Academic Detention

Interpretation of Grades

Disputed Grades

Transcripts

Grade Point Average

Class Rank

Honor Roll

Diplomas

      Jesuit High School exists in order to provide an environment where Christian values are taught and practiced. Every student is strongly encouraged to use his intellectual talents to the best of his ability. The personal development of each student, however, is deemed more important than the achievement of academic success.  Personal integrity is essential for building community and promoting social justice.  To cheat is to act dishonestly or in violation of established rules, procedures, or codes of conduct.  In an academic environment, there are three principal forms of cheating: (1) violating the procedures of a test or assignment; (2) plagiarizing; and (3) knowingly enabling another student to cheat. 

      The second category, plagiarizing, pertains to the rights of intellectual property, the ownership of the content and form of one=s intellectual expression.  Plagiarism is the appropriation of another's ideas (content) and/or language (form), in part or in whole, without the necessary assignment of credit.  Plagiarism includes copying homework or labs and quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing another's written work (including sources off the Internet) or oral statements without proper citation. 

      Cheating in any form violates the philosophy of Jesuit High School and will not be tolerated.  Any student who cheats will receive a zero for the exam or work in question and be sent immediately to the Dean.  A student who cheats on a quarter or semester exam is liable to receive a zero for that exam and an "F" for that grading period.

      The Dean will notify the student’s parents and ascertain appropriate punishment, which may include detention, suspension, disciplinary probation, or expulsion, depending on the severity of the offense.

      All students are expected to achieve at least a 2.00 GPA.  What is demanded, from each student, however, is a consistent and responsible effort in each subject.    Any student whose grade point average (GPA) falls below a 2.00  ("C" average) or who receives two "D's" or one "F" at any grading period is automatically placed on Academic Probation. Should the student’s GPA remain below 2.00 at the end of the semester, he will be liable for dismissal. 

      Parents will receive a Grade-In-Progress report every other week during the period of probation. Although the counselors facilitate this process, responsibility for completing this report on time lies completely with the student and his parent(s). Any student who fails to complete the process on time will be assigned Behavioral Detention until the form is completed and be liable to lose his eligibility to participate in co-curricular activities. If a student fails to complete the process a second time, he will be liable for additional disciplinary action.

      Students on Academic Probation who wish to participate on an athletic team or in any other major co-curricular activity must petition the Principal for an eligibility extension, not to exceed one quarter, before beginning or continuing (if already in progress) the activity or sport. This petition may be obtained from the counselor or Principal's office.  A letter of appeal must be attached to the petition and the student must meet with the Principal.  An eligibility extension will normally be granted only once during a student’s high school career.

      A Parent/Teacher Conference evening is held after the first quarter grading period. A second "conference-by-appointment" week is held following the third quarter grading period. 

      Parents are requested to conference with a teacher if their son is experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties. Parents are directed to consult the school calendar for the specific dates and times of these conferences.

      If contact with a teacher is desired between these conferences, parents should contact the school and request via voice-mail or e-mail that a teacher contact them. Teachers are expected to return all phone calls and all e-mails within 48 hours, weekends and holidays excepted.

      Students should expect to take numerous tests and quizzes during their years at Jesuit. Comprehensive semester and final examinations are required in all courses not only for evaluation of the semester’s work, but also to provide the student with the experience of taking major exams under strict time requirements. No student may take an early examination and delayed semester examinations require proof of illness or family emergency.  Absence from two or more days of exams requires medical verification.  Absences due to personal convenience and/or early vacation are seldom allowed and must be pre-approved by the Principal.

      Parents are required to follow the normal attendance policy and call the Dean's Office when their son will be absent from school on any school day - including semester exam and national test days.  Delayed semester exams must be taken during the "make-up testing" times scheduled by the school and must be completed no later than three weeks following the regularly scheduled semester exams.  The school does not provide for missed National Test Day testing.     

      Minimum competency exams are required in some subjects as a prerequisite to enrollment in the next course level.  Proficiency exams may be used to determine placement in subsequent levels of a subject.

    Only students who have been evaluated by an educational specialist, have submitted appropriate paperwork and have been approved by the College Board will be allowed "extended time" testing on tests administered in academic classes or on standardized tests (SAT, ACT, etc.).  Students and parents will be assisted in this process by a counselor and this process should be completed by the end of the student's freshman year.

      Any senior who has earned a grade of A or A- for the entire second semester may be awarded, at the discretion of the teacher, an exemption from that final exam.  Students who have missed six or more classes in the second semester (excluding school events) may not be eligible, at the discretion of the teacher, for an exemption. Seniors in AP classes may not earn an exemption.

      The process of repetition is an integral part of Jesuit pedagogy.  Teachers are required to use the last two instructional meetings prior to each semester exam to review the material that will be assessed.  No exams may be given, no projects or presentations may be due, no graded/collected homework may be required during these repetition days.  Activities like group study (vs. teacher-directed review), movies and end-of-year parties may not be held during repetitions.  Teachers are encouraged to outline the material to be assessed the week prior to comprehensive semester exams in order to give students the benefit of a weekend to study and get organized.

      Jesuit students will be given a number of standardized tests throughout their high school careers.  These tests include nationally "normed" standardized tests administered in the freshman (Educational Development Test), sophomore (PLAN - pre-ACT) and junior (PSAT - pre-SAT) years administered during the school day and funded by the annual student body fee.

