Page 19 - HHS Curriculum Guide 2019-20

ADVANCED PLACEMENT COURSES

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are part of a program of college-level courses and exams that give high school students

the opportunity to receive credit and/or advanced placement in college. Students enrolling in AP courses should expect

to develop analytical reasoning skills and study the subject matter in great depth. AP tests are scored on a 1 to 5
Enrollment in AP coursework is based on student ability and interest, past scale as follows:
performance, counselor and/or teacher input, and success in prerequisite courses.
Because of the difficulty of these courses and the time demands involved, grades of 5 – Extremely well qualified
"A", "B", or "C", on a student's report cards will receive an extra weight in the 4 – Well qualified
computation of the grade point average. Students are required to take the AP exam 3 – Qualified
in the spring to meet the expectations of the course and to earn the weighted grade 2 – Possibly qualified
adjustment. The cost of the AP is determined by The College Board and paid by the 1 – No recommendation

student/family. Based on the score of the exam, college credit may be earned—

typically, a “3” or higher is considered passing. (Weighting: "A" = 5 points, "B" = 4 points, "C" = 3 points, "D" = 1 point,

and "F" = 0 point).

EARLY GRADUATION

On very rare occasions, students will complete their graduation requirements in fewer than four years. If this occurs
and a student wishes to graduate early, these procedures must be followed:
1. An administrator meets with student, parents, and counselor to discuss credits, future plans and responsibilities.

The timing of the meeting with student, parents, and principal is in the spring prior to requested date of early
graduation. The decision will be based on grades, attendance, behavior and future plans. If approved, no student
will be permitted to graduate before the end of the semester.
2. If approved, students must let their counselors know if they wish to go through commencement ceremonies. Early
graduation is a serious concern. Approval will be given only after a thorough investigation of all factors.

ACADEMIC ACCELERATION

Academic acceleration involves individual subject acceleration, with the grade level of the student determined by the
overall academic credit earned. Academic acceleration occurs when a student is not only doing the caliber of work
necessary to be enrolled in that subject/course, but also demonstrates the ability to do the caliber of work required of
students in the next course in the academic sequence. An acceleration evaluation committee will determine whether
the student will be permitted to take a subject at a higher grade level or skip a course in the usual and customary
academic sequence (i.e., individual subject acceleration). Any student residing in the District may be referred by a staff
member or a parent/guardian to the principal of his/her school for evaluation for possible accelerated placement.
Students may refer themselves or a peer through a staff member who has knowledge of the referred child's abilities.
Upon referral, the student's principal (or his/her designee) shall convene an acceleration evaluation committee to
determine the appropriate learning environment for the referred student. This committee shall include the following:

a. a parent/guardian, or a representative designated by that parent/guardian
b. a gifted education coordinator or gifted intervention specialist, or if neither is available, a school psychologist or

school counselor with expertise in the appropriate use of academic acceleration may be substituted
c. a principal or assistant principal from the child's current school
d. a current teacher of the referred student
e. a teacher at the grade level or course to which the referred student may be accelerated
f. in the event that career-technical programs are considered for acceleration, a career-technical educator shall be

consulted as a part of the evaluation.

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