Promotion Policy & Other Academic Requirements

Promotion from grade to grade in Burlington High School and graduation from Burlington High School shall be determined by a cumulative credit system. Points for various subjects shall be determined in the following manner:

One (1) annual credit for each period per seven-day cycle that the subject meets.
Subjects that only meet for one semester shall earn one-half (1/2) the credit given an equivalent full-year subject.
Students shall be enrolled in a minimum of six (6) academic courses per seven-day cycle (30 credits) in addition to their physical education/ health requirement.
Students may select a maximum of thirty-five (35) credits per school year.

Credit Requirements for Promotion

Promotion to the next grade requires the following minimum credits:

Entering Grade 10: minimum of 27 credits required

Entering Grade 11: minimum of 55 credits are required

Entering Grade 12: minimum of 82.5 credits are required

Graduation: minimum of 110 credits are required

Attendance at summer school for the purpose of making up credit for promotion from grade to grade is permitted. However, students may make up no more than ten (10) credits during summer school. In order to qualify for summer school make-up credit, students must be approved by the subject teacher unless special permission is granted by the high school principal.

Absences
Absences affect a student’s academic performance. Learning is an ongoing process whereby participation in classroom activities is vital. Students who miss six or more classes in a quarter may lose credit for that course.

Graduation
Burlington High School recalculates GPAs for the graduating class after the completion of the first semester of senior year for various distinctions at commencement. At this point, the highest three GPAs in the graduating class determine the Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Class Essayist. In order to be considered for these three distinctions, students must have attended Burlington High School for 14 consecutive quarters. In addition, the top 10% distinction will be awarded to students in the top 10% of GPAs in the graduating class.

Course Changes
All course selections should be considered final. The program selected by the student in early spring each year should represent a final choice of courses for the following year. It is expected that students will give careful consideration to their course selections so that they will discover and develop their special capabilities. Students who register for a course have made a commitment to complete this course and are expected to do so. Should students encounter difficulty, their teacher and counselor will be available to explore the reasons for this difficulty and consider ways of addressing the difficulty without dropping the course. There will be a three-week period after the close of the first quarter interim reports when level change requests are considered. After the first quarter, no level changes will be made.

Prerequisites, Recommendations, and Opt-Out Process
Many courses offered at Burlington High School are created with the assumption that each student has a particular set of knowledge and skills in place prior to beginning the course. For this reason, certain courses in the Program of Studies list required prerequisite courses and/or prerequisite grades. Prerequisites exist to ensure that a student does not take a course that they may not be ready for. Similarly, due to the demanding content of certain courses, families should consider the recommendations for student success. In some cases, a parent or student may feel that a student is ready for a particular course, but that student has not met the prerequisites. Any student requesting to opt out of a Burlington High School course MUST follow procedures set forth by each specific department that has approved an opt-out process. The Administration may allow for specific adjustments and course offerings based on individual student needs.