Academics

PROGRESS REPORTS AND REPORT CARDS 

Report cards are sent after each nine week grading period. Report cards are now electronic and can be found on Parent Portal. At the end of the school year, if a student owes any fees, the report card will be withheld until all  fees are paid. 

GRADING SCALE

A 90 – 100 Excellent 

B 80 – 89 Above Average 

C 70 – 79 Average 

D 60 – 69 Below Average 

F 59 - 0 Failing

PKMS GRADING POLICY

Grading Points

Tests and Projects:  100 x 2

Quizzes:  100 x 1.5

Classwork:  100 x 1

Daily Homework Average:  100 x 1

Quarter Exam:  100 x 2

RETAKE POLICY

Students are allowed to make test corrections on a test when they receive 70 or below.  They can earn back partial points to earn up to a 70% on corrections. All test corrections are due a week after the assessment is given back.

*Corrections on Quarter Exams and quizzes are not allowed. All subjects will use the PKMS Test Corrections Document.

LATE POLICY

Every day an assignment is late,  a 10 point deduction will occur for up to 5 days. After 5 school days, any assignment turned in during the quarter will be a 50 at the highest. All late grades must be submitted at the end of Quarter Incentive Day.

ABSENCE POLICY

When a student is absent, they will be responsible for making up all work missed. Students will have 5 days to turn in assignments from their day of absense. After 5 days, a point deduction will occur.

HOMEWORK POLICY 

Students may have nightly homework. Different classes have different workloads. Please refer to each teacher’s class syllabus for more information about how often homework is given and how it is graded. Homework will count for 10% of a student’s grade. 

At PKMS, homework serves several purposes:

•  It allows students to independently practice content taught in class. 

• It  is an essential opportunity for students to refine life skills such as responsibility, autonomy, perseverance, and time management. 

If your child is having a problem with the difficulty level of homework, please reach out to his/her teachers. We are here to help. Students are responsible for making up missed work when absent from  school including homework. Students have 5 days to submit work if absent. This also applies when a student is on a school related trip. 

PROMOTION GUIDELINES 

-Sixth grade students must pass three of the four core academic classes in order to be promoted to  seventh grade. The team could recommend summer school.  

-Seventh and eighth grade students must pass three of the four core classes in order to be  promoted. However, seventh and eighth grade students will not be promoted if they fail the same  core subject in two consecutive years. The team could recommend summer school. 

-Parent conferences for students who face potential retention will be conducted. Parents/Legal  Guardians may appeal a retention decision to the Assistant Superintendent of Instruction. The  appeal must be made in writing with the reasons for disagreement with the decision within two  weeks of the notification of the retention.  

-Successful completion of summer school will be required for students who fail two or more core courses in order to be promoted to the next grade.

-Seventh and eighth grade students who are planning on participating in athletics must be promoted to the next grade in order to be eligible for participation per the South Carolina High School League rules.

-Eighth Grade students that fail more than one core subject and therefore have to attend summer school may not walk at the Eighth Grade Recognition Ceremony at the end of the year. 

SUMMER SCHOOL 

Students may attend summer school to take language arts, math, science, or social studies. A fee may be charged for each session. Summer school may be located at any of the middle schools in the Fort Mill School District. Parents  will be notified at the end of the school year if their child will be required to attend. 

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY 

It is important for students and parents to understand the importance of academic honesty. It is expected  that what a student turns in represents his/her academic skill and efforts, and not that of someone else.  Each teacher establishes their classroom policy and procedures for tests, quizzes, and academic work.  Students are expected to follow those rules. 

We consider academic dishonesty a serious violation of school rules. The following statements are what are considered to be academic dishonesty: 

• Receiving or providing information during an assessment or for an assessment given in an earlier period. 

• Using materials for tests/quizzes without the teacher’s permission. 

•  Violating the teacher’s testing rules and procedures. 

• Using or copying someone else’s writing or work (word-for-word – or almost so), calling it your  own, and not giving credit to the author (plagiarism.) 

•  Using or copying another student’s work/assignment to turn in as your own work.  

• Allowing other students to use your work on assignments with the exception of specific group, lab,  or collaborative projects. 

• Having a parent or guardian complete school work.

**The above list identifies the most common forms of academic dishonesty, but other actions may be  considered