As students it is very important to understand the parameters around course changes to your schedule. Students should make every effort to remain in their requested courses. In the event that a schedule change needs to be made, please be aware of the following information on dropping and adding courses.

Full Time Status

Spaulding High School students are required to be scheduled for every block in each of the four quarters. Some of these blocks may be through a Flexible Pathway.

Adding Courses

Courses must be added to a student's schedule within the first 5 days of the class starting. This is true for year-long, semester-based, or quarter-length courses.

Dropping Classes

To avoid any record of a course being on a transcript, the following time frame must be followed. Year-long classes must be dropped within the first five days of the first semester. Semester classes must be dropped within the first five days of the semester. Quarter classes must be dropped within the first five days of the quarter.

Students do have the option of dropping a semester class at the end of a quarter and replacing it with a quarter class. They also have the option of dropping a year-long class at the end of a quarter or at the end of a semester and replacing it with a quarter or semester class.

The dropping of courses after the add/drop period is strongly discouraged; however there may be extenuating circumstances. In these cases, no credit is awarded for dropped classes and the transcript record of the dropped class is as follows at the discretion of the School Counseling Office and Administration team:

W - Withdrawn Passing: a grade of Proficient or above and not factored into the student’s overall GPA 

WPNM - Withdrawn Proficient Not Met: a grade of Partially Proficient or below and factored into the student’s overall GPA

Act 77 has charged Vermont secondary school educators to create personalized learning environments that offer flexible pathways to graduation. A planning process by which students and educators can reflect on and document student learning over time as they plan their coursework over the next four years must be made available.

It is highly recommended that along with completing an english, math, science, and history credit every year, that a student complete the PE, art, and health requirements by the end of their sophomore year. By doing so, students may have more flexibility in scheduling remaining required and elective (including Central Vermont Career Center) courses during their junior and senior years.

Concurrent College Courses

Concurrent courses are Community College of Vermont (CCV) approved courses, taught by a Spaulding High School teacher, and during the regular high school day. A Dual Enrollment voucher is required to be used to access this course (examples: English Comp, Contemporary Literature, & Introduction to Psychology). Students will need to meet CCV's requirements in order to access these courses.

Career Technical Education

Opportunity for students to gain the knowledge, training and skills of a particular technical field by enrolling in the Central Vermont Career Center (CVCC).

Dual Enrollment

Juniors and Seniors have the opportunity to utilize two Dual Enrollment vouchers during their high school years. This program allows for such students to enroll in college classes for credit, awarded both through SHS and the chosen college/university, at no tuition cost.

Early College/VAST

Opportunity for Seniors to enroll in a full year of college courses, at no tuition cost, at an accredited college like Vermont Technical College in Randolph or CCV.

Fast Forward at CVCC

Opportunity for students who are enrolled in a technical center program who would like to enroll in college courses in their particular technical field. This is similar to Dual Enrollment, in that there is no tuition cost, but is only for students of CVCC.

Flexible-Pathways/Independent Study

Opportunity for students to pursue a particular discipline under the supervision and guidance of a certified teacher at Spaulding High School.

Online Learning

Opportunity for students to take online courses through Virtual High School. This option can be relevant for students looking for classes not offered at SHS, for areas of scheduling conflict with required courses, or to supplement a student's schedule outside of the regular school day.

Work Based Learning

Opportunity for Junior and Senior students to connect academic learning to careers and employment by participating in job shadows, employee panels and an unpaid work experience within the Central Vermont community.

Spaulding High School uses a proficiency based grading system.

Below is the breakdown of the grading system. Proficiency-Based Graduation Requirements (PBGRs) are the locally-delineated set of content knowledge and skills connected to state standards that, when supplemented with any additional locally-developed requirements, have been determined to qualify a student for earning a high school diploma. Vermont’s Education Quality Standards (EQS) require that schools’ graduation requirements be rooted in demonstrations of student proficiency, as opposed to time spent in classrooms.

The purpose of proficiency based reporting (PBR) is to improve student achievement by focusing instruction and the alignment of curriculum with state and national standards. Proficiency based reporting measures the level of achievement towards meeting identified standards, or how well students understand the material.

GRADING SYSTEM

Exemplary = 4.0

Partial Exemplary = 3.5

Proficient = 3.0

Partially Proficient = 2.5

Developing = 2.0 *

Beginning = 1.0 *

Incomplete = 0.00 *

* Credit is not awarded if one earns a Developing, Beginning or an Incomplete

WEIGHTED GRADING SYSTEM

(Effective SY 2021-2022)

Proficiency-based graded AP courses: weighted with an additional +.67 to the GPA

Any other Honors, College, or AP courses: weighted with an additional +.33 to the GPA

Prior to SY2021-2022, all honors, college and AP courses earned a weighted +0.33 GPA

Grading Scale: as of School Year 2020/2021

Standard grading scale is in effect for the school year, with the following added procedure: if a student does not meet proficiency in a course, repeats that course, and meets proficiency. The original GPA value will be expunged and only the credit-bearing score will be factored into the cumulative GPA. The original course and final grade will still be listed on the transcript.

Effective fall 2019, Spaulding High School requires 40 hours of community service over the course of a student’s high school career as part of a student’s graduation requirement.

Community Service is defined as unpaid work which is meaningful and done toward the benefit of others without expectation of repayment whether monetary or otherwise. The intent of this requirement is that SHS students make an impact, however large or small, on the community in which they are volunteering their time. The main requirement of community service is summarized below:

1. Times are highlighted above and must be reached by the spring of a students senior year:
2. The hours can be accrued through multiple projects or a single project.
3. The hours can be earned over the course of multipleyears or in one year.

Hours must be recorded on the community service form found on the website and must include:

1. A description of the activity.
2. The name and contact information for the supervisor of the activity. If the activity does not have a supervisor, students will need to supply evidence of their participation.

Questions about community service? Please go to Spaulding High School's web page “Community Service” and contact Margo Austin at maustshs@buusd.org

Throughout this Program of Studies, you will find that some courses show "NCAA Status". This qualifier has to do with NCAA eligibility for student-athletes who wish to play athletics at the collegiate level.

What is the NCAA?

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is an organization dedicated to providing a pathway to opportunities for college athletes. More than 1,100 colleges and universities are members of the NCAA.

Those schools work together with the NCAA national office and athletics conferences across the country to support nearly half a million college athletes that make up 19,500 teams competing in NCAA sports. For more information, click on this link: http://www.ncaa.org/

The NCAA’s diverse members include schools ranging in size from those with hundreds of students to those with tens of thousands. The NCAA’s current three division structure was adopted in 1973 to create a fair playing field for teams from similar schools and provide college athletes more opportunities to participate in national championships.

Why is this relevant?

For those students who are interested in playing sports at an NCAA Division I, II, or III school, start planning ahead and taking high school courses that include 16 NCAA approved core courses and earn the minimum GPA required by the division. This program of studies outlines which SHS courses have qualified as NCAA-eligible courses to meet the requirements below.

NCAA suggests students enroll in the following courses to qualify for NCAA Eligibility.

Below are several examples of entrance requirements.

Students are generally evaluated on their high school performance (including the rigor of a student’s program), letters of recommendation and standardized examinations (SAT and/or ACT), essay(s), extracurricular activities and/or employment, special talents, and community service. A student should always be in communication with their School Counselor and the Admissions Departments. For all post high school planning, please use the resources available to you through your School Counselor and the Spaulding High School Counseling Office.

Please note that these are only recommended minimums.  There are typically additional requirements and recommendations for a specific area of study. For further information, click on the url address that directly connects you to the Admissions Office.