Academic Lettering
MHS students are eligible for an academic letter if he or she received a grade point average of a 3.75 or higher for an academic school year. The student must be a full-time MHS Student. Students are awarded their letter or bar in fall following the awarded school year.
Academic Prep/Open Hour
See also academic and school policy for Full-Time Attendance. Academic Preps are permitted for 11th and 12th grade students who are on track to graduate and have parent approval; however, MHS encourages all students to take a full schedule of classes and to take advantage of our wide variety of course offerings. A rigorous and well-rounded yearly schedule can be the key to college admission success, and a diverse course load benefits students by exposing them to multiple postsecondary options. All students are advised to confirm their graduation status and to check NCAA and college admission requirements before requesting Academic Preps. Students requesting Academic Preps must give their counselor evidence of parent permission on the appropriate paperwork (Course Request form or Academic Prep Permission form).
Advanced Placement (AP)
MHS offers a variety of courses that fall under the AP Program. These courses follow a weighted grading scale and are subject to change yearly based on staff and schedule restrictions. Students enrolled in AP courses are responsible for AP test fees and purchasing texts/materials for AP courses. See more information under each AP course description.
Alternative Credit
MHS students who are diploma-seeking (full-time) may transfer in up to six (6) alternative credits on an official transcript/portfolio from an MHS approved/accredited program (BYU, PEAK). Speak with your school counselor before beginning any transfer/alternative credits. Credits from Summer School, Home School, Foreign Exchange, or other correspondence programs must be prearranged and meet MHS criteria to be accepted. Only elective/retrieval credit may be transferred in. Specific classes required for graduation must be taken at MHS and may NOT be transferred in once a student is full-time at MHS. Transfer/alternative credits will be Pass/Fail or No Credit and must be transferred in during the calendar year the course is completed.
Attendance and Academic Credit Eligibility
Students may lose eligibility to earn credit after excessive absences in a class and without acceptable documentation of extenuating circumstances that are beyond their control. Students with problematic attendance records may be placed on an attendance contract which, if violated, will result in the student being placed in an attendance intervention program, being withdrawn from the course or school, or losing high school privileges.
Community Service
Fifteen hours of community service are required for graduation. Students who attend MHS for their Senior Year only may speak to their school counselor about the possibility of prorating the 15-hour requirement.
Concurrent Enrollment
MHS offers a variety of courses for Concurrent Enrollment credit. These courses are subject to change yearly based on staff and schedule restrictions. Students interested in Concurrent Enrollment should visit with their School Counselor early in their high school career to determine an appropriate four-year plan. Students are responsible for purchasing texts/materials for Concurrent Enrollment courses as required by the college awarding credit. See more information under Postsecondary Enrollment Opportunities.
Credit – Awarding of Credit
Completion of a class with a grade of ‘D’ or higher results in the awarding of credit, typically ½ credit for each one-semester class. A few classes meet for two class periods within the same semester and are worth one full credit. Classes that are graded ‘Pass/Fail’ vary in whether they are credit-bearing – check the course descriptions in this catalog for details.
Credit Recovery
Students who have failed a required class or are credit deficient can recover credit through RE-1J Summer School, RE-1J PEAK Virtual Academy, and preapproved online correspondence programs. Certain freshman-level courses (English 9, Geo-Physical Science, and World Geography) may not be taken again at MHS and can only be retaken in one of these programs. Students must check with their school counselor for recommendations and approval. All elective credit to be transferred from a correspondence program must have prior approval from the student’s school counselor.
Credit Transfer
Transfer of credit must be on an official transcript from an accredited agency or school. Classes will be matched to Montrose High School courses and credit awarded accordingly and applied towards graduation. Weighted, Advanced, or Honors courses from other schools will only receive the same designation on a Montrose High School transcript IF the same courses are available to MHS students. A non-accredited program will be based upon a portfolio presentation which must be completed within 30 days of a student’s enrollment. The portfolio is to consist of all materials used, including texts, workbooks, assignments, exams, and daily attendance/time schedules for each course and will be reviewed by the counselor and/or administrator, and where needed, the appropriate subject area instructor. Students and parents are strongly encouraged to use only accredited programs (either DETC or a regional Accreditation Commission – check with an MHS counselor first) if they are choosing home-based educational programs. Any student wishing to transfer in and then graduate from Montrose High School must be in full-time attendance for the two semesters prior to graduation.
Full-Time Attendance - Revised March 2016
9th Grade
Students attend 7 credit classes + a study hall each semester
10th Grade
Students attend 7 credit classes + a study hall each semester unless they opt out of study hall with parent permission
11th Grade
Students attend 7 classes each semester (minimum 6 for credit) unless they meet the following criteria and are approved for an Academic Prep:
Adequate progress towards graduation
Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0
12th Grade
Students have the same requirements as 11th grade. Seniors, with approval and on a case-by-case basis, may have more Academic Preps second semester as their graduation status allows.
Seniors in a CHSAA activity must carry at least 2.5 graded credits (5 classes).
Grading Scale
A – Excellent 90 – 100 %
B – Above Average 80 – 89 %
C – Average 70 – 79 %
D – Below Average 60 – 69 %
F – Failing 0 – 59 %
N/C – No Credit
WF – Withdrawn with an F
W – Withdrawn with no penalty
P – Passed Credit (not included in GPA)
G.P.A. - Grade Point Average Computation
The first GPA to be calculated is at the end of the first semester of high school. GPA is recalculated with the completion of each semester through graduation. GPA is therefore cumulative, reflecting all of the semester grades up to the time of calculation.
