Winamac Community High School is looking to change its grade point scale.
Superintendent Dan Foster says the school would move from a 12-point scale to the four-point scale commonly used by colleges and other high schools. “Every spring, our guidance department has to try to transfer – okay, you have an 11.37, what is that on a 4.0 scale? They have to do that every year.” he explains. “So that will be nice for them and make it pretty easy. If you have a 3.72, then that’s what it is.”
As part of the change, Foster says weighted grades would be introduced for certain classes. “We do not currently have any, and most of our local school corporations do have,” he says. “And a lot of our students, because of where they live and such, they may compete with students from North Judson and Knox and Rochester and West Central. So if some of these other schools have that weighted system, and if maybe a student gets a 4.3, that’s really hard to compete against when the highest we can get’s a four.”
The weighted courses would include Advanced Placement classes and possibly some other upper level courses. If approved, the weighted grades would take effect starting with the class of 2019.
The changes were introduced to the Eastern Pulaski School Board Monday, as part of updates proposed for next year’s student handbooks.
