<p>My daughter is attending a school with varsity letters awarded for so many things, not just sports. I noticed on some posts that students were listing their Academic Letters as awards. I am taking it to our board of education about awarding them at our school, but would like some guidelines to take with me.<br>
At what grade point do high schools usually award them? Is there a requirement for a number of semesters or trimesters that this is maintained before being awarded? Is it an average at the end of one or two years, or a required number of terms in a row that the grade point must be reached, therefore, not an average, but a required GPA for each term?
I would welcome any feedback to help me come up with a proposal. Thank you</p>
<p>Our local HS awards academic letters at the end of junior year. As for the suggesting a GPA, that would depend on your school. In ours, about one third of the class received them, so IMHO they were pretty much worthless as an actual award.</p>
<p>Went looking for the details on my D’s school’s website and found these facts:</p>
<p>Academic letters are awarded to students who maintain a semester GPA of 4.0 or higher for both semesters of an academic year. Seniors receive their letters at the Senior Luncheon at the end of their senior year. Students who completed grades 9 -11 receive their letters at a ceremony in the fall of the following academic year.</p>
<p>The 4.0 is a weighted GPA of course.</p>
<p>Ours are for A average and are awarded after sophomore year. I think at my school they cut it at 3.75 UW. It also allows for the kids in technical honors or vocational classes to get rewarded, since most of their classes are not weighted, and it cuts out some of the kids who have multiple Bs but in honor classes. </p>
<p>We also give letters for theater, and the community service groups are thinking about a letter for hours of service.</p>
<p>Ours was 3.75 for 3 quarters for 7 courses including 4 core.</p>
<p>Thank you. Our Honor Society has a GPA requirement of 3.75. The discussion has been–do we go slightly lower because compared to schools in our area, this is one of the highest requirements and there were many complaints from parents whose kids just missed the cut off–or do we go even higher because this is an honors award and should be given closer to the top 10% or less.
Then there’s the administration’s view point, how much are all these letters costing? :)</p>
<p>Our HS awards varsity letters for academic teams and arts (marching band, orchestra, etc.). They must participate for 4 semesters to earn a letter. </p>
<p>For high GPA, the kids get rewarded by being named to principal’s honor role. They can also be nominated to California Scholarship Federation, but that has a community service requirement, in addition to GPA.</p>
<p>At our HS, kids must pay to receive the actual physical letter.</p>
<p>MizBee, that is close to what we’ve been thinking. Awarded at the end of sophomore or beginning of junior year. But now that you’ve brought up the W and UW, I see that needs to be taken into consideration too, the offering of AP courses varies so much. Some years the sophomore class can take APs, other years (my D’s) they haven’t been offered.
We also have letters for drama, band, choir, cheer, etc. so we thought academics would be an important addition.</p>
<p>Our school district has an Academic Booster Club that awards varsity letters and patches, which are paid for by membership dues and fundraisers. Students are actually eligible for a letter beginning in middle school (7th grade) and can earn additional awards/patches each year through high school. Here’s how it works:</p>
<p>A varsity letter is awarded for a GPA of 90 or above. An additional “Lantern of Knowledge” patch (which can be sewn onto the letter) is awarded for having all As (90 or above in every class). Weighted GPA is used, and the awards for each year are presented in a ceremony the following fall. After the initial letter is awarded, chevrons are awarded for each year the student qualifies. Students who earn a letter/chevron for five successive years (7th-11th grade) are awarded an Academic Excellence patch, presented in the fall of senior year. Letters & patches are all paid for by the Academic Booster Club, but of course you have to buy the letter jacket to sew them onto!</p>
<p>Our school is a 3.75 or better (no weighting of grads so that is off a 4.0 scale). You have to average a 3.75 or better over the course of the year. Freshman are eligible. If you earn the award in subsequent years you get a bar to put on the sleeve of your jacket. They award letters for all activities, not just sports.</p>
<p>We will be working on a proposal this weekend, thanks so much for all the input, it’s very helpful and has given us a lot to think about. I was really impressed with the Academic Booster Club Jea, there needs to be as much encouragement in academics as there is in sports. That sounds like a great idea.</p>