Graduates with Distinction
Montrose High School Seniors who have a cumulative GPA of 3.75-4.0 and have demonstrated proficiency on all State assessments (SAT Math 500, ELA 470) will graduate Cum Laude, and Seniors who have a cumulative GPA of 4.01 and higher and have demonstrated proficiency on all State assessments (SAT Math 500, ELA 470) will graduate Summa Cum Laude. Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude graduates are recognized at the MHS graduation ceremony.
Graduation Ceremony and Receipt of Diplomas
Students are not allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony if they have not met all Montrose High School graduation and residency requirements. Students receive their diploma upon completion of all graduation requirements and payment of all fees or fines owed to Montrose High School and/or Montrose County School District RE-1J. Any student wishing to graduate from Montrose High School must be in full-time attendance for the two semesters prior to graduation.
Graduation – Early
Students wishing to graduate at the end of first semester of the senior year will need to plan carefully with their School Counselor to ensure they will have the required credits and residency requirements met. A petition form (available from your counselor) and letters must be completed by the student and parent/guardian no later than December 1st. Early graduates ordinarily do not receive diplomas until the time of the Graduation Commencement Ceremony in late May. Any student wishing to graduate from Montrose High School must be in full-time attendance for the two semesters prior to graduation.
Honor Roll
There are two Honor Roll periods, one following each semester. To be eligible for the Principal’s Honor Roll, a student must have at least five classes that receive letter grades, and achieve a semester GPA of 3.75 or above. To be eligible for the Honor Roll, a student with at least five letter-graded classes needs to have a semester GPA ranging from 3.5 to 3.74. Occasionally students who do not complete all course requirements by the end of a semester grading period may be excluded from an Honor Roll because the required information was not available at the time the Honor Rolls were determined.
Part-Time Students
A part-time student is someone that may or may not be degree seeking from MHS. Part-time students take less than 6 classes. Part-time students may only take classes on a space-available basis.
Repeating Courses
Students who elect to repeat a course that is sequential will (provided the course was passed the first time) be allowed to choose whether to include both grades in the grade point average calculation or to include only the grade earned for the repeated course. In the latter case, the original grade will be changed to ‘NC’ and will not be figured into the student’s GPA. Required courses that are repeated after having been passed the first time taken may not be double-counted for a specific subject-area requirement without extenuating circumstances approved by the student’s School Counselor in consultation with the Principal.
Residency Requirement
Any student wishing to graduate from Montrose High School must be in full-time attendance for the two semesters prior to graduation.
Seal of Biliteracy
This award is given in recognition of students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages (English and another language) by high school graduation. The Seal appears on the transcript or diploma of the graduating senior and is a statement of accomplishment for future employers and for college admissions. Speak to your world language teacher or CLICK HERE for more information about the process.
Schedule Changes
Once a semester starts, schedule changes will only be made for errors or placement recommendations from staff. Students who drop an appropriately scheduled course after the start of a semester may receive a “WF” if there are no extenuating circumstances that have been reviewed and approved by the School Counselor in consultation with the Principal. A “WF” will become a permanent part of the student’s transcript record and will negatively impact the cumulative GPA.
Study Hall
Study Hall was created as an opportunity for 9th and 10th graders to have a structured time to complete work in a supervised setting. As a result, students will earn .25 credit per semester (total of .5 for the year). All 9th and 10th graders will be scheduled into 7 classes and 1 study hall. Tenth graders can “opt out” of study hall after the 1st semester with parent permission, a cumulative GPA of a 2.0 or higher, and with passing grades at the end of 1st quarter. These students will have an “open period” during that time and will not receive any credit for Study Hall. Eleventh and 12th graders who would benefit from this setting can “opt in” to a study hall with parent permission.
Transcripts
Transcripts are a permanent record of high school courses attempted and grades earned, student absences and tardies, and state testing required by Colorado Department of Education to be on the student transcript (currently the Colorado Junior SAT). Any other testing (National ACT, SAT, AP Testing, etc. must be requested by the student to be sent directly to colleges from the testing agency). Montrose High School transcripts (unofficial copies) are available to students and families through Student/Parent Portal. Official copies are available in the Counseling Office and are signed/sealed by the MHS Registrar. Seniors applying to college may request that transcripts be sent to colleges; please see your counselor for details. After graduation/age 18, we must have student signature to release transcripts to students and/or colleges.
Weighted Grade Policy
Some course grades are weighted on a 5.0 scale for a grade of A, B, or C. This means that if a student receives an A in one of these courses, the A counts for 5 points when determining GPA. In a non-weighted course an A counts for 4 points. If a student receives a weighted B, it counts for 4 points (the same as a non-weighted A) in determining GPA. However, the grade appears as a B on the student’s report card and permanent transcript. If a student receives a weighted C, the C counts as 3 points (the same as a non-weighted B) and appears as a C on the student’s report card and permanent transcript. D and F grades are not weighted and are given point values equal to a non-weighted D or F. Montrose High School does not weight transfer courses for which there is no comparable course at MHS. For a list of current MHS weighted courses click here.