High School Academics

High School Students - Earning Credit by Testing Out

The Georgia Department of Education allows students the option to test-out of high school End-of-Course assessment courses per provisions in State Board of Education Rule 160-5-1.15 (Awarding Units of Credit and Acceptance or Transfer Credit and/or Grades). This rule provides an opportunity for high-performing students to earn End-of-Course assessment course credit without taking the course.

Under the provisions of the rule, and guidelines published by the Georgia Department of Education, students who meet state and local eligibility criteria can take an End-of-Course assessment before enrolling in and taking the course, and if they score at the Distinguished Learner level on the assessment, they will be awarded credit for that course.

Course credit earned through testing out is reported as one unit of regular credit earned through course completion. No quality points or honors level of distinction will be applied for course credit earned through testing-out. The grade equivalent score provided on the End-of-Course score report will be entered as the grade for the course. This score will not calculate toward the student’s grade point average for the HOPE Scholarship or towards class rank for honor graduate, valedictorian, or salutatorian.

Per state guidance, eligible students are provided only one opportunity per course to participate in the test-out option. A student may earn no more than three units of credit by demonstrating subject area competency in this fashion. Please see your child’s school counselor for more information.

High School Eligibility for Academic & Athletic Activities

A student will have the first 14 calendar days after the close of the semester to complete work and change an incomplete grade. If a student with an incomplete grade has not passed three subjects the previous semester on block scheduling or five subjects the previous semester for traditional scheduling, the student will be ineligible. The student is ineligible to participate in extracurricular activities during these 14 days and cannot practice, play, or participate until he or she has passed the required number of courses (three for block schedule and five for a seven-period day schedule). If the required number of subjects have not been passed by the end of the 14 calendar days of the semester, he or she is ineligible for the entire semester.

High School Eligibility for Participation in Competitive Interscholastic Activities

All students participating in competitive interscholastic activities, as defined by Georgia High School Association, must be on track for graduation and meet eligibility requirements. 

Eligibility is based on the subjects or units passed the previous term and being on track which is based on the accumulated units at the end of each school year. Summer school is considered part of the second semester.

First-year students (entering ninth grade) are eligible academically. To be eligible to participate in interscholastic activities, a student must not have reached his or her 19th birthday prior to May 1, preceding the year of participation.

If spring semester and summer school are being used to determine fall eligibility, then the semester averages and subjects passed will involve all subjects taken in spring semester and summer school. The course must be listed in the school course offering and credit must be applied toward graduation. Independent study course credit taken in summer school is not acceptable for gaining eligibility. In determining eligibility for students, summer school credits earned on non-

accredited home study programs or non-accredited private schools are not recognized. Accreditation recognized under this rule shall be from either the Georgia Accrediting Commission or a national or regional accreditation agency. Eligibility is concerned with subjects or units passed the previous semester, and grades made in that semester.

If a student has an incomplete, all work must be completed within the first 14 calendar days after the close of the semester. Students who are ineligible for extracurricular activities cannot participate in any competitive interscholastic activity. Ineligible students cannot practice or travel with the team or program even though the team or program will not be in operation until the next school year.

Students must be present for one-half or more of the school day on the day of the activity in order to participate in that activity unless granted permission by the principal or his/her designee.

To participate in extracurricular or interscholastic activities, the school system requires resident students, other than home study students, to be enrolled full-time during the semester of participation unless the student’s schedule approved by school officials during the registration process provides otherwise. Home study students must enroll in and attempt to complete one qualifying course as defined in state law for each semester of participation. Home study students must be fully registered, following the same process and providing the same required documentation as full-time students.

All other academic eligibility requirements can be found in your school's athletic handbook, Georgia High School Association policy, or specific region policy.

High School Year-End Awards

For grades 9, 10 and 11, the year-end honors award shall be based on a non-rounded average of 90 or above for all courses taken during the current school year. Principal honors shall be based on a non-rounded average of 95 or above for all courses taken during the current school year. The following shall apply: 

• Individual course grades weighted in accordance with the high school credit value of the course. 
• All transfer grades must have been received from a school accredited by Cognia or an equivalent accrediting institution. 

• Grades from dual-enrollment courses will be considered in calculations of the numerical averages based on the district’s conversion scale.

• Grades from Advanced Placement courses shall receive a five percent bump when calculating yearly average for honors recognition purposes.

• Grades from Honors (Non-Advanced Placement) courses shall receive a five percent bump when calculating yearly average for recognition purposes.

