End of Year Grading Policy Revisions

As shared in an email from the Superintendent's Office, FCPS has adopted a series of secondary grading policy changes to help our students achieve a strong finish to the school year. 

FCPS is adjusting the grading policy for the 2020-2021 school year, to ensure students are not penalized by the challenges brought on by pandemic learning. 

Key policy changes for middle school students are listed below: 

• Students receiving a final mark of "D" or "D+" in any course will be assigned a mark of "P" (pass) as a final mark. This will be automatically applied for any course in which a student receives a "D" or "D+" as a final mark.
• Use of No Mark, "NM," instead of "F" grades for final marks for all courses. This will automatically be applied for any course in which a student receives an "F" as a final mark. 
• Allowing middle school students to select a mark of "P" (pass) for any courses for which a passing grade is earned for the final mark. 
  • Action Needed: Should you wish to designate one or more courses as Pass status for anticipated grades of "A" through "C-," the Pass-No Mark status form must be submitted to your school counselor/Student Services by May 10, 2021.

Third quarter report cards and the Pass-No Mark Status form will be available in ParentVue and mailed to all families this week. Students and families are encouraged to carefully consider the option for Pass. Please contact your student's school counselor with questions if needed. 

Additional information, including considerations and frequently asked questions are available on the FCPS Secondary Grading and Reporting page. 

Grading policies apply to all students in all FCPS courses, regardless of level.

When using a 100-point grading scale, 50 percent of an assignment’s value will be the lowest possible score, including the score for work that is not submitted.

• The lowest score possible for a student, even if not completed, will be marked as a 50%.
• The teacher of record will typically record a “comment” such as “Missing” for assignments not turned in, or if a reassessment is offered.
• The purpose of this policy is to mathematically make it possible for a student to recover from various work not completed as an average for the Quarter.

The minimum number of GRADED assignments per quarter is changed from 9 to 6; No one assignment or assessment shall count more than 20% of the total grade for that Quarter. 

• Each graded assignment should be a meaningful demonstration of learning. 
• The purpose of this policy is ensure each assignment is not overstated in the calculation of grades.

Late work is accepted on all assignments with NO penalty.

• At Stone MS, all assignments/assessments shall be accepted at any point during the Quarter without penalty. 

Communication and Feedback

If you have questions about your child’s grade or an assignment, please contact the teacher of record.  

All teachers at Stone MS are asked to email manual progress reports every other Friday in efforts to communicate current student progress with parents.  

Parents may access student grades through ParentVUE (computer or mobile) and can set up an automatic email to be sent within the app.

Students should make every attempt to attend Teacher Office Hours for academic support.

Stone MS Teacher Office Hours

Teacher office hours will no longer be offered on Mondays. Office hours and intervention will continue to be offered during Panther Block from 9:35 - 10:25.

Students can access individual Teacher Office Hours through Schoology > Student All course after school by appointment.

Questions?

If you have questions about our Stone’s Grading Policy or Communication, please contact Tami Brumett, Director of Student Services at [email protected] or 703-631-5527.