Middle School Academics
Middle school honors calculations include both academic and non-academic courses. Semester-long courses carry half the weight as year-long courses.
- Honors shall be awarded when the non-rounded average of all numeric grades is 90 or above.
- Principal’s Honors shall be awarded when the non-rounded average of all numeric grades is 95 or above.
- Grades from honors courses taken for high school credit shall receive a five-percent bump when calculating the yearly average for honors recognition purposes.
- Awards will be based on grades posted during the Honor's Day posting window, approximately four weeks prior to the end of the school year.
- Eighth-grade students who take Enhanced Algebra must take the coinciding Georgia Milestones End-of-Course assessment and the Eighth-Grade Math End-of-Grade assessment. The end-of-course score for Enhanced Algebra will count as 10 percent of the course grade.
- Eighth-grade students enrolled in high school Physical Science must take the corresponding end-of-grade assessment. The high school Physical Science End-of-Grade assessment shall be administered only to eighth- grade students enrolled in the high school Physical Science course (in lieu of the eighth-grade science end-of- grade assessment). The high school Physical Science assessment shall not count as the final exam or in the students' final grades. The high school Physical Science assessment shall not be administered to any other middle school students or to high school students enrolled in Physical Science.
Earning Credit by Testing Out (Middle School Students)
The Georgia Department of Education allows students the option to test-out of high school End-of-Course classes 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 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 test 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 high school class rank for honor graduate, valedictorian, or salutatorian status.
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
Middle School Eligibility for Participation in Competitive Interscholastic Activities
Sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students who participate in competitive interscholastic activities (including activities governed by the Georgia High School Association) must meet eligibility requirements for the region. Competitive interscholastic activities are defined as any school-sponsored program involving competition between individuals or groups representing two or more schools. Cheerleading is included in this definition.
Eligibility is determined by subjects passed the previous semester. If a student has an incomplete, the student is ineligible until all incompletes are made up and the passing grades are recorded in the student’s permanent record. (Independent study course credit taken in summer school or summer tutorial credits earned in a non-accredited home study program or non-accredited private schools may not be used to gain eligibility.)
A student who participated in competitive interscholastic activities may have 14 calendar days after the close of each semester to complete make-up work, provided this is available to all students. Otherwise, the student is ineligible for the entire semester. Students who are ineligible for competitive interscholastic activities cannot participate in any competitive interscholastic activity. Ineligible students cannot practice or travel with the team or program. Ineligible students cannot try out for a team or program, even though the team or program will not be in operation until the next school year.