GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Guilford County Schools issued new grading guidelines on Thursday to align district procedures with a new policy adopted by the North Carolina State Board of Education.
Guidelines differ for grades K-5, 6-8, 9-11 and graduating seniors.
The school system released the following information for each grade level:
Grades K-5
Guilford County Schools (GCS) said students in grades K-5 will not receive grades for the fourth quarter. However, teachers will provide written feedback for fourth quarter to students based on what students have completed during remote learning.
The school district said fourth quarter report cards will note whether students require remote learning during the summer to fill learning gaps.
The school system said students will receive final report card markings of “NG” as well as promotion determinations.
Grades 6-8
GCS said students in grades 6-8 will receive a final course grade of pass (PC19) or withdraw (WC19) based on their learning for the school year.
The school system said teachers will provide year-end written feedback for students based on their learning during the fourth quarter and throughout the school year, and feedback will be used to help transition students into the next course for the 2020-2021 school year.
The system said withdraw (WC19) does not mean the student failed the course and does not mean students need to repeat a grade. They said it means there is a lack of evidence the student completed the concepts needed in order to be successful in the next course.
GCS said for middle school students taking high school level courses, the final report card grade for the high school courses taken will be based on work completed through March 13.
The school system said students will receive course credit for high school courses but, in keeping with existing GCS policy, the grade will not be counted in the Grade Point Average (GPA) calculation.
Students in high school courses will receive two final semester grades for year-long courses, a final grade for the first semester and a final grade for the second semester.
Grades 9-11
According to guidance provided by the North Carolina State Board of Education, students have a choice in how grades appear on their transcript.
GCS said the final report card grade will be based on the 3rd quarter grade.
The district said a numeric grade is shown for students with grades 80 and above, a pass (PC19) is shown for students who had a numeric grade of 60-79, and a withdraw (WC19) is shown for students who had a numeric grade below 60.
GCS said students with a withdraw (WC19) will receive a credit toward graduation once they work to improve the grade to a pass (PC19).
The school district said students who wish to make changes from a numeric grade to a pass (PC19) or a pass (PC19) to a numeric grade may do so after an individual session with a school counselor.
The district said students will have until the 46th day of the 2020-2021 school year to request any changes following individual counseling sessions.
Graduating Seniors
GCS said graduating seniors will receive a grade of pass (PC19) or withdraw (WC19) for the spring semester.
The school district said a grade of withdraw (WC19) means the student has not yet passed a course.
The district said students will be given opportunities to make up the missed work and recover the credit.
The school system said grade point averages (GPAs) for the 2019-2020 school year for graduating seniors will be based on first semester grades only.
First semester GPAs also will be used in calculations to determine four-year GPAs, class rankings and the determination of valedictorians and salutatorians.
Parents and guardians should contact their children’s schools with any questions they may have.
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