Hallsville High School Parent Night 2018
Welcome
HHS Revised Timeline Jan 16- Parent Meeting 6-8pm HHS Cafeteria Jan 22-26 - Counselors will meet with Students ONLY at the Jr High to discuss the Course Guide, four year plans and course selections. Jan 29- Make up day at the Jr High Jan 30-Feb 2- Parents may call and schedule an appointment with the Freshman counselor for any concerns or additional information. Contact Jamie Hatchel at jhatchel@hisd.com or 903-668-5990 ext. 4023 to set up an appointment. ***Please note that schedules are subject to change based on your child s individual needs.
Questions? Please write all questions on the sticky notes and post in the parking lot area. Counselors will answer questions and email responses to all the incoming Freshman parents.
House Bill 5 House Bill 5 introduced new graduation requirements beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. What is House Bill 5?
HB 5 - Why have a four year plan? A school district must now ensure that each student, upon entering ninth grade, indicates in writing the endorsement the student intends to earn. Thus, we do a Four Year Plan with our 8th graders before they enter high school. They may change this endorsement while in high school, preferably before their sophomore year. *Endorsement- related series of courses that are grouped together by interest or skill set. They provide students with in-depth knowledge of a subject area.
Hallsville Graduation Plan (pg. 6 in the Course Guide)
What does the Four Year Plan process look like? 1. Using the course guide (pages 6-11), decide on an endorsement that suits your child. Your child can and probably will change their mind before the end of their sophomore year. Multidisciplinary is a great route to choose if settling on one field is not satisfactory for you and your child. Just remember, multidisciplinary requires chemistry or physics their junior or senior year.
What does the Four Year Plan process look like? 2. In Eduthings, beginning January 22, your child will begin selecting the courses they will be taking their Freshman year and filling out a coherent sequence for their endorsement. The sequence for endorsement classes are listed on pages 8-11 of your 2017-2018 course guide.
Endorsements There are 5 Endorsements. Business & Industry Public Service Arts & Humanities STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Multidisciplinary
Earning an Endorsement You must earn 4 or more credits in 3 or more classes within the Endorsement path. Classes can range from.5 credit to 2 credits per course. Typically, students take 1 of 4 courses each year. A course from the Advanced Level Courses listed within the strand must be earned.
Selecting an Endorsement Refer to pages 7-11 in the HHS Course Guide Your student will select a strand within one of the 5 endorsements. The strand has a cluster of classes that your student is interested in pursuing for the 4 years they are in high school. They may choose an endorsement due to a desired occupation or due to activities while in high school. Example: A student that is in Theatre may choose Arts and Humanities because they intend on taking 4 years of Theatre classes. They may not intend on pursuing a job in theater after high school.
CTE and Non CTE Endorsements There are endorsement strands that are CTE focused and others that are academic focused. CTE (Career & Technology Education) strands are on pages 8-9. Academic based strands are on pages 10-11.
What is CTE?
CTE courses offered at HHS under the Business and Industry Endorsement Agriculture Sciences including: Animal Science,Horticulture and Landscape Design, Ag Mechanics/Welding, Floral Design, Wildlife and Natural Resources and Veterinary Medical Interior Design Fashion Design Audio/Video Production Communications: Yearbook and Journalism
CTE Business and Industry (cont): Culinary Arts Information Technology Transportation Automotive Transportation Aviation Manufacturing Process Technology Business Finance
Courses offered under the Public Services Endorsement Education Cosmetology Law Enforcement Health Services
STEM Endorsement Engineering/CAD
Endorsement Pathway Non-CTE focused Business & Industry- Debate Arts and Humanities- pg. 10 in the course guide Stem- math, science or combination Multidisciplinary- pg. 11 in the course guide
Multiple Endorsements Only 1 Endorsement is needed; however, students may earn more than one endorsement. For example, a student that took Algebra 1 while in junior high will automatically earn STEM for 5 math courses. They have 1 from junior high and will take one each of the 4 years they are in high school. The same student may be interested in taking the strand of Vet classes under the Business and Industry Endorsement. Hallsville s graduation plan lines up with the state s Multidisciplinary Endorsement. Many Hallsville students will earn the Multidisciplinary Endorsement as long as they take and pass either Chemistry or Physics.
Athletics Athletic classes are not included in Endorsements. You need 1 credit of PE for graduation. Our Athletic classes are set up to take 2 of the 9 course slots per year. For that reason, many athletes elect Multidisciplinary for their endorsement. Athletics takes up multiple slots that are needed for endorsement classes. Since Multidisciplinary lines up with our graduation plan, it is easier to fulfill. Athletes may work on other endorsements; time permitted. *Remember that Chemistry or Physics must be passed in order to be awarded a Multidisciplinary Endorsement. If you are unsure if one of these can be passed, you might want to choose another endorsement.
Endorsement Changes Endorsements must be started during Freshman or Sophomore year. Refer to the Endorsement Charts on pages 8-9. The first column contains introductory classes. Those can only be taken during Freshman or Sophomore year. They are the prerequisite classes to the other classes in the strand. Thus, you are not able to complete the requirements if you try to start a new endorsement your Junior or Senior year.
