Academics

A portion of a student’s academic success is attributed to being prepared to learn. Preparation includes, but is not limited to the following: arriving to class on time and with the necessary materials, completing assignments in a timely manner, and actively participating during class activities. Students that are unprepared for class may struggle academically and be considered candidates for an academic intervention such as after-school tutoring or Saturday school.

Cheating and Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as the stealing and use of the ideas or writings of another as one’s own. Cheating and plagiarism are unethical and will not be tolerated by the faculty members or administrators. When cheating or plagiarism occurs, both parties (the one who allowed the copying and the one who copies) are equally guilty. Therefore, because of the seriousness of the breach of ethics, the following will occur: 

1. The teacher will notify the student(s) that he or she have been caught cheating and/or plagiarizing. 
2. The student’s grades will be determined at the teacher’s discretion (i.e. a zero, no grade, retest, reduction of points, or whatever the teacher deems appropriate). 
3. The teacher will notify the student’s parent/guardian within 48 hours of the incident. This will be done for each offense. The teacher will explain to the parent what action he/she will take academically and that the assistant principal will assign disciplinary consequences; teachers will keep a record of their parent/guardian contacts. 
4. Once the teacher has contacted the parent/guardian, the teacher will send a discipline referral (noting that parent contact has been made) to the assistant principal with a copy of the documentation.

Grading Scale Tiers

Tier I Advanced Level Courses

Tier I courses include Pre- Advanced Placement (Pre-AP), Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), dual credit, state articulated Tech-Prep credit, magnet, and other TEA and District-identified advanced courses. 

Tier II Grade Level Courses

TIER II courses include grade-level -TEKS courses. TIER II also includes courses completed with limited modifications. 

Tier III Prescribed Courses

TIER III courses include locally -developed modified TEKS courses, exit-level state assessment tutorial courses, and student-aide courses. 

Awareness of Academic Standing

Students are responsible for keeping up with their academic progress in each class. Teachers will update grades a minimum of once a week to ensure that students are aware of their academic progress. If a student has not mastered the learning objectives, the student will then be responsible for meeting with his/her teacher(s) to ensure a passing grade through tutoring and remediation.

Grade Level Classifications

A student’s grade placement for a complete year will be determined by the number of credits he or she has the first day of classes. The number of credits needed to be classified in each high school grade are as follows: 

9th Grade — Completion of 8th Grade and 0 credits or more

10th Grade — Completion of 1 year of high school and 5 credits or more

11th Grade — Completion of 2 years of high school and 11 credits or more

12th Grade — Completion of 3 years of high school and 18 credits or more

Note: Credits denied due to excessive absences are not included when determining credit totals. 

Grading Scale 

The following scale is used to compute numerical grades into the mathematically computed score that is used to determine honor roll status, grade point average, and rank in class. The end of semester grade is recorded on the student’s transcript, the student’s permanent record.