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ACADEMIC INFORMATION
THE ILLINOIS STATE GOALS FOR LEARNING LANGUAGE ARTS The skills and knowledge of the language arts are essential for student success in virtually all areas of the curriculum. They are also a central requirement for the development of clear expression and critical thinking. The language arts include the study of literature and the development of skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
Mathematics provides essential problem-solving tools applicable to a range of scientific disciplines, business, and everyday situations. Mathematics is the language of quantification and logic; its elements are symbols, structures, and shapes. It enables people to understand and use facts, definitions, and symbols in a coherent and systematic way in order to reason deductively and to solve problems. As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
Effective human functioning depends upon optimum physical development and health. Education for physical development and health provides students with the knowledge and attitudes to achieve healthful living throughout their lives and to acquire physical fitness, coordination and leisure skills. As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
Science is the quest for objective truth. It provides a conceptual framework for the understanding of natural phenomena and their causes and effects. The purposes of the study of science are to develop students who are scientifically literate, recognize that science is not value-free, are capable of making ethical judgments regarding science and social issues, and understand that technological growth is an outcome of scientific enterprise. As a result of their schooling, students will have a working knowledge of:
Social sciences provide students with an understanding of themselves and of society, prepare them for citizenship in a democracy, and give them the basics for understanding the complexity of the world community. Study of the humanities, of which social sciences are a part, is necessary in order to preserve the values of human dignity, justice, and representative processes. Social sciences include anthropology, economics, geography, government, history, philosophy, political science, psychology and sociology. As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
The fine arts give students the means to express themselves creatively and to respond to the artistic expression of others. As a record of human experience, the fine arts provide distinctive ways of understanding society, history and nature. The study of the fine arts includes visual art, music, drama and dance. As a result of their schooling, students will be able to:
ACADEMIC INFORMATION Requirements for high school graduation may be found in the counselors office. Consumer Education is also required. This may be a separate course or part of a longer course. A Proficiency Test is also available. Successful performance on the test excuses students from the necessity of completing the state consumer education requirement. The Minimum Proficiency Skills Test and the U.S. Constitution Test must also be passed. Driver Education is offered as part of the sophomore curriculum in Physical Education. COLLEGE ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS College entrance requirements differ with each college. Students who plan on continuing their education in colleges or universities should become acquainted with specific entrance requirements of the school they hope to attend and should choose high school subjects which will enable them to meet these requirements. A library of college catalogs is maintained by the Counseling Department and Media Center for the use of college-bound students. The Counseling Department urges students to make inquiries concerning specific college requirements even during their freshman and sophomore years. Minimum requirements to most colleges and universities are:
As you know, during the four years of high school, our youngsters are faced with many decisions involving admission to college and the choice of a career. To help our students make these decisions, we have installed a computerized College/Career Center in the library. Here, a student will have access to an information bank for several hundred colleges and universities about programs, student body, admission requirements, majors and occupations. COLLEGE PLACEMENT TESTS College Entrance Examination Board tests may be taken at various times during the school year. The American College Test (ACT) is given in September, October, December, February, April and June to juniors and seniors who are college-bound and who wish to compete for Illinois State Scholarships. All students who are college-bound should definitely plan to take the ACT. Beginning in the Spring of 2001, all juniors take the ACT as part of the Prairie State Achievement Exams. The SAT Achievements Tests may be required by some colleges and may be taken in the spring of the junior year or the fall of the senior year. All information and manuals regarding theses important tests are available in the Counseling Office during the entire year. It is the student’s responsibility to pick up such materials and register for tests, which the student must take. SCHOOL TESTING PROGRAM Kennedy’s testing program for students follows that which is prescribed by the Chicago Board of Education. GRADING A serious attempt is made at all times to evaluate in the best possible manner the progress of students. HIGH SCHOOL REPORT OF STUDENT PROGRESS Student progress reports are issued four times each year: November, January, April and June. These grade reports are the permanent record of the student’s progress. Grade Report Pick-Up