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Post by beanbuddymom on May 23, 2016 15:36:43 GMT
NHS seems to vary by school. At our school (large, urban, 3,500 students, traditional high performing), NHS opens applications in the spring. The application is several pages and requires teacher/advisor signatures for every activity listed, plus a recommendation, which takes some time and effort to collect. Students have to prove they meet the gpa requirement to even receive the application. Only about 75 students are picked each year. The actual selection criteria seems to be a bit of a black box, with preference to leaders, athletes, etc. Nothing wrong with making it hard to get into, but it's frustrating when other schools or districts have looser requirements. My brother's child, Perfect Polly, lives in a small town where the only requirement is a minimum gpa and then automatic acceptance. My parents repeatedly criticize DD for not getting in. Urgh. I'm sorry that's awful!
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used2scrap
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Post by used2scrap on May 23, 2016 15:38:54 GMT
For us NHS was invitation only, so there was no applying. The other things like prom and yearbook were run by the student council and yearbook staff - all run by students who aren't even elected for next year at this point. It is weird for a parent to be wondering these things IMO. Your daughter should care and if she doesn't care to get you info more than "I don't know" then why is posting on a message board going to be helpful? She obviously doesn't seem interested in joining herself so why push her? I wasn't asking so she could join those groups, it was the information about prom so if as a parent you want to attend grand march and take pictures you won't be an uninformed person knowing what time it starts. That kind of things that kids don't think are important until they are walking out the door asking if you will be coming to grand march and you have no idea - stuff like that. You don't only attend as a Junior either, as long as your date is a Jr you can be a Freshman or Sophomore so these types of things come up when you have kids and they get asked to stuff like that. It's just nice to know stuff and not have to call around and ask to get information about a school sanctioned event that they expect parents to be involved with. So no it's not weird wanting to know things. It's weird if you're 12 but if you're an informed adult and like to read things and be informed it's nice to know stuff. It's weird you want to know what time prom starts a year in advance! And here like others have posted, you are invited to NHS and then fill out the application, it isn't just open for anyone to apply. But gpa, advanced courses, leadership,athletics, club involvement and community service are all factors.
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Post by beanbuddymom on May 23, 2016 15:44:03 GMT
Look at it this way - Is it fair for your daughter to get the list of requirements and work on them all summer when everyone else gets them in the fall and has to do them then? And please e xplain why on earth you need to know the procedure for voting for homecoming court.
OMG I don't need to know it - that was a bad example I used and I will forever regret using it - I was saying that on behalf of students because when I was helping out during homecoming there were had students running around like chickens not knowing how to vote, when was voting, etc. No one knew anything, as usual. I was just using it as a long laundry list of stuff that isn't communicated was all, I don't really care, but the parents and students get really annoyed that everyone finds out stuff last minute all the time or not at all. It just annoys me more than others today I guess.
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Post by cade387 on May 23, 2016 15:44:26 GMT
For us NHS was invitation only, so there was no applying. The other things like prom and yearbook were run by the student council and yearbook staff - all run by students who aren't even elected for next year at this point. It is weird for a parent to be wondering these things IMO. Your daughter should care and if she doesn't care to get you info more than "I don't know" then why is posting on a message board going to be helpful? She obviously doesn't seem interested in joining herself so why push her? I wasn't asking so she could join those groups, it was the information about prom so if as a parent you want to attend grand march and take pictures you won't be an uninformed person knowing what time it starts. That kind of things that kids don't think are important until they are walking out the door asking if you will be coming to grand march and you have no idea - stuff like that. You don't only attend as a Junior either, as long as your date is a Jr you can be a Freshman or Sophomore so these types of things come up when you have kids and they get asked to stuff like that. It's just nice to know stuff and not have to call around and ask to get information about a school sanctioned event that they expect parents to be involved with. So no it's not weird wanting to know things. It's weird if you're 12 but if you're an informed adult and like to read things and be informed it's nice to know stuff. But why would you expect the school to have this on their website? They don't plan the prom. The seniors do, at this point they aren't even seniors yet! We voted on a theme maybe in October or November of our Senior year. The senior prom committee then picked a date, etc. So there wouldn't be anything to share about prom before December at the earliest unless you were on the prom committee.
