Mr. Rankin,
I hope that this letter finds you well. I’m writing to let you know that Mack failed the Regents Exam in Earth Science this June. He did, however, receive an overall passing grade for the class. This means that he has local credit for the class, but does not have regents credit.
In New York, each student must graduate with at least three local credits in science, and pass at least two regents exams. One of those Regents exams must be a life science, and the only option for that is Biology, so each student must pass both that class and exam. The other exam must be a physical science, of which there are three choices: Earth Science, Chemistry and Physics. So, each student must pass both the exam and the course for at least one of these classes. Above that, students must have one more year of science, which need not be a Regents class (although it could be). If, for example, a student passed both the class and exam for Earth Science and Biology, he or she would only need to pass the class in either chemistry or physics, but not the exam. Note, however, that the Regents exam grade is averaged in to the student’s final average, so poor performance on the exam may preclude the student from passing the class. There are also several electives that are offered by the science department, and these can count as the third credit of science as well.
The practical upshot of all this is that Mack, in order to get Regents credit for Earth Science, must pass the exam. It is being offered again at Ithaca High School on Thursday, August 13th in the afternoon. In order for Mack to take the exam, you’ll need to contact the main office at Groton (ph: 607-898-5802) to get an application and to find out the exact time that the exam will begin.
Because Earth Science is a lab course, Mack’s labs and performance test are “good” for one year. That means that he can take the exam in August, January and next June if need be before his labs “expire” and he needs to take the course again. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help Mack prepare for the exam; I can recommend review books, help you locate practice exams, or provide any other help that you may need. Thanks, and enjoy your summer.
Yours,
Dave Syracuse
607-898-5802 ext. 2322