ACADEMIC LEVELS

College Preparatory

College Preparatory (CP) courses are designed to provide students with a foundation that will prepare them for academic work at the collegiate level, as well as other post-secondary education endeavors.  All of the core graduation courses are offered at the college preparatory level.

Honors

Honors (H) courses provide an elevated level of challenge to students. Subject matter is explored more in depth and tends to move at a faster pace than the CP level courses.

Advanced and Advanced Placement (AP)

The Advanced Placement Program* offers students the opportunity to complete college level studies during secondary school.  Advanced, ECE and AP courses are fast paced, more intense study in specialized areas.   Each AP course culminates with a standardized test in the spring of the academic year.

*In order to receive credit on their transcripts, students are required to take the AP Test for each AP subject in which they are enrolled.  There is a fee of approximately $94 for each test.  This international standardized assessment is critical to curriculum evaluation and alignment and is an integral part of the AP Program.

If students want to take an AP test outside of the offerings at Old Saybrook High School, they must contact Kristen Hunter (khunter@oldsaybrookschools.org), AP Coordinator, before November 1 to sign up for the test.

Early College Experience (ECE)

UConn Early College Experience (UConn ECE) provides academically motivated students with the opportunity to take university courses while in high school. These challenging courses allow students to preview college work, build confidence in their readiness for college, and earn college credits that provide both an academic and a financial head start on a college degree and other post-secondary opportunities. UConn ECE Instructors are high school teachers certified by the University and affiliated with their corresponding academic department. UConn ECE Instructors foster independent learning, creativity, and critical thinking - all important for success in college and careers. Old Saybrook High School offers UConn courses in a variety of disciplines. To support rigorous learning, University of Connecticut academic resources, including library and online classroom access, are available to all UConn ECE Students.  Please note that there is a $125 enrollment fee for the course.

Each department provides guidelines for college preparatory, honors, and Advanced Placement course work in the "Course Offerings" section of this booklet.

WEIGHTED GRADING

Old Saybrook High School uses a weighted grading system to calculate each student’s cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA).   “Weight” will be given to courses in the following disciplines:  English, computer science, mathematics, science, social studies, and world language.  The weighting factors to be applied when computing Cumulative GPA will be as follows:

1.15 for Advanced Placement/UCONN ECE courses indicated by AP or ECE in the course description

1.10 for honors courses indicated by an H in the course description

1.05 for college prep courses indicated by a CP in the course description