North Hills Approves New Grading Policies

The will now receive paper report cards only twice a year, followig a unanimous vote by the school board to pass Policy No. 213.

This is a change from the previous policy, which had four marking periods. Each marking period previously was worth 22.5 percent of a student’s cumulative grade, with the last 10 percent coming from a class final.

Under the new system, each semester will be worth 45 percent of a student’s grade, with 10 percent coming from the class final.

While the numbers have changed, according to the board, the math still works out the same, and the change will not have a great effect on students.

The , necessitates the report card change, officials said. Scrapping two report card distributions allows administrators to eliminate two clerical days that teachers have used to prepare quarterly grades.

The new police also clarifies that plus and minus levels on letter grades are not used at the elementary level. 

It also clarifies the primary schools' grading procedure, which uses the plus and minus scale. Instead of simply calling a grade between 80 to 89 percent a B, it fits into a B+, B, or B-.

“I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other,” said school board director Robert Barto. “This is something that has been discussed for a couple of years now. I’m not the academic genius here on the board, but it makes sense to me. It prepares students for the next level.”

If students or parents wish to check grades during grading periods, they can access them any time on ProgressBook, the school district’s online grading portal.