Who is eligible to apply for membership in NHS?

Students who have completed the first semester of their junior year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 or weighted GPA of 4.0 are invited to apply for membership in NHS. Students who have violated school board policy (typically an alcohol or drug abuse conviction) within the prior 12 months should not apply. Students in this situation are automatically denied membership so it has been deemed unnecessary to have them apply. If their record is expunged before the end of the first semester of their senior year, they will be welcome to apply for membership at that point.

When do students apply for membership?

Eligible students are invited to apply for membership in September of their junior and senior years. Students who achieve the 3.7 cumulative grade point average(unweighted) or 4.0 weighted GPA following their sophomore or junior year may apply.

Why was my child denied membership in NHS and what can I do about it?

The most common reasons students are denied membership in NHS are:

• alcohol or drug violations

• incidences of academic dishonesty such as cheating or plagiarism

• insubordination offenses with teachers resulting in a bad character assessment

• Lack of leadership, community service, or GPA does not meet the minumum

If you want to discuss the non-selection of your student, the first person to contact is the NHS Advisor. If you are dissatisfied with the answers you receive from the advisor, the next person to contact is the principal. She is familiar with the processes involved in NHS membership selection and the reasons for non-selection.

What does it mean if my student is put on probation?

Once students are members of NHS they have more rights. Offenses that may have prevented membership before will now result in probation instead. Once an NHS member is put on probation, they must not have any further offenses. If no further offenses occur they will not lose their membership in NHS. If a second offense occurs, their membership will be terminated. Students will have the right to appeal this termination to the NHS Advisory Council. Examples of offenses that result in probation are cumulative GPA falling below 3.7, alcohol offenses, and minor academic dishonesty incidences. Any gross offenses will result in immediate termination of the students membership in NHS without going through the probation stage. Students will still have the right to a termination hearing with the NHS Advisory Council.

What is the difference between individual service hours and group projects?

NHS members are required to participate in any group service projects. These are hours of community service done on their own time, documented, and submitted to the secretary of NHS. Students often ask what qualifies as community service. The general guideline is that these hours would benefit the community in some way and the student must not receive compensation for their time.

What is "expunged"?

A: Expunged is a process destroying or sealing the records of a criminal conviction. This includes records in files, on computer, or in any other depositories.

What does this mean in terms of NHS? If a student does not get into any further trouble, twelve months after the student is adjudicated for committing an offense their record at Centaurus will be wiped clean.