Nominated candidates are selected for membership by majority vote of a five-member principal-appointed faculty council. The faculty council evaluates each candidate based on the pillars of scholarship, service, leadership, and character as described below.
Scholarship: Necessitates a consistent effort. It’s about optimizing the educational opportunities offered and pursuing knowledge within and beyond academic confines.
Service: Actions done for or on behalf of others without any compensation provided to the individual performing the actions.
Leadership: A position of being in charge, guiding, or otherwise directing a group of individuals or an organization; a collective set of skills that can be taught to make one a leader.
Character: A person of character demonstrates trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
The faculty council uses four forms of input to aid their evaluation of scholarship, service, leadership, and character:
The candidate's high school academic disciplinary record will be examined by the Faculty Council as a tool to evaluate scholarship.
Students must have completed at least one Honors or AP level course to demonstrate an appropriate level of academic rigor.
The candidate's high school disciplinary record will be examined by the Faculty Council as a tool to evaluate character.
Serious (Level 4) infractions automatically exclude a candidate from membership in National Honor Society.
Minor infractions (Level 1, 2, 3) will be considered. These may result in exclusion from membership at the discretion of the Faculty Council.
The Candidate Information Form will be used to evaluate a candidate's service and leadership.
Candidates will obtain Faculty Input from two high school teachers of their choice. These Faculty Input Forms will be used along with the Disciplinary Record to evaluate a candidate's character.
These four forms of input are carefully reviewed by the Faculty Council, along with any other verifiable information about each candidate. In addition, the Faculty Council may choose to personally interview candidates.
Membership is based on candidates fulfilling all FOUR pillars of the NHS (scholarship, leadership, service, and character). A candidate who does not fulfill any one of the four pillars will not be considered for membership, regardless of how highly they are rated on any of the other three pillars.
A majority vote of the Faculty Council is necessary for selection.
Letters are sent to students and parents/guardians stating whether or not they have been selected for membership.