Academic Options
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. Approval for enrolling will be based on student ability, past performance, counselor and/or teacher recommendation, and prerequisite courses. Because of the difficulty of these courses and the time demands involved, grades of “A”, “B”, or “C”, on a student’s report cards will receive extra weight in the computation of the grade point average. Students are required to take the AP exam in the spring. The test costs approximately $94. Based on the score of the exam, college credit may be earned. (“A” = 5 points, “B” = 4 points, “C” = 3 points, “D” = 1 point, and “F” = 0 point). AP weight will be assigned to the GPA upon completion of the AP exams.
For information about specific colleges’/ universities’ credit plans, google search “AP credit policies.”
SUMMER SCHOOL
A student may earn no more than two remedial credits per year in summer school. “A maximum student load shall be no more than one new unit per summer, with a maximum of four such units counting toward graduation,” in compliance with the State of Ohio minimum standards. The Principal of Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School or his designee must approve enrollment in any summer school program. This option may be limited to online courses only.
ONLINE INSTRUCTION
One potential option for students to earn credit for core coursework that they have failed is through select online credit recovery programs. Courses are available at student/parent’s expense. For students who are not successful in the typical schooling offerings, BBHCSD offers an online program. See your counselor for further details.
CREDIT FLEXIBILITY
Credit Flexibility enables students to earn high school credit based on the demonstration of subject competency. Students may complete coursework, test out of a course, or pursue educational options. Please see the proposal process on the web site or discuss this option with your counselor. Deadlines are August 1 (for fall), November 1 (for spring), and March 1 (for summer).
COLLEGE CREDIT PLUS
College Credit Plus (CCP), provides free full and part-time college credit to secondary school students who meet the admission requirements of a partnering college. Students that choose this option are enrolled in high school and college. Any student interested in this program should contact his/her guidance counselor before February 1st for application information. Students must select a 15 or 30 semester hour career pathway which will be determined in cooperation with local colleges. Students and parents must attend a mandatory virtual evening counseling session on 2/1/2021 if they are interested in the program for the following year. If you can't attend virtually, please contact the counseling office. All of the information regarding the College Credit Plus program is available on the web site.
BBHHS is excited to partner with Cuyahoga Community College to bring other college credit opportunities to our campus. For next year, College Composition I and II, College Algebra, and Calculus III will be offered along with possibly Organic Chemistry.
LIMITATIONS
To determine the number of credit hours a student can take in a year, BBHCSD must calculate the following credit limit:
30 – (high school only credits x 3) = Maximum number of College Credit Plus credit hours
Students may only take a maximum of 120 credit hours in the program.
If students would like to take more than the maximum number of credit hours, BBHCSD will pay the tuition, and the family would be responsible for paying the difference.
Most colleges define this through two tests: ACT or Accuplacer.
Step 1: Attend an information session hosted by the district, or by your high school (not all high schools host their own CCP information night).
Step 2: Turn in your letter of intent to your high school counselor.
Step 3: Determine the test scores. ACT and SAT are typically accepted at all partner schools, some partners will also provide an Accuplacer exam once you have applied to be part of their College Credit Plus program.
Step 4: Discuss your course selection with your high school counselor and college academic advisor to find courses that meet high school graduation requirements and set you up for college success.
Step 5: Build both a high school and college schedule.
REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION AND COMMENCEMENT
The State of Ohio and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education have prescribed minimum requirements for a diploma. Students not meeting the minimum course requirements will NOT be permitted to participate in commencement exercises. Currently, 21 credits are required to graduate.
NAVIANCE PORTFOLIO/PRE-COLLEGE TESTING PROGRAMS
All students will be asked to develop and complete an online portfolio beginning in their Freshman year. As part of the process, students will develop a resume and a list of appropriate professional references in Naviance. Throughout their years at the high school, students are encouraged to collect other appropriate documents to enhance their portfolio. Awards, certificates, samples of work, a transcript, and letters of recommendation may be scanned, saved, and viewed in their Naviance document library. When students present their portfolio during an employment, scholarship, or college interview, they are providing college admissions officers or potential employers with a solid representation of their interests, abilities, and career plans.
