Academics

Final examinations are given at the end of each semester. Only students who are ill on the actual examination day(s) are allowed to make up examinations. Examinations must be made up during the approved exam make-up period. Parents must contact the school on the day the student is absent from the final exam. If the school is not contacted, the student cannot make up the exam. Attendance for each period on half day exam dates is required regardless of study hall assignments.

The following is the official grading scale for secondary schools in the Francis Howell School District and is to be used by all teachers:

To advance to the next grade level, students must acquire a minimum number of credits.

Acceleration is an intervention that moves students through an educational program at rates faster, or at younger ages, than typical. It means matching the level, complexity, and pace of the curriculum to the readiness and motivation of the student. All acceleration requires high academic ability. The student’s motivation, social-emotional maturity, and interests must be considered when making decisions about acceleration. The student whose level of achievement and ability significantly surpasses same age group peers as well as the student with high ability but who is not performing well in class are examples of who might be considered for subject-matter or whole-grade acceleration.

Brief Overview of Acceleration Process
The Francis Howell School District adheres to a Board of Education policy that recognizes and supports acceleration as a key intervention for providing challenging educational opportunities for advanced learners. The following steps are recommended when parents believe that more accelerated offerings should be provided for their child:

1. Meet with your child’s classroom teacher to discuss your child’s academic needs and to hear about interventions that might already be taking place in the classroom. Follow-up meetings can be scheduled to get updated on progress and to share additional information with the teacher.
    
2. If discussions with your child’s classroom teacher have not resolved the issues of concern, make an appointment to talk with the building principal about your concerns.
    
3. If classroom accommodations are not viewed as adequate after repeated efforts to discuss the situation with building staff members, consider making a formal request for subject or whole grade level acceleration with the building principal or Director of Alternative Learning.
    
4. Building and/or District personnel will gather information about your child and make recommendations.
    

Parents may examine all official records of their children. An appointment should be made beforehand with the appropriate counselor or principal. In addition, parents/legal guardians may request an amendment to educational records if the parents/legal guardians believe the record is inaccurate, misleading, or violates the privacy or other rights of their child. Parents/legal guardians may register a complaint with the U.S. Office of Education if they feel the district is in violation of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.

Curriculum for grade levels K-12 can be accessed on the Curriculum and Assessment webpage. Information about early childhood curriculum is available on the Preschool webpage.

The Francis Howell School District participates in the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program (MOCAP). Because virtual instruction can be an effective education option for some students, there may be courses available either through a District-provided virtual option or through MOCAP. Learn more about virtual options. 

Grade cards are posted to Infinite Campus four times a year, approxmiately ten days after the end of the each quarter. 

Visit the District's College & Career website for information about the Early College Program, A+ Program, ACT information, scholarship opportunities, career assessments, and more. 

The Francis Howell School District offers an Honors Program at the high school level. Many of these courses are worth an honors point. Admission to the Honors Program is based upon the classroom grade in that subject area from the previous year(s) and test scores on District-approved achievement tests.

Honors, Advanced Placement, Advanced Credit, Dual Credit, and Early College courses give students a head start on college while they are still in the supportive environment of a high school classroom. When college admissions personnel see these types of classes on a transcript, they realize the student has been exposed to greater depth of curriculum, which in turn requires students to develop time management and study skills. The combination of these abilities transfers directly to the intensity of college coursework. FHSD will award an honors point for any Early College class that is 200-level or higher, depending on each institution’s or department’s specific numeration.

Students who transfer to an FHSD high school with weighted grades from another district will only have those courses honored that are the same as weighted courses offered in FHSD.

Honors courses include:

Yes. If a student is not admitted to the Honors Program under normal conditions, the student/parent may appeal the decision. Likewise, if a student has been enrolled in an Honors Program course and wants to drop, the student/parent will need to appeal. In both cases, the student/parent should contact their counselor to initiate the appeal process.

Cum Laude GPA requirements are:

• 4.2 and above = Summa Cum Laude

• 4.00 – 4.19 = Magna Cum Laude

• 3.8 – 3.99 = Cum Laude

Cum Laude honors will be announced as students’ names are read at commencement. Students will wear a Cum Laude medallion with the color ribbon selected by the individual high school.

• Summa Cum Laude = gold medallion

• Magna Cum Laude = silver medallion

• Cum Laude = bronze medallion

Students earning Cum Laude can visit their school after graduation to have their diploma embossed.

Only high school courses, including MOCAP courses, qualify for Cum Laude credit. Classes taken through correspondence or night school do not meet this standard. For students transferring from other school districts, the District will transcribe the letter grade exactly as it is represented on the student transcript from the sending school. Allowances will not be made for different percentage ranges in the grading scale. GPA will be calculated to include all high school classes (including MOCAP classes), non-remedial college classes, and MOTR-numbered college classes taken as part of the Early College/CORE 42 program, but exclude correspondence and night school courses. College courses at a 200-level or higher (or the equivalent of a 2nd year college course depending on the college’s institutional course numeration) will carry an honors point. Students/families may petition to have a college course below the 200-level earn an honors point.GPAs will not be rounded up.

The high school credit opt-in form provides the opportunity for students to declare their interest in adding high school courses, completed while in middle school, to their high school transcript.

View the high school credit opt-in form

Any person wanting to complete a research study within the Francis Howell School District needs to complete the Research Request Form and return it to the Director of Assessment. Please make sure to include any survey questions, interview questions, assessments, etc. that will be used with District staff and/or students. In addition, please make sure to specifically address confidentiality in your request.

Please visit the counselors section of the high school websites to find information on requesting transcripts:

• FHC Transcript Information
• FHHS Transcript Information
• FHN Transcript Information
• FHU Transcript Information