Endorsement Courses by Strand Typically, the Entry Level Courses are open to 9th and 10th grade. Intermediate Courses are open to 10th and 11th. Advanced Courses are open to 11th and 12th.
Class Weights Refer to page 17. GPA Points: Regular courses are worth 5.0 Pre AP courses are worth 6.0 Dual Credit classes are worth 6.0 AP courses are worth 6.5
GPA & Rank Class Rank is determined by where a student s GPA falls within their graduation class. There is no way to predict the courses and scores that will be made in those courses. For that reason, it is impossible to determine what the top GPA will be. The student that is ranked #1 has the highest GPA. It changes accordingly. GPA and Rank are considered confidential. Students may pick up a transcript each semester during a designated week. GPA and Rank are listed on the transcript. An announcement will be made when they are available. GPA and Rank are only calculated twice a year. They are calculated in January and June.
Why is GPA and Rank Important? Colleges are interested in rank. That shows them how the student compares to their peers academically. High Schools assign different weights to courses. That is why it is difficult to compare GPA points from school to school.
Top 10% Rule Top 10% of high school graduates are automatically accepted to Texas Universities, with the exception of University of Texas at Austin. In 2019, UT will automatically accept freshman applicants who rank within the top 6% of their high school graduating class.
Graduation In order to graduate students must complete the required 31 credits. Students must pass all 5 EOC (End of Course) tests, also known as STAAR tests. English 1 English 2 Algebra 1 Biology US History Hallsville has elected to take Algebra 2 STAAR. The score is not used to fulfill graduation requirements.
EOC/STAAR Failures Students who fail one of the STAAR tests needed for graduation will be placed in an Enrichment class to help them pass the test during the next testing window. Students will receive remediation until the test is passed. If a student fails the STAAR during the school year, they are expected to take an Enrichment class during summer school and retest during the summer. If the student does not make a passing score during the summer, the counselor must remove a class from their schedule and replace it with an Enrichment class. Counselor s choose which course to remove in a certain order. An elective is chosen if there is one. If not, they must remove endorsement course (may cause student to lose endorsement). If there is neither an elective or an endorsement course, a graduation requirement is removed.
Attendance In High School, a student must be present 90% of the time in order to gain credit for a course. If a student falls below 90% and fails to make up the required hours, the student must retake the entire semester of the course. The student will be expected to repeat the course in summer school and will be charged a fee. Please note, excused absences are still absences. Thus, they count against the 90% rule.
Grades A grade of 70 or higher is needed to be awarded credit in a course, regardless of the weight of the course. A 70 or higher is required to earn credit for Dual Credit, Pre AP, and AP courses. In a 2 semester course, students may be able to retain the credit by making a high enough grade in one semester that will average with the other for 70 or higher. For example, 1st sm. 68 + 2nd sm. 72= 140. 140 divided by 2= 70. Credit for both semesters will be awarded. When a student does not earn credit for a course, they are expected to take the course in summer school for a fee.
Selecting Courses Courses are selected during the Spring of the prior school year. Course master and staffing are based on student selection. Students are expected to complete the courses they were assigned.
PSAT Freshman will have the opportunity to take the PSAT 8/9. Counselors will notify parents of the testing day in October 2018.
Pre AP/AP Requirements Requirements are found on pages 18-19 of the HHS Course Guide. Must pass previous year s STAAR in related subject Have an average of 90 in an on-level class before moving to PreAp or AP Must have strong work ethic Responsible for actively monitoring their success in class Advocate for themselves if struggling in the class Understand their responsibility of summer work, homework and projects Must turn in summer work the first day of class Needs college level study skills AP Exams will be in May for students hoping to earn college credit for the course.
Dual Credit For parents who do not know, HISD offers Dual Credit classes where students can earn college credit while earning their high school credit. Hallsville High School offers dual credit classes through LeTourneau University and Kilgore College both on campus and online. For a list of dual credit course offerings and other information, please refer to pages 15-16 in the course guide.
Clubs and Organizations (pages 21-24) NHS- The members of the National Honor Society are selected from sophomore, junior and senior classes using criteria based on scholarship, leadership, service and character. NHS membership is determined through a selection process. This process is as follows: 10th, 11th and 12th graders who have attended one full semester, have the required GPA, are not current members of NHS or who have never been dismissed from NHS. Student will be sent a letter of eligibility and are required to see an NHS sponsor to pick up a candidate packet to be returned by a deadline.
Skyward The login and password parents use to register are the same to access Skyward. Students have a separate login because they do not have editing rights. They can get their login from their counselor or Mrs. Hatchel. Students are expected to monitor their grades. Students and parents are encouraged to communicate with their teachers via email.
Teacher Changes/ Schedule Changes Counselors are unable to take teacher requests. Counselors are only permitted to change a student's schedule at the beginning of first and second semester. ***Please note that schedules are subject to change based on your child s individual needs.
Contact Information Counselor s Secretary Jamie Hatchel 903-668-5990 Ext 4023 jhatchel@hisd.com Freshman Counselor Emily Lansdale 903-668-599 Ext 4011 elansdale@hisd.com
Introductions Athletic Director- Coach Drennon UIL Speaker- Christina Eagan
Questions? Please remember to post your sticky notes in the parking lot area before you leave tonight. Thank you for attending Hallsville High School s parent information night!