Academic Success

Grading System

Report Cards are sent to parents at the end of each quarter, with Interim Reports going home in the middle of each quarter.  Report Card envelopes and Interim Reports are to be signed and returned within three school days.

3-5 Grading Scale:               K-2 Grading Scale:

A   90-100                                       4   Consistently exceeds grade level expectations

B   80-89                                          3   Consistently meets grade level expectations independently

C   70-79                                         2   Needs support to meet grade level expectations

D   60-69                                         1   Below grade level expectations

F 0-59

For Grades 3-5:

All incomplete assignments must be made up before the quarter ends.  If the incomplete work is not successfully completed before the quarter ends, the incomplete grade becomes a failing grade.

A minimum of eight grades shall be recorded for each student in each academic course during each quarter.  To dispute a grade, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.  After grades have been recorded, they will not be changed unless there has been a mathematical error in calculating the grade.  Grades are updated in PowerSchool weekly for students and parents to view. 

PowerSchool Parent Portal

The PowerSchool Parent Portal is part of the state’s student information system, called PowerSchool.  Parents have online, real-time access to information, including academic grades for students in third grade and above, attendance and tardy records.  PowerSchool also provides access to detailed classroom assignments, school bulletins and even personalized messages from your child’s teacher. New users can request access to the PowerSchool Parent Portal by filling out this form. For more information, and current user login, please visit www.gcsnc.com/parentportal.

Homework

Homework time in elementary school should be used to supplement the classwork and strengthen the student’s understanding of what they are studying.  Students should read or be read to each evening for 20-30 minutes.  Students may also have additional assignments or projects that need to be completed.  Parents are encouraged to cooperate with the school in seeing those assignments, including the nightly reading, are completed on time.

Cheating

Any student caught cheating on a test or other school assignments will receive a zero and the parent will receive written notification from the teacher. 

Students who cheat on AR (Accelerated Reader) tests will not be eligible for the AR incentives.  Cheating includes taking tests for someone else, letting someone take a test for you, or getting answers to the test from someone else.  Students will lose points for those books and will not be able to participate in the incentive for that quarter. For more information about AR, as well as a complete list of all the guidelines, see the Accelerated Reader section of this handbook.