Days are scheduled for Thursday, November 13, 2003 and Thursday, April 22, 2004. On these dates parents must pick up grade reports at school, which will be open from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Teachers will be available for short conferences between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. January and June mark the end of the semesters. This is the time that credit is awarded in all classes. Students will be issued their grade reports during division and will bring them home for their parents’ inspection. REPORT OF UNSATISFACTORY PROGRESS Notices to parents of the possibility of student failure in a course if corrective measures are not taken are issued the 5th, 15th, 25th and 35th weeks of the school year. Teachers, additionally, may send these at any time between marking periods to parents of students who may need special attention. Parents who would like a conference with the teacher as a result of the unsatisfactory progress report are requested to call the counselor to make an appointment so that a mutually agreeable time can be arranged. The counselor’s telephone number is listed in this handbook. GRANTING OF CREDIT 1. Credit is granted for the successful completion of a subject. Most subjects are granted .50 credits per semester of work completed with a D or better. No credit is given for a subject in which an F is received. SERVICE LEARNING The Service Learning program at John F. Kennedy High School consists of two components. Students graduating in 2001 and beyond will be able to earn the required 40 hours of community service and site based learning either as part of a pre-approved “Extra-Curricular Group Project” or based upon “Individual Student Experience” Each student must have documented evidence of community service by creating with teacher supervision (1) a planning activity prior to the service project and (2) a reflection/evaluation activity following the project. Thus, the community service becomes service learning when the student integrates instructional guidance with community service. Students earn graduation credit for only the time spent on the actual service project not for the planning nor reflection activities. Students who do not submit a reflection exercise to the service learning coach do not receive service learning hours on their high school transcript. ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE The Academic Excellence list is displayed two times a year in the showcase bulletin board on the first floor to recognize students who are excelling in their academic subjects. Students who have a 3.0 cumulative average (GPA) and above in all subjects are placed on the Academic Excellence list. No D or F grades are acceptable. A Quarterly Excellence list is also displayed to recognize students whose grades are B or better in all subjects. HOMEWORK POLICY Homework will be assigned and evaluated in all classes. Assignments will be well- planned and challenging. Homework is a useful instruction tool for the following reasons:
Generally, homework will average approximately thirty minutes per day for each subject. For most of our students, this means approximately two and one-half hours of homework each day. Advanced Placement classes will require additional study time. PROGRAMMING Programming is done during the spring of each year. Student needs insofar as graduation requirements are reviewed, and the student’s interests are taken into account as well. The division teacher, counselor, and the student participate actively in this project. A parent’s signature is required on the student’s confirmation form. COURSE PREREQUISITES Certain subjects require minimum proficiencies before a student may advance to higher level courses. More information will be distributed regarding specific classes during programming. FAILURES Students who fail a course make up the credit by attendance at summer school and after school if funds are available. If the subject is required for graduation, the course must be repeated. If it is not required, another subject may be taken in its place. SUMMER SCHOOL Courses taken in summer school for credit must meet North Central Association guidelines as to hours completed before credit can be granted. Approved lists are issued each year. Note: Students are not allowed to attend day and night school at the same time. Back To Top
AMENDED POLICY ON HIGH SCHOOL PROMOTION THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER RECOMMENDS That the Chicago Board of Education adopt the amended policy on high school promotion. POLICY TEXT: Introduction The Chicago Board of Education believes that promotion from one grade in high school to the next must indicate that students have passed a series of academically challenging courses in the core subjects disciplines of English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Sciences, as well as courses in other areas such as world languages, fine arts, physical education, and career education. Students who successfully earn course credits should display their understanding of and competency in course subject matter through both standardized exams and appropriate assignments and assessments developed by teachers, The Chicago Board of Education also recognizes that students must attend classes in order to achieve their highest levels of learning. Therefore, students who fall or refuse to attend their classes may not receive the course credits necessary for promotion into the next high school grade. This promotion policy requires that the city’s high school students demonstrate genuine academic achievement and a commitment to learning in order to make progress toward earning their high school diplomas.
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