Homewood City Schools

We are often asked why Homewood City Schools uses standards-based grading and reporting in our elementary schools. The answer is simple. Any progress reporting system should guide the learner toward higher levels of achievement. That guidance requires knowledge about the learning journey.

In traditional A-F grading systems, learners and their parents are hard pressed to get much guidance from a “B” in fifth grade math.  Does it mean that the learner understands every aspect of equivalent fractions, but doesn’t fully grasp measurement and data? Or visa versa?  In the traditional system, that information is not communicated. Homewood City Schools wants to emphasize the learning, not the grading. We want to provide as much information as possible to parents about their learner’s journey to mastery.

In addition, a standards-based system is crucial in a diverse community, so that each learner can demonstrate mastery of a standard as they gain the skills and knowledge to do so. Some learners demonstrate early mastery and are able to move on to more difficult concepts, while others may require re-teaching. This information is not known to the teacher unless she records and reports progress of each learner against the benchmark of Learning Target mastery.

We are also often asked if we believe so strongly in standards-based grading and reporting, why do we revert to the traditional A-F system in grades 6-12.

The answer to that question is simple as well. If we existed in a vacuum, we would continue standards-based grading at the secondary level. We strive to provide the learner and family with the most accurate information possible to guide each student’s journey and that doesn’t change when they get to 6th grade!  However, external factors do change at the secondary level. It’s a different world where GPAs become important to families, athletic eligibility has to be calculated, colleges want records of grade point averages, etc. For this reason, we feel it is best for our students and their families to be able to report their progress in a more traditional way. However, our secondary teachers are still very aware of progress toward each learning target even though it isn’t presented to parents in a descriptive narrative.

PowerSchool Portal

The following information may be helpful in the interpretation of student grades. Teachers determine grades in a variety of ways including the following:

• Total Points
• Averaging
• Weighted Averaging by Category (i.e. homework, quizzes, labs, tests, etc)

While teachers are expected to post grades in a timely manner, the frequency of grade posting will fluctuate by teacher.

The number of grades and types of activities may vary from teacher to teacher.

A missing grade is typically the result of one of the following:

• The teacher has not recorded the grade,
• The student needs to make up the work.
• The activity has been designated in the grade book but the work has not yet been assigned.

Students should be aware of any work which needs to be made up. Incomplete work which can be made up is typically designated in the following ways:

• Asterisk
• Zero
• Blank

Note that a teacher's choice of marking to denote incomplete work can affect a student's average. For example, a blank space or a non-numeric symbol will not affect the current average.

Activity titles provide a reference for each assignment/test given. Due to limited space, assignment/test titles are often abbreviated.

If you have any questions regarding a student's grade, please contact the teacher.

Report Card Periods -2024-2025

First Semester

August 8 - October 11
October 15 - December 20

Second Semester

January 7 - March 7
March 10 - May 22

Report Card Dates

October 18, 2024
January 10, 2025
March 14, 2025
May 22, 2025