Homecoming is typically the same weekend every year, ours was second in September. All of the schools around here do that. You can't apply to be on the court, you are nominated. That happens by the students and the student council runs that as well, not the school.
I just don't see getting mad at the school about this. Sure, maybe kids don't plan like adults do, but it also isn't going to make or break your daughters life if you don't know when you have take pictures a year from now.
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Post by cmhs on May 23, 2016 15:46:21 GMT
Just checked our school site and NHS info is there. IMO, all that other stuff is not your concern. I don't mean that to come across harshly. There is usually little parent involvement in any of those areas.
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Post by beanbuddymom on May 23, 2016 15:48:55 GMT
I wasn't asking so she could join those groups, it was the information about prom so if as a parent you want to attend grand march and take pictures you won't be an uninformed person knowing what time it starts. That kind of things that kids don't think are important until they are walking out the door asking if you will be coming to grand march and you have no idea - stuff like that. You don't only attend as a Junior either, as long as your date is a Jr you can be a Freshman or Sophomore so these types of things come up when you have kids and they get asked to stuff like that. It's just nice to know stuff and not have to call around and ask to get information about a school sanctioned event that they expect parents to be involved with. So no it's not weird wanting to know things. It's weird if you're 12 but if you're an informed adult and like to read things and be informed it's nice to know stuff. It's weird you want to know what time prom starts a year in advance! And here like others have posted, you are invited to NHS and then fill out the application, it isn't just open for anyone to apply. But gpa, advanced courses, leadership,athletics, club involvement and community service are all factors. I was talking about this year's prom which just happened last week and the grand march was something DD went to, to take pictures of her friends. Not just juniors go to prom, you realize that?
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AnotherPea
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Post by AnotherPea on May 23, 2016 15:49:37 GMT
Posting before reading ahead- this is sounding helicopter-ish. If your dd needs you to contact the school a year before invitations are sent, she probably isn't NHS material. Why would the yearbook need you to submit photos? Why is it your concern about homecoming voting?
Let her be the high school student.
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Post by cindyupnorth on May 23, 2016 15:50:29 GMT
It's weird you want to know what time prom starts a year in advance! And here like others have posted, you are invited to NHS and then fill out the application, it isn't just open for anyone to apply. But gpa, advanced courses, leadership,athletics, club involvement and community service are all factors. Just checked our school site and NHS info is there. IMO, all that other stuff is not your concern. I don't mean that to come across harshly. There is usually little parent involvement in any of those areas. I think she was just using those things as EXAMPLES people. Not that she wanted to know RIGHT this minute. I totally disagree with the little parent involvement part. My girls went to a very small school. There was LOTS of parent involvement. There had to be.
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Country Ham
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Post by Country Ham on May 23, 2016 15:51:54 GMT
I wasn't asking so she could join those groups, it was the information about prom so if as a parent you want to attend grand march and take pictures you won't be an uninformed person knowing what time it starts. That kind of things that kids don't think are important until they are walking out the door asking if you will be coming to grand march and you have no idea - stuff like that. You don't only attend as a Junior either, as long as your date is a Jr you can be a Freshman or Sophomore so these types of things come up when you have kids and they get asked to stuff like that. It's just nice to know stuff and not have to call around and ask to get information about a school sanctioned event that they expect parents to be involved with. So no it's not weird wanting to know things. It's weird if you're 12 but if you're an informed adult and like to read things and be informed it's nice to know stuff. Our school must be weird. We don't have parents at the prom taking pictures. They do before the prom, they do in the parking lot of the school with all the different kids, but once the kids enter the door with their prom tickets in hand the only adults in their are chaperones. No tickets, no admission. Tickets are sold to Jr/Sr kids and their plus ones. Are you saying if they don't post a grand march time on a website your daughter will have no clue when it starts even as a Jr? The jr class puts on the proms usually. It's up to her to tell you when to come. ETA: I guess I see all this stuff on your list as things the kids will be told about. It's their responsibility. I will add that we don't do traditional prom king/queen. The football Queen is the ultimate title and voted on between the cheerleaders and football team. Our "court" is school club orientated and it's for the homecoming parade. Every club gets a queen/king and a float in the parade. We don't do one for the prom.
