NHS Application Information

Chaparral High School's NHS application process takes place during the spring semester. At the end of January, invitations are sent to current sophomores and juniors who have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 (unweighted) or higher.  Students are selected for membership by majority vote of a five-member principal-appointed faculty council.  Students must have 2 positions of leadership and 25 hours of community service, with 5 of the hours dedicated to Chaparral or its feeder schools.  See the service tab for a log to keep track of service hours. Also, see below for more details.

Scholarship – Students in grades 11-12 are eligible for membership.  Those seeking admission to the Chaparral High School NHS must have a minimum academic GPA of 3.5 (unweighted) for at least one full year of high school course work. At the end of January, invitations to apply are sent to school email accounts of eligible sophomores and juniors. Once membership is attained, students must work to maintain this set standard.

Service – All students seeking admission to the Chaparral High School NHS must have participated in at least three separate service activities during grades 9, 10, or 11 prior to seeking admission. The minimum number of documented* service hours is at least 25 hours, with at least 5 hours being related to Chaparral or its feeder schools. These should be activities (not for class credit) in which the student participated for the betterment of the community and not for compensation or for the benefit of a person or organization that the student is affiliated with. Once inducted, members must complete a minimum of 15 verifiable service hours per semester. 

Leadership – All students seeking admission to the Chaparral High School NHS must be able to demonstrate they are leaders in the school and/or community. Students must demonstrate their leadership by listing two or more verifiable roles or positions where they were either elected or appointed. Leadership roles should have an element of leading a group of people toward a common goal. These positions or roles may be held in the school, community, and/or workplace since starting high school. 

Character – All students seeking admission to the NHS will have their names submitted to school and community authorities for evaluation before the selections are finalized. Not following school and community rules and regulations may be grounds for disqualification. Discipline and attendance records will be checked to ensure no rule infractions of the student code of conduct have occurred during the past year.

*All service hours on the application must be accompanied by a signature from an adult representative of the group or organization for which the service was performed.  Signatures must be from an advisor/sponsor/director/employer who is outside of the family of the student seeking admission to NHS.  Signatures are acceptable in one of the following ways:  1) directly on the NHS application, 2) on an attached piece of paper describing the activity and noting the hours served, or 3) on a printout of an email showing a digital signature following a description of the activity and noting the hours served.

NHS Selection Procedure Description

The National Honor Society chapter of Chaparral High School is a duly chartered and affiliated chapter of the National Honor Society.

Membership is open to those students who meet the required standards in four areas of evaluation: scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Students are selected for membership by majority vote of a 5-member Faculty Council, appointed annually by the principal, which bestows this honor upon qualified students on behalf of the faculty of our school each year. The chapter advisers, Mrs. Akin sakin@susd.org and Mrs. Kadavy ckadavy@susd.org , are also appointed by the principal and facilitate all selection procedures and chapter activities during the year.

Students in grades 11 and 12 are eligible for membership. For the scholarship criterion, a student must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale. Those students who meet this criterion are invited to complete a Candidate Form that provides the Faculty Council with information regarding the candidate’s leadership and service. A history of leadership experiences and participation in school or community service is also required.

To evaluate a candidate’s character, the Faculty Council obtains additional professional input. First, official school disciplinary records are reviewed. Second, members of the faculty are requested to provide their professional reflections on a candidate’s service activities, character, citizenship, and leadership. These forms and the Candidate Forms are carefully reviewed by the Faculty Council to determine whether each candidate meets the criteria for membership.  A majority vote of the Council is necessary for selection.  Following a review of the results of the Faculty Council voting by the principal, candidates are notified regarding selection or non-selection according to a predetermined schedule.

Once the notification process is completed, a formal induction ceremony is held at the school to recognize all the newly selected members.  Once inducted, new members are required to maintain the same level of performance (or better) in all criteria that led to their selection.  This obligation includes regular attendance at chapter meetings held monthly during the school year, and participation in the chapter service projects(s).