Advanced Academics

The dual enrollment program at Cedar Hill ISD is a cooperative effort with the Dallas County Community College District. Students who meet college eligibility criteria may participate in the program. Successful completion of the program will allow students to receive high school credit and college credit for the courses taken. Class sizes must be taken into consideration. twenty-five students will be considered as a full class and enrollment will be closed to additional students unless another section can be opened. A student must:

• Obtain permission from the high school

• Enroll at DCCCD

• Earn a grade of 70 or above in each required course

• Meet the entrance requirements of the college/university including the required TSI exam.

• Comply with the Student Code of Conduct and grading guidelines of the college/university

Cedar Hill Independent School District secondary schools offer students the opportunity to participate in College Board AP courses so that they may better prepare themselves for college. Because these classes are similar to college level classes, students are challenged to be more disciplined, structured and to perform at a higher academic level.

What is AP? The AP Program is administered by the College Board of New York. It allows students to participate in college level courses and possibly earn college credit while still attending high school. Secondary schools and colleges cooperate in this program to give students the opportunity to show mastery in college-level courses by taking AP exams in May of each school year. These guidelines will insure maximum opportunity for success in these courses:

General Course Expectations:

• Successful completion of each Honors or AP course requires up to six hours’ additional study time per week outside of class on a regular basis.

• Students may need to purchase supplemental materials for some of the honor or AP courses. This requirement will be made known through the course descriptions for the various courses. Financial aid will be available for students with financial need.

• For a student whose grade average for the first semester is less than 70, a student-parent-teacher-counselor conference will be held to evaluate the advisability of the student remaining in the class for the second semester.

• Guidelines for grading shall be clearly communicated to students and parents. A student shall be permitted to retake a test at teacher discretion.

• Students found to have engaged in academic dishonesty shall be subject to grade penalties on assignments or tests and disciplinary penalties in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct. Academic dishonesty includes cheating or copying the work of another student, plagiarism, and unauthorized communication between students during an examination (Board Policy, EIA (LOCAL)).

To receive weighted credit for an AP course, students must be enrolled in the course and receive a 70 or higher in the course. Students are encouraged to take the corresponding College Board AP exam in May.

Advanced Placement Exam

These exams provide students with the opportunity to gain college credit by examination at participating universities. Information regarding the awarding of credit can be found online at www.collegeboard.com. The exams are generally administered towards the end of the spring semester of each school year.

The Honors program is the complementing preparatory program that is designed to provide students with the necessary skills to be successful in AP courses. In CHISD, these skills together with the TEKS comprise the syllabi for the Honors courses.

Students may exit a two-semester Honors/AP course between the 16th and 20th day of the Fall or Spring semester by following the exit process below.

Exiting Process - Schedule changes that are student/parent requested for H/AP to Regular must be made within the first two weeks of each semester. The processes listed below must be followed:

1. Attend a minimum of five documented tutorial sessions.

2. Participate in a documented student/parent/teacher/counselor intervention meeting.

3. Obtain a “Permission to Withdraw from Honor/AP class(es)” form from their Counselor (See Appendix E).

4. Complete the form and obtain all required signatures.

5. Submit the completed and signed form to the Counselor between the 16th and 20th day for consideration by the Dean of Instruction.

6. The Dean of Instruction will decide whether to approve or deny the student’s request.

In all cases, for Honors or AP exit requests, if the request is approved, schedule changes will be subject to course availability. If a student transfers out of a class, the student’s grades will directly transfer to the course into which the student enters (i.e. a 60 in a H/AP course becomes a 60 in a on-level course).

Students beginning the second semester of a two-semester course are expected to remain in the course throughout the semester.

Scholars who have been nominated for Gifted and Talented and have met the criteria are eligible to participate in the Advanced Academics (AA)/Gifted & Talented (GT) Program with other high achieving, highly motivated scholars. Scholars in the AA/GT Program are provided a differentiated curriculum that includes depth and complexity beyond the regular curriculum in the four core areas—Reading/English Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science. Students identified as Gifted and Talented are served through honors, AP, Dual Credit, and Independent Study classes in the secondary schools in CHISD. In order for students to continue to be served, they must be enrolled in one or more honors, AP, or Dual Credit courses.