Awards
National Honor Society
Teachers participate in the selection of students of junior and senior ranking for National Honor Society, a national organization for the recognition of outstanding students.
Its web site is http://www.nhs.us. Membership in National Honor Society is an honor and is based equally upon scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The selection process begins at the end of the first semester.
Students new to Upper Arlington High School who have been honored with membership in a chapter of National Honor Society from another high school chapter will be granted membership to Upper Arlington’s Chapter through transfer. Once membership has been transferred, the student must meet Upper Arlington’s membership requirements, which include maintaining membership status in the 12th grade (if inducted in grade 11).
Cum Laude Society
The Cum Laude Society gives academic recognition to Juniors and Seniors meeting the following criteria:
- Juniors must be ranked in the top 10 percent of their class after the first semester.
• Seniors must be ranked in the top 20 percent of their class after the first semester.
Induction to Cum Laude Society will be held in 4th quarter.
Graduation Honor Cords
GPA Based honor cords
There are three honor cords recognizing academic accomplishment as follows:
- Summa Cum Laude: Students earning a 3.950 or above GPA (Blue cord)
- Magna Cum Laude: Students earning a 3.750 to 3.949 or above GPA (Red cord)
- Cum Laude: Students earning a 3.500 to 3.749 or above GPA (White cord)
The GPA for these honors will be calculated at the end of the seventh semester. A notation of Summa, Magna, or Cum Laude honor designation will be made on the student’s diploma and transcript.
Other Honor Cords
Capstone Honors Cord: Students who earn a score of 8-9 on their Capstone Project, Portfolio, and Presentation will receive a “Capstone Honors with Distinction” cord to be worn at graduation. The cord is orange.
Community Service Honor Cord: Students must document 120 hours of community service from May 26, 2017 - April 8, 2018. The cord is yellow and black.
Community School Ribbon: Community school students wear a green ribbon signifying their participation in community school.
International Baccalaureate (IB) Sash: Students who complete the full IB Diploma Program earn a gold sash with black letters and logo.
Key Club Cord: Students must spend at least one full year as an active member of the club. The cord is blue.
Music Cord: All students that perform for 2 years in a large ensemble are eligible. The cord is powder blue.
National Art Honor Society Honor Cord: A student must earn a GPA of 3.5 in their visual art classes and have completed 2.5 credits of visual art classes by the end of 1st semester of senior year. The cord is rainbow.
Publication Cord: All seniors in publication courses senior year are eligible. The cord is platinum.
Student Council Cord: Student council members that serve on student council for at least their senior year are eligible. The cord is red, white and blue.
Community Service Honor Award
Upper Arlington High School is committed to recognizing students’ accomplishments in a variety of endeavors including such laudable activities as community service. We see this as an important part of the students’ educational experience. Seniors who have completed 120 hours of community service during the twelfth grade, will be eligible to receive a gold Honors Cord at graduation.
Students who have already earned community service hours through Capstone Projects and summer hours may receive credit for these hours towards their Honor Cord recognition. In order to be eligible for Honor Cord seniors must complete the online information.
If students have questions they should contact Jeanne Gogolski, Career Development/ Service-learning Coordinator at jgogolski@uaschools.org.
We encourage all senior students to participate in the Honors Cord program. The benefits and experiences students receive from community service are invaluable.
National Art Honor Society
In 1978 the National Art Education Association began the National Art Honor Society program specifically for high school students, grades 11 & 12 for the purpose of inspiring and recognizing those students who have shown an outstanding ability in art, and to bring art education to the attention of the school and community.
Junior and senior art students must present 2.5 completed credits in visual art and maintain a grade point average of 3.5 in those classes to be eligible for membership. Selected students are honored at an awards program, will wear an honor cord at graduation, and are eligible for various art scholarships.
Diploma with Honors
To be awarded a diploma with honors, the student shall be required to meet at least all but one of the criteria.
The following is the criteria for the Academic Honors Diploma.
Students need to fulfill 6 of the following 7 criteria:
1. Earn 4 units of mathematics
2. Earn 4 units of science including 2 units of advanced science.
3. Earn 4 units of social studies
4. Earn three units of world languages or two units each of two different world languages
5. Earn 1 unit of fine arts
6. Maintain an overall high school grade point average of at least 3.5 on a four-point scale up to the last grading period of the senior year; or
7. Obtain a composite score of 27 on the American college testing services' ACT assessment (excluding the optional writing test) or a combined score of 1280 on the College Board's SAT (excluding the required essay section).*
*Writing sections of either standardized test should not be included in the calculation of this score.
Diploma with Honors requirements pre-suppose completion of all high school diploma requirements in Ohio Revised Code including:
0.5 unit physical education 0.5 unit health
0.5 unit in American history 0.5 unit in government
There are six different types of honors diplomas.
Honors Diploma - State of Ohio Link
Honors Diploma Process at Upper Arlington High School
Honors Diploma Check List at Upper Arlington High School
Honor Roll and Awards
Honor Roll will be computed for each nine-week grading period. There will be no Honor Roll designation for either semester averages or final averages. The following procedures will be used in determining Honor Roll status:
1. A student will achieve Honor Roll status by earning an average of 3.5 GPA or higher
2. The student must not have any incomplete grades
3. Honor Roll status may be revised if an Incomplete is satisfactorily completed.