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tincin
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Post by tincin on May 23, 2016 15:55:18 GMT
Perhaps you should join the parent group for your DDs class. At my Sons's high school rack class level had a parent group that helped them with fund raising, class events, and chaperoning. I knew more than I wanted to know about what was going on and made some life long friends in the process.
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Post by beanbuddymom on May 23, 2016 16:02:11 GMT
Ok people calm down.
I don't need to know this very minute I was just saying it would be nice if information like big events were posted on the website. That's all. I just used a few random examples that clearly people are zoning in on.
The topic (see the topic line up there?) was National Honor Society and how I thought it was WEIRD that other schools had that information on their website and how ours did not. Then I thought it was weird that the guidance office didn't have it on their site or even know what the requirements were. I just thought it was WEIRD and UNINFORMED.
Carry on, please, for the love of god, I'm not having to know things that don't concern me until next year, (it won't be there next year either) I just thought it was frustrating that the the age of media that our school is so awful in communication on a website.
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Post by anonrefugee on May 23, 2016 16:03:45 GMT
beanbuddymom, just because it's not on the public site doesn't mean it's not posted somewhere. Ours has a private site for student use. Posting it on a bulletin board in the cafeteria and in a daily announcement happens too. NHS seems to vary by school. At our school (large, urban, 3,500 students, traditional high performing), NHS opens applications in the spring. The application is several pages and requires teacher/advisor signatures for every activity listed, plus a recommendation, which takes some time and effort to collect. Students have to prove they meet the gpa requirement to even receive the application. Only about 75 students are picked each year. The actual selection criteria seems to be a bit of a black box, with preference to leaders, athletes, etc. Nothing wrong with making it hard to get into, but it's frustrating when other schools or districts have looser requirements. My brother's child, Perfect Polly, lives in a small town where the only requirement is a minimum gpa and then automatic acceptance. My parents repeatedly criticize DD for not getting in. Urgh. Our large suburban high school has extremely student-led NHS. A large number of high performing kids with other service activities are opting not to join because it only adds a label, no experience or even fun. I've let my qualifying sons choose, both for this and NJHS. Any reasonable person can tell by their scores, activities and other service organizations that they're Honor worthy.
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Kerri W
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Post by Kerri W on May 23, 2016 16:08:50 GMT
Ok people calm down. I don't need to know this very minute I was just saying it would be nice if information like big events were posted on the website. That's all. I just used a few random examples that clearly people are zoning in on. The topic (see the topic line up there?) was National Honor Society and how I thought it was WEIRD that other schools had that information on their website and how ours did not. Then I thought it was weird that the guidance office didn't have it on their site or even know what the requirements were. I just thought it was WEIRD and UNINFORMED. Carry on, please, for the love of god, I'm not having to know things that don't concern me until next year, (it won't be there next year either) I just thought it was frustrating that the the age of media that our school is so awful in communication on a website. So sorry this didn't go the way you wanted it to. Perhaps next time just let us know you'd like for everybody to agree with you that the school is keeping secrets. Probably just from you, but maybe the rest of the parents too. You never know. You've not answered...why can't your DD get this information? Or communicate with you about what time the grand march is?
