Academics

College and Career Readiness Resources

College Planning Checklist

Course Selection Worksheet

Graduation Requirements

Naviance Information

4 Year Plan Worksheet

DEFINITION OF TERMS

CREDIT:  A measure of school achievement.  A student earns one half credit by passing a semester-long course.  Students must complete at least 22 credits to graduate from West Aurora High School.  Typically, students enroll in seven courses each semester and therefore have the opportunity to earn three and one half credits per semester and seven per year.

ELECTIVE:  An elective course which does not necessarily meet a specific graduation requirement.
PREREQUISITE:  A condition a student must meet in order to enroll in the next course in a series of courses.
REQUIRED COURSE:  A course a student must pass in order to graduate.
SEQUENTIAL:  The order in which students take courses.

CURRICULUM REGISTRATION GUIDELINES
West Aurora High School conducts pre-registration in the winter following the completion of first semester. Students select courses for the next year with input from teachers, guidance counselors, and parents. West High mails a listing of the courses selected by each student to their parents in late March. Parents review the course selections and contact their student’s counselor if there are any errors. The guidance staff will make all corrections and updates prior to the start of the scheduling process.

Parents and students should consider the course schedule developed during the pre-registration as final.

DROPPING A COURSE
Changes to selected courses will not be considered by the Guidance Department after April first. Any student requesting a change in schedule must do so in writing to his/her Guidance Counselor prior to the April first deadline.

STUDENT CLASSIFICATION
West High classifies students as 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. The standards for classification are as follows: 9th GRADE: Entering from 8th grade or students with less than 5 credits
10th GRADE: 5 through 9.5 credits earned
11th GRADE: 10 through 15.5 credits earned
12th GRADE: Minimum of 16 credits West High classifies students at the end of the spring semester. Students who attend summer school may be reclassified prior to the start of the fall semester.

EARLY GRADUATION
Most students take four years to complete the graduation requirements. It is possible, however, for a student to complete all graduation requirements at the end of the first semester of the senior year. Students who wish to attempt an early graduation should contact their guidance counselor early in their high school career. West High requires students who graduate early to have parent permission.

CREDIT RECOVERY
Credit Recovery is a source for additional instructional opportunities for students who fail a course required for graduation. Priority is given to seniors who need the course to graduate. Students may attend the Credit Recovery program as a scheduled class or out of Instructional Assistance (IA), out of lunch or after school until 4:00 pm. Students must attend the program at least twice a week or risk being dropped from the program. To be considered for the Credit Recovery program, students must meet the following requirements:

Students must be either a 5th year senior or a transitioning student.
Students will be considered for enrollment in the Credit Recover program ONLY if they have previously failed the course at the semester.
Students can only earn a maximum of 10 credits. Although students may be enrolled for multiple courses, students are required to work on one course at a time.
Students must confer with their counselor to review appropriate courses and complete an application with all required signatures. Applications will be approved by the Guidance Department Chair and the Assistant Principal of Student Services.

GRADING SCALE
The West High staff uses the following letter grades to report progress to parents at the end of each quarter and semester:

A – Excellent

B – Good

C – Average

D – Poor

F – Failure/no credit earned Occasionally, the mark, “I” (incomplete) is used. This mark indicates that the student’s work is not complete. Teachers only use this mark in instances when the student has been unable to meet course requirements due to circumstances beyond the student’s control. The mark automatically becomes an “F” if the student does not complete the missing course work within two weeks after the end of the semester. The student’s teacher can request an extension of the two-week time period.

GRADE POINT AVERAGE
The grade point average (GPA) is an average of all grades received for all classes taken with the exception of Pass/Fail options, which are not counted in the GPA. Each letter grade has a point value:
Regular Classes
A = 4
B = 3
C = 2
D = 1
F = 0

Honors Classes
A = 5
B = 4
C = 3
D = 2
F = 0

To determine the GPA, add the number points earned for each letter grade and divide the total by the number of classes taken.  (Do not count a course in which a Pass “P” grade is recorded.)

PASS/FAIL POLICY
The only classes offered with a Pass/Fail options are CTE, PE, Driver’s Education, and Fine Arts. A Pass/Fail ruling may be earned if the student earns the equivalent of an “A”, “B”, or “C”. If a “D” or “F” is earned, the letter grade will be recorded. Students must return a signed form within the first 7 days of the semester to their teacher. Forms are available from the classroom teacher or the guidance counselor. A Pass “P” does not count towards class rank or GPA.

HONOR ROLL
A student who earns a GPA between 3.5 and 3.99 in a semester will be on the honor roll. A student who earns a GPA over 4.0 in a semester will be on the high honor roll.

RANK IN CLASS
When the GPA has been determined for each student, all averages are placed in order from highest to lowest. Each class is ranked separately. Each student is given a position number from one to the total number of students in each class. When two people have the same GPA, the same rank is assigned to both and the next rank drops two places.

SCHOOL YEAR/SCHOOL DAY
The school year is 36 weeks in length and is divided into two semesters of 18 weeks each. Each semester consists of four 4 ½ week grading periods. Students receive final grades at the end of each semester. Each school day consists of eight 50-minute class periods. Each student will have one 50-minute lunch/SLC period during the school day. All students begin the day with the first period class at 7:35 am. West High does not permit students to audit classes.

HOMEBOUND
In order to receive Homebound/Hospital instruction, the student must have a medical certificate signed by the doctor and parent(s) stating that the student will be absent from school for a minimum of two weeks.

ARMED FORCES
The “No Child Left Behind” law requires high schools to provide military and college recruiters, upon request, access to names, addresses and phone numbers of any high school Junior and Senior. If you do not want School District 129 to disclose this information without your prior written consent, you must notify the Student Support Services Department by September 15th.