Rising 7th and 8th Grade Course Selection Parent information Process Harper Park Middle School

HPMS Course Selection Timeline Teacher Recommendations: Teacher recommendations for all grade levels will be loaded into Phoenix this weekend and should be viewable by parents/students on Monday, January 23. If the teacher recommended a level change you would have been contacted directly. To view your child's teacher recommendations log into ParentVUE and click on the Course Request tab, you should see the following course recommendations: English (Honors or Academic) History (Honors or Academic) Science (Honors or Academic) Math-follows progression Any current 7th grade student taking World Language will see a World Language Recommendation

Rising 7th Grade Timeline *Mrs. Burnett will meet with students during Resource classes February 7-13. * Students will select electives at that time. Core Class (Math, English, Science and History) recommendations and required electives (PE, Tech Ed and FACS) will all be pre-loaded into StudentVUE. *Parents will have until March 10, 2017 to view and make changes to students ELECTIVES ONLY via Student/ParentVUE. Instructions on how to make changes will be sent via email. *If you would like to discuss a level change to a Core Course recommendation, or if you have questions about a recommendation please contact that teacher directly. Once the discussion occurs, the teacher or parent can notify Mrs. Burnett if there is a change needed.

7th Grade Required Courses: Grade Level or Honors in the following: English Life Science U.S. History Math: Students currently in Math 6 will go to Math 7. Students currently in Accelerated Math 6/7 will go to Algebra 1*. **Students will NOT make Core selections, they will be automatically uploaded based on recommendations Also Required: Health and P.E. Technology Education & Family and Consumer Science (one semester of each) **All 7th graders will have 45 minutes of Resource or Spectrum** *Math 8 is sometimes recommended

7th Grade Elective Courses All 7th Graders will choose ONE Fine Arts Elective: Band 7 (must be currently enrolled in Band 6) Strings 7 (must be currently enrolled in Strings 6) Chorus Guitar 7 Art 7 All 7th Graders will choose ONE Language Elective: Communication Studies Spanish 1, German 1, Latin 1, French 1, Spanish for Fluent Speakers (possibly)- there are all high school credit classes (Not all students should start World Language in 7th grade, but it is the only way to reach AP level by Senior year)

Rising 8th Grade Timeline *Students and parents may view a Virtual Course Selection Lesson which was sent out by Mrs. Harper in early January. *Core Classes (Math, English, Science and History) recommendations and PE will all be pre loaded into StudentVUE and should be viewable by Monday, January 23. *Mrs. Harper meets with kids during Resource/Spectrum starting January 30th, students must make elective choices on the day she meets with them. *Parents/Students will have until March 10, 2017 to view and make changes to ELECTIVES ONLY via Student/ParentVUE. Instructions on how to make changes will be sent via email. *If you would like to discuss a level change to a Core Course or if you have questions about a particular recommendation please contact that teacher directly. Once a conversation with a teacher has occurred, either parent or teacher can let Mrs. Harper know if a change needs to be made to the recommendation.

Required Courses-Grade 8 Grade Level or Honors for the following: English Civics- Government/Economics Physical Science-Physics/Chemistry Math: Students who took Math 7 will go to Algebra 1 (some to Math 8) Students who took Algebra 1 will go to Geometry Students who took Geometry will go to Alg 2/Trig Health and PE 8 *Resource-all 8th graders are required to have a 90 minute Resource block every other day. **Students who take Spectrum will have 45 minutes of Resource and 45 minutes of Spectrum

Grade 8 Elective Choices Students who are not taking a World Language will choose TWO of the following: Band 8 (if currently enrolled in Band 7) Strings 8 (if currently enrolled in Strings 7) Chorus Guitar Level 1 or 2 (must have taken Level 1) Technology Education Family and Consumer Sciences Art 8 *Elective availability is subject to the number of students who sign up for it Students who are taking a World Language will choose ONE of these electives

Grade 8 World Language World Languages and Cultures Level I or II in: Spanish, German, Latin or French Possible course: Spanish for Fluent Speakers *These are all high school credit classes*

Do I HAVE to take a World Language? For an Advance Studies Diploma (which students will be working towards), the minimum requirement is 3 years of one World Language or 2 years of 2 different Languages. Most colleges like to see more than 3 years, and that several of those years were completed in high school. Students who started their World Language in 7th grade and stayed with that same language, will be in the AP level during their senior year.

High School Credit Courses Algebra, Algebra 2/trig, Geometry and all World Languages are high school credit bearing courses. This means they will remain on your high school transcript and will be factored into your high school GPA (Grade Point Average). These courses are fast paced and require time and effort outside of school in order to be successful.

What is GPA? A+ 98-100 4.3 A 93-97 4.0 A- 90-92 3.7 B+ 87-89 3.3 B 83-86 3.0 B- 80-82 2.7 C+ 77-79 2.3 C 73-76 2.0 C- 70-72 1.7 D+ 67-69 1.3 D 63-66 1.0 D- 60-62 0.7 F 59 and below 0.0 Grade Point Average is the numerical average given to grades. All high school credit classes are averaged together to give you your overall GPA. Once you get to high school ALL classes are factored into your GPA. In middle school it is just Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2/Trig, and World Languages.

Advanced studies diploma Academic Areas Credits SOL Verified Credits English 4 2 Social Studies (World Studies (2), US/VA Government, and US/VA History) Mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II or above level of Algebra II) Science (From 3 of the 4 disciplines: Biological, Chemical, Physical, Earth) World Language (3 years of one language or 2 years each of two different languages) 3 or 4 Health/Physical Education Fine Arts or Career & Technical Education 1 Economics & Personal Finance Electives 3 Student Selected Verified Credit Total (depends on foreign language option) 26 or 27 9

Expunging Grades Any high school course taken during middle school. Once expunged, the grade AND credit are gone. Students would need to retake the course in order to receive credit or to move onto subsequent levels. Expungement forms will be sent home with all Rising 7th 8th, and 9th grade FINAL report cards. Forms MUST be submitted to the Counseling Departments NO LATER than August 15, 2017: Rising 9th Graders: Submit forms to HHS Rising 8th Graders: Submit forms to HPMS (Mrs. Harper) Rising 7th Graders: Submit forms to HPMS (Mrs. Burnett)

What if I want to take a summer class? If LCPS offers summer courses for advancement purposes (it is always dependent on budget), typically they are online only, and middle school students are typically only allowed to take a math course. It is NOT recommended that a student take Algebra 1 for the first time in summer school. For course selection purposes you will be registered for the next course in the math progression. If you complete a summer course, we will make changes later to your course selections.

What should you do now? Watch the course selection videos provided by counselors, WITH your child to discuss elective options. View all of the course selection presentations for your child’s grade level, you can find them on our School Counseling Website: https://www.lcps.org/domain/2200 Look in StudentVue/ParentVue WITH your child to make sure you are ok with core recommendations. If you have questions about core recommendations, contact that teacher directly. Discuss with your child, what electives they should register for when counselors work with them in a few weeks. They should be ready to make final decisions that day.