We feel it is important to help guide our students through testing experiences that will familiarize them with both types of the national pre-college testing programs, the ACT, and the College Board’s SATs. There are preliminary versions of both, and through the first three years of high school, on a designated Test Day, we will administer these standardized tests to prepare our students. The goal is to ready students in the junior year, usually for the fall PSAT, and later the junior year, usually for the fall PSAT, and later the junior year, the ACT and/or SAT. Students should reference the ACT College Readiness standards at www.act.org/standard.
STATE OF OHIO HONORS DIPLOMA CRITERIA NOTES
1. Writing sections of either standardized test should not be included in the calculation of this score. The Locating Information test is not included in the calculation of the WorkKeys score. 2. Advanced science refers to courses that are inquiry-based with laboratory experiences and align with the 11/12th grade standards (or above) or with an AP science course, or with an entry-level college course (clearly preparing students for a college freshman-level science class, such as anatomy, botany, or astronomy). 3. Program must lead to an industry recognized credential, apprenticeship, or be part of an articulated career pathway which can lead to post-secondary credit. 4. The fifth mathematics and science credit for the STEM honors diploma may be fulfilled with a single course. 5. Field Experience refers to experiential learning in either an internship or apprenticeship. Students will document their experiences by describing their understanding in a portfolio. 6. The student portfolio is a collection of experiential learning and competencies based on the student’s field experiences. Students will engage with professionals or scholars in the field while developing their own portfolio or ePortfolio of original work that documents their technical, critical and creative skills representative of their honors focus; students’ work must be reviewed and evaluated by scholars or professionals within the field/area of study in which the students’ work is focused, and the scholars or professionals must be external to the district staff; students will give a presentation to showcase the work and provide an analysis of it to the school and local community. If the student does not complete a field experience, the portfolio can be based on a collection of work related to the student’s honors diploma area of focus. 7. Students must score a minimum of a 6 on the Applied Mathematics WorkKeys Assessment and a minimum of 6 on the Reading for Information WorkKeys Assessment in order to meet the WorkKeys score requirement. The WorkKeys option applies only to the Career Tech Honors Diploma. 8. These scores are based on the 2016 ACT and SAT assessments. Concordance tables outlining equivalent scores for past and future tests that differ from the 2016 versions will be published on the ODE website. Tables to concord SAT assessments taken prior to March 2016 can be found here. Further information on test concordance can be found here.
CUMULATIVE COURSES
Cumulative courses may be passed for the year even if the first semester is failed provided the second semester’s work is passed with a sufficiently high grade to average passing for the year. CUMULATIVE COURSES CANNOT BE PASSED FOR THE YEAR IF THE SECOND SEMESTER IS FAILED. Examples of cumulative courses are World Languages, Chemistry, Music, and Mathematics.
NON-CUMULATIVE COURSES
The following YEAR courses, if failed for a semester, must have the SAME SEMESTER’S WORK made up in order for credit to be earned for that semester. These courses are:
English 1, 2, 3, 4
Physical Science
World History Biology
U.S. History Environmental Science
REPORT CARDS
The school year consists of two semesters. Each semester is divided into two nine-week grading periods for reporting pupil progress to parents. Gradebook access is available to parents and students and includes options for setting up alerts for missing assignments. Report cards will be posted electronically through Gradebook.
CUMULATIVE GRADE POINT AVERAGE
The cumulative grade point average (GPA) is based on a 4.00 scale on SEMESTER AVERAGE GRADES ONLY. Subjects not considered in the GPA are all assistant programs, Physical Education elective courses, and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory courses. Merit Roll equals a 3.00-3.74 GPA and Honor Roll equals a 3.75 or above GPA. A grade of D, U, or WF precludes a student’s being included on Merit and Honor Roll.
COURSE WITHDRAWAL POLICY
Course Change Forms are available in the Guidance Office and, although used sparingly, may result in a withdrawal from a course if it is approved. Student, teacher, counselor, and parent sections must be completed for a course withdrawal to be considered. Schedule changes for reasons other than technical errors, conflicts, inappropriate placement, or other legitimate educational reasons will not be considered.