      Students are Aprepped@ to take both the SAT (Scholastic Ability Test) Reasoning and the SAT Subject tests in the Spring of their junior year and the Fall of their senior year.  Students must submit the registration paperwork and fees directly to the Educational Testing Service.  This can be done "on-line" for most tests.  The Counseling Department provides information and application forms for these tests.  The SAT I and SAT II are administered at Jesuit on six national Saturday  test dates.  A practice SAT  is also offered each February for interested juniors.  The ACT test  for college admissions is also offered on campus in October, December and June.

      Other subject specific tests include the annual Advanced Placement Tests administered each May, national exams in Latin, German and French and the UC Davis Mathematics Proficiency exams following each level of mathematics.

      Scheduling worksheets and information packets are distributed to all students in January. These worksheets must be completed, signed by a parent, and returned to Jesuit by the date indicated.

      Class schedules are prepared during the summer and are mailed to all returning students in July. Requests for schedule changes, once schedules have been printed, must be made by e-mail by August 4th.  We do not change schedules to accomodate your wishes to have a particular teacher.  Since classes will have already been assigned and class size balanced, approval for schedule changes are at the discretion of the Director of Student Scheduling. 

      Students must attend their assigned class orientation at the end of the summer to receive their final schedules.  A late fee of $25 will be charged any student who does not attend this mandatory orientation.

      Placement in Honors/Advanced Placement and Elective courses is based on teacher recommendation (including attitude, behavior, participation, cooperation), prior related academic performance, standardized test scores and the approval of the Department Chair.  Placement into such courses is competitive.  Sophomores and juniors are limited to a maximum of two advanced classes; seniors are limited to three. Exceptions to these limits must be approved by the Counseling Department and the Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Assessment.

      Prior to and during the first full week of instruction in August, all schedule change requests require the approval of a parent as well as the Director of Student Scheduling (Mr. Zielke).  Once instruction begins in August, all schedule change requests require the approval of the student=s parent, counselor, the sending and receiving teachers, the Director of Student Scheduling and the AP for Curriculum and Assessment (Ms. Gemma). 

      Considerations for approving schedule changes  include class size and the appropriateness of the curriculum placement being requested.  In the absence of extraordinary circumstances, lateral moves (from one teacher to another in the same level of the same subject) are never approved.  A fee of $20.00 will be charged for each schedule change made once classes have begun.  No schedule changes will be made during designated Progress Report weeks, during the week prior to 1st and 3rd quarter grades being due or during the last 10 instructional days of each semester.

      The last day to ADD a class is on the 8th day of instruction at the beginning of each semester.  For semester-long courses the last day to DROP a class without penalty is on the 5th day of instruction following the posted mailing dates for 1st and 3rd quarter report cards.  All other DROPs will be assigned a grade of WP (Withdraw Passing) or WF (Withdraw Failing) and will be posted to the transcript.  Placement/Level changes (e.g., moving up or down from or into an advanced class) are only considered during the first 6 weeks of the course.

      Students who have not scheduled an academic class in a given period will be assigned to the Study Hall in the Library.  Students are expected to make profitable use of this supervised period with all regular classroom rules in effect. 

      Students must have an AU (Appropriate Use) Contract signed by a parent on file to be able to access the computer resources in the Library during Study Hall.   Study Hall is not a free period or a recreation period. Students are encouraged to consider taking enrichment and elective courses or serve as office or teacher assistants in lieu of Study Hall.

      Senior Privilege:  Seniors who are not on academic or disciplinary probation, with the written permission of a parent or guardian, may petition the Dean's Office to leave campus when their Study Hall falls on the last period of the day.  Students must check in first with their Study Hall teacher and are not allowed to loiter on the school grounds; they must leave the campus until the end of the school day.

      Jesuit High School offers a wide variety of credit, review, preparation and enrichment courses as well as soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball and sports conditioning camps.  A complete summer school directory is published each spring.  Please contact the Dean’s Office after April 1^st for information.  All rules contained in this handbook regarding behavior, appropriate dress, homework, academic integrity and attendance apply to summer school unless otherwise noted. 

      Jesuit requires interdisciplinary reading of all students during the summer months.  Books are assigned in May and students are held accountable by taking a reading test or presenting a paper or project on the first day of regular classes in the fall.  Scores from these assessments will count towards their 1^st semester grades.

      Special recognition is given to outstanding students at the annual Awards Convocation in May.  Students are recognized for excellence in academics, service, spiritual growth and co-curricular involvement.  The school Awards Committee gathers nominations and information from students, faculty and Program Directors.  Only students who submit their "Activities Form" may be considered for awards.  Following an extensive and deliberate process, the Committee recommends awards to the Principal in each category including graduation awards.

      General Excellence Awards are presented to outstanding students who are recognized as well-rounded contributors to the Jesuit community. To be considered for this award, students must have a cumulative honors GPA of 3.8 or better.  These students must also be significantly involved in two or more co-curricular activities (music, athletics, service, etc.). 

      Outstanding Service Awards are given to those students whose hard work and dedication to the school community exemplifies "men for others."  There is no grade point requirement but students must be conspicuously involved in service to the school beyond the service required of all students. 

      Each teacher is also invited to submit the names of one or two students who exemplify integrity and hard work to receive a Thomas More Award.

      A number of outstanding seniors are also selected by members of the faculty to receive either a Jesuit High School academic Department Award or a Bank of America certificate.  The recipients of each of these special awards are selected by the faculty for distinguished achievement in a particular area of study or for their contribution to the community service, campus ministry, music, tutoring or athletic programs. 

      Outstanding juniors who show extraordinary promise in academic areas are given Junior Book Awards as recommended by our faculty and staff.

      Graduation awards are given to extraordinary seniors at the Commencement Exercises as follows: