environmental World History Algebra IA Theatre I
1st 6-weeks grade = 82 1st 6-weeks grade = 86 1st 6-weeks grade = 78 1st 6-weeks grade = 88
2nd 6-weeks grade = 89 2nd 6-weeks grade = 79 2nd 6-weeks grade = 93 2nd 6-weeks grade = 87
3rd 6-weeks grade = 66 3rd 6-weeks grade = 84 3rd 6-weeks grade = 98 3rd 6-weeks grade = 85
Final exam grade = 65 Final exam grade = 71 Final exam grade = 71 Final exam grade = 82
82 86 78 88
89 79 93 87
66 84 98 85
+ 65 + 71 + 71 + 82
302 ? 4 = 75.5 320 ? = 80 340 ? 4 = 85 342 ? 4 = 85.5
75.5 = D 80 = C 85 = B 85.5 = B
(Final exams count as 25% of final grade, that is why these grades were divided by 4 instead of 3)