In order for a subject to be removed completely from the transcript, a student must withdraw within a time limit prescribed as follows:
Semester courses sixth through the sixteenth day
Year courses sixth through thirty-sixth day
If a student withdraws from a subject after the prescribed time limit, a “WF” (Withdraw-Failing) will appear on the report card and transcript regardless of the grade earned at the time of withdrawal. The “WF” grade will continue to be a part of the student’s grade point average.
Course changes involving adding courses are recommended only up to the 1st interim. PE additions are allowed only up to the first 2 weeks of the semester.
SATISFACTORY/UNSATISFACTORY OPTION
The “S/U” option is the opportunity given to a junior or senior to select one (1) unit of credit or less in non-required subjects for credit each year in which the grade will be either “Satisfactory” or “Unsatisfactory”. In addition, any student in grades 10-12 may take an additional S/U option for a music course, excluding music theory and music appreciation.“Satisfactory” (S) will require a “C” or higher for credit; this translates into an average of at least 73%. An average below 73% will result in an “Unsatisfactory” (U). This option is not available for honors or advanced placement courses.
“Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory” credit will be included in the total credits being taken by the student, but will not be figured into the grade point average or class rank. Therefore, the “S/U” option does not figure into the GPA to determine a student’s eligibility; however, it will count toward the 5-credit course requirement that also determines eligibility.
The student’s declaration for “S/U” must be made prior to the end of September for the first semester or year-long courses and the applications must be approved by the student’s counselor and Assistant Principal. During the second semester, students have the first ten school days to select this option.
Applications are available in the Guidance Office.
ATHLETIC AND INTERSCHOLASTIC EXTRACURRICULAR ELIGIBILITY
Students are required to maintain a minimum grade point average of 1.5 in order to be eligible to participate in any interscholastic extracurricular activity (grades 7-12) within the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District. The grade point average of each grading period (quarter grades) will be used to determine eligibility. The eligibility of a student will continue until the grades are released to the athletic office, at which time the grades from the immediately preceding grading period become effective.
EXCEPTION: Eligibility or ineligibility for the first grading period commences with the start of the fall sports season.
Summer school grades earned may not be used to recalculate a student’s GPA from the last grading period of the regular school year.
Additionally, eligibility requirements for participating in athletic programs must conform to the policies, rules/regulations, and limitations outlined by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Specifically, during the preceding grading period, the student must have received passing grades in a minimum of FIVE one-credit courses or the equivalent, which count toward graduation. Please keep in mind that Physical Education courses are .25 credit for a semester which does not fulfill the requirement.
Because NCAA eligibility requirements are subject to change, it is imperative that students interested in collegiate athletics (seniors and/or their parents) consult with their respective guidance counselor about the NCAA application process. If students know freshman year that they may be Division I or II athletes, they need to communicate that to their guidance counselor so adequate planning can take place.
HONOR SOCIETIES
Students must have a 3.75 overall grade point average to be considered for the National Honor Society. Students who enroll in the basic or general level courses shall not be eligible for membership in the National Honor Society.
The following courses are considered general level courses for NHS eligibility purposes: Reading, Physical Science, Biology, Algebra 1 Blocked, Geometry Block, Trigonometry/Math Applications.
Students at BBHHS are fortunate to have opportunities to join the National Art Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honorary, National Vocational Technical Honor Society, and Quill & Scroll Honor Society.
END-OF-COURSE EXAMS
Students will take the Ohio Department of Education sanctioned end of course exams in 7 areas: Algebra I, Geometry, American History, English 1, 2, Biology, and American Government. Students studying Advanced Placement (AP) courses in American history or American government may take assessments aligned to those courses in lieu of end-of-course exams to avoid double testing. A student who earned high school credit in any of the above courses before July 1, 2014, automatically will receive a score of three points per course exam toward the total points needed for graduation. Students must also meet one of the following three:
1. Earn a cumulative passing score on seven end-of-course exams. The scores will be set by the State Board of Education.
2. Earn a “remediation-free” score on a nationally recognized college admission exam such as the ACT or SAT. The State of Ohio will pay for all 11th-grade students to take the exam free of charge.
3. Earn a State Board of Education-approved, industry-recognized credential, or a state-issued license for practice in a career and achieve a score that demonstrates workforce readiness and employability on a job skills assessment.