• Calculations for honor recognition ceremonies will be based on grades posted during the Honor’s Day posting window approximately four weeks prior to the end of the school year.

• Credits earned in lieu of participation in a course shall not be included in the overall average.

High School Honor Graduates

For the purposes of calculating Honor Graduate status:

1. Honor graduates shall be all graduating seniors with a cumulative high school average al all numeric grades that are greater than or equal to non-rounded 90, with the following applying to the calculation:
   • Individual course grades weighted in accordance with the high school credit value of the course.
   • All transfer grades must have been received from a school accredited by Cognia or equivalent accrediting institution.
   • Grades from dual enrollment courses will be considered in calculations of the numerical averages based on the district's conversion scale.
   • Grades from Advanced Placement courses shall receive a five percent bump when calculating overall average for honor graduate purposes.
   • Grades for Honors (Non-Advanced Placement) courses shall receive a five percent bump when calculating overall average for honor graduate purposes.
   • Students graduating within three years after initial entry into ninth grade may be recognized as Honor Graduates.
   •  Credits earned in lieu of participating in a course shall not be included in the overall average.
2. Students must be coded as grade 12 and be anticipated to graduate when Honor Graduates are pulled in order to be eligible for the award. Note: Accelerated Career Option students graduating will be considered in the calculations for Honor Graduate, regardless of their classified grade level or cohort year.
3. Initial eligibility will be calculated using the applicable transcript grades, along with the grades from in-progress courses taught by Bulloch County Schools teachers and posted during the Honors posting window, approximately four weeks prior to the end of the school year.
4. Additional students may be added to the Honor Graduate list if they qualify after final grade posting for seniors. Final grade posting may include Georgia Virtual School, dual enrollment. and other classes not taught by Bulloch County Schools teachers for which no in-progress grades were available at the time of initial calculation.

Note: No students will have Honor Graduate status removed if their calculated grade point average for this purpose falls beneath a non-rounded 90 between the Honors Day grade posting and posting of final grades.

High School Class Rank

Class rank shall be determined based on a student’s numeric grade average compared to all students in the graduating class. The criteria for determining numeric grade average shall be as follows:

1. Individual course grades weighted in accordance with the high school credit value of the course.
2. All transfer grades must have been received from a school accredited by Cognia or equivalent accrediting institution.
3. Grades from dual-enrollment courses will be considered in calculations of the numerical averages based on the district’s conversion scale.
4. Grades from Advanced Placement courses shall receive a five percent bump when calculating overall average for class rank.
5. Grades from Honors (Non-Advanced Placement) courses shall receive a five percent bump when calculating overall average for class rank.
6. Final class ranks will be determined based upon all completed courses taken for high school credit, including any high school credits earned in middle school.
7. Credits earned in lieu of participation in a course shall not be included in the overall average.

Valedictorian & Salutatorian Designations

For the purposes of calculating Valedictorian and Salutatorian:

1. Valedictorian - an Honor Graduate with the highest overall average.
2. Salutatorian - an Honor Graduate with the second highest overall average
3. The student's grade point average shall be computed after final posting of grades from the student's senior year. All grades available by the senior grade posting deadline shall be used along with posted transcript grades. Any grades not available (i.e. those issued by universities or other programs) by the final senior grade posting deadline will not be included in the calculation.
4. Students who graduate more than four regular academic years after initial entry into ninth grade are not eligible for recognition as an Honor Graduate, Valedictorian, or Salutatorian.
5. Students must be enrolled in the fourth year after initial entry into ninth grade in order to be eligible for recognition as Valedictorian or Salutatorian. Students graduating in three academic years or less are not eligible for Valedictorian or Salutatorian recognition.
6. Students transferring from another school must do so within the first 10 days of the twelfth-grade year in order to be considered for Valedictorian or Salutatorian awards.
7. In the event of a tie for Valedictorian or Salutatorian, the student who has completed more Advanced Placement classes will be named Valedictorian or Salutatorian for reporting to the Georgia Student Finance Commission. If a tie continues, students' scores on the Advanced Placement exams will be used to break the tie.

HOPE Scholarship Program

The Helping Outstanding Students Educationally (HOPE) grant and scholarship programs assist graduating high school students who meet certain academic requirements for financial assistance to attend one of Georgia's public colleges, universities, technical institutes, or in some instances, private institutions. Courses taken in middle school are not used to calculate the HOPE or Zell Miller Scholarship grade point average. See your child’s school counselor or visit the Georgia Futures website for more information.