Academic Information

Students can move from one level of instruction to another.  These changes need to be approved by the administration. 

Decisions will be based upon the demonstration of effort i.e. homework completion, seeking teacher assistance, and teacher feedback.

Level 1 classes are targeted for students who will be seeking acceptance to the most competitive 2 and 4 year colleges.

Level 2 classes are targeted for students who will be seeking acceptance to competitive 2 and 4 year colleges.

Level 3 classes are targeted for students who will be seeking acceptance to 2 and 4 year colleges

Class Rank is a measure of student performance in academic classes in comparison to the members of their year of graduation cohort. Class rank is calculated according to the following criteria listed below. 

CLASS RANK WILL BE DETERMINED IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER:

1.  Each semester, a student's final grade in a leveled course will be assigned a weighting factor for that grade and course.

2. The cumulative total of all applicable courses with their weighting factor will be divided by the total number of courses that make up that total.  The resulting value will be used to determine QPA/GPA, which in turn determines class rank.

3. QPA/GPA is calculated at the end of each semester.  Hence, class rank will be determined at the end of each semester beginning with the freshman year.

4. Grades for all courses taken in grades 9-12 with a value of a half credit or more are used in computing class rank.  This includes failures as well as passed courses.

5. High School courses taken in middle school are not calculated in Rank/GPA.

6. Grades earned in the more rigorous levels are weighted heavier. 

7. Make up grades for courses during the academic year will count towards class rank.

8. Summer School courses utilized for make-up credit are not computed in class rank. 

9. All students in the class are included in determining class rank.

10. Students that have entered/transferred or completed fewer than 5 quarters at Plainville High School will not displace a student in the official senior class ranking.

11. Classes that earn less than .5 credit are not computed in class rank.

12. Class ranking starts after Semester 1 Freshman year and ends at the end of Semester 1 Senior Year.

Honor Roll is computed each marking period, each semester, and at the conclusion of each school year.  Students must be taking a minimum of four (4) courses (which meet 5 times per week) to be eligible.  Must have credit in all courses taken, NC is not permissible.

Gold Honor Roll

No grade lower than an A- on the report card for the quarter

Silver Honor Roll

No grade lower than a B- on the report card for the quarter

Bronze Honor Roll

No grade lower than a C- on the report card for the quarter

Twenty (20) hours of Learning Through Service (LTS), a graduation requirement, is another form of instruction that works best as a partnership between the school and community.  It is grounded in experiential education - learning by doing.  The goal of Learning Through Service is to direct the learners into practical settings where the primary motivation is service.  This service is designed to meet the unmet needs of a community/school.  The learning takes place as the students take part in the experience.

The goals of Learning Through Service are extensive and lifelong.  This program is for all students and is designed to enhance:

• academic skills (by applying knowledge in a work situation)

• problem solving skills (by actually performing real tasks)

• citizenship skills (by giving to your community to meet an unmet need)

• interpersonal and team skills (by working under adult supervision)

• career development (by seeing real life occupations in person)

 Learning Through Service activities are specifically focused for non-profit organizations.  A student may not participate in a volunteer activity where he/she receives payment or for friends and/or family members.  We have a list of community service opportunities in the School Counseling office and on our school website.

Examples of such service might include:

          1.     Tutoring peers, younger students or adult education students.

         2.     Community service through religious organizations.

         3.     Community clean-up projects (either as individuals or as a group).

 The program will be introduced to students in Freshman Academy.

Students are expected to honor their commitments to attend and satisfactorily complete the courses in which they enroll.  Requests for changes made after the completion of the master schedule will be considered ONLY for educationally sound reasons.  Note:  If the proposed change affects class numbers in a way that results in too many or too few students in a class, then administration reserves the right to deny any course change request.

With the increased number of credits required for graduation, there will be less flexibility for changes.  Students and parents are asked to plan course requests carefully so that changes will not be necessary.  Students who fail a course or fail to meet sequential requirements to continue in an area and who do not plan to attend summer school will automatically be placed back into these courses during the summer for the next school year.

All withdrawals must be approved by a parent/guardian, an administrator, school counselor, and the teachers affected by the change.  Classes dropped during the “add and drop” period, which is 10 days from the start of the semester, do not appear on the student’s transcript and may be replaced with another class.  For classes dropped after the “add and drop” period, students will receive a W (Withdrawn) with the letter grade at the time of dropping a class (i.e. WD), and will not be able to take another class to replace the one dropped.  This will be identified on all school records.  A grade of W is at the discretion of the administrator.  A WF will affect the student’s activity status.

Students enrolled in Early College Experience (ECE) courses have until September 30th to drop them and it will not appear on their transcripts with a W.  They may only replace the ECE course with another course during the first 10 days of the semester.  If the ECE class is dropped after the first 10 school days of the semester, the student will be moved to a Study Hall (no credit).

Students may enroll in summer school to recover loss of credit for courses they have failed with the grade of an FS (40 to 59) during the school year. Registration takes place in the spring and a tuition fee is charged.  Listed below are the complete requirements for participation.

Transfer students from another school district in Connecticut, from Out-of-State districts, or Private Schools, will be expected to meet the graduation requirements of Plainville High School. Please note that:

• Ranking of transfer students will start with the completion of 5 quarters of continuous enrollment at Plainville High School.

• Students who have entered/transferred or completed fewer than 5 quarters at Plainville High School will not displace a student in the senior class ranking.

• Only credits earned in grades 9-12 will be included in Rank/GPA calculations. High school credits earned in middle school will be transferred onto the high school transcript and counted toward high school graduation credit requirements, but these classes will not be included in Rank/GPA calculations.