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used2scrap
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Post by used2scrap on May 23, 2016 16:14:09 GMT
[quote [/quote]I was talking about this year's prom which just happened last week and the grand march was something DD went to, to take pictures of her friends. Not just juniors go to prom, you realize that? [/quote]
Yes. I guess I just expect my kids to be responsible in getting information for themselves and to me if parental involvement is needed...
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Post by elaine on May 23, 2016 16:18:32 GMT
Let me just say that I am so happy that I never heard of this Grand March thing until 2Peas. Never went to a school that had one, schools here don't have them, never heard of it. Having to submit to my mom taking pictures at our house was enough parental time for me.
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luckyexwife
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Post by luckyexwife on May 23, 2016 16:21:50 GMT
It's weird you want to know what time prom starts a year in advance! And here like others have posted, you are invited to NHS and then fill out the application, it isn't just open for anyone to apply. But gpa, advanced courses, leadership,athletics, club involvement and community service are all factors. I was talking about this year's prom which just happened last week and the grand march was something DD went to, to take pictures of her friends. Not just juniors go to prom, you realize that? I figured you were talking about this year's prom, but this comment puzzles me...if your DD wants to go to take pictures of her friends, why wouldn't she just text a friend who is going to ask the time?
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Post by debmast on May 23, 2016 16:26:21 GMT
Our district/school provides info on a "need to know" basis.
My daughter is a Freshman. NHS inductions occur here Spring of sophomore year (1st time eligible, can be inducted later), so we'll get info about that next spring. Homecoming, we get emailed info prior to Homecoming giving all details. Same with prom, although here it is a "Senior Prom" so only seniors are given info.
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Post by anxiousmom on May 23, 2016 16:27:27 GMT
beanbuddymomOur large suburban high school has extremely student-led NHS. A large number of high performing kids with other service activities are opting not to join because it only adds a label, no experience or even fun. I've let my qualifying sons choose, both for this and NJHS. Any reasonable person can tell by their scores, activities and other service organizations that they're Honor worthy. You know, it is the same way at my son's school too. He is in the top 10% of his graduating class and of those kids, probably only 3% joined the NHS. They all have the grades (which for our school is a minimum 3.5 GPA,) but they didn't feel like it helped them in the long run. Their school already has volunteer component (to graduate you have to have a certain number of volunteer hours) and most of them work outside of school and play sports of some sort so they cover pretty much every thing that NHS requires without the all the fees and 'hassle.'
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Post by karen on May 23, 2016 16:33:08 GMT
The policy for NHS at your school should be published and available to the public. I can show you where it says this in the constitution if you want to see it. The names of the committee should also be public. Voting is by majority, but criteria varies. The minimum cumulative average is an 85, but schools are allowed to raise it, but not lower it.
I can't help you with prom or the other stuff. But I can help you with the rules of NHS.
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Post by beanbuddymom on May 23, 2016 16:34:03 GMT
Posting before reading ahead- this is sounding helicopter-ish. I f your dd needs you to contact the school a year before invitations are sent, she probably isn't NHS material. Why would the yearbook need you to submit photos? Why is it your concern about homecoming voting? Let her be the high school student. She had no idea that the invitations wouldn't get sent until next year until I asked about it today. She thought it was something she had to apply for before the end of this year which ends in 2 weeks. And DD doesn't need me to do anything, I thought I would be helpful in asking. The guidance dept is very nice about keeping in touch with parents about things like deadlines and they have no issue contacting me if my DD is not meeting a deadline for something else, so it's not an issue to touch base with the high school guidance counselor about a question. The rest were examples and it was a general statement, nothing I need to know about or had concern.
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Post by beanbuddymom on May 23, 2016 16:39:50 GMT
The policy for NHS at your school should be published and available to the public. I can show you where it says this in the constitution if you want to see it. The names of the committee should also be public. Voting is by majority, but criteria varies. The minimum cumulative average is an 85, but schools are allowed to raise it, but not lower it. I can't help you with prom or the other stuff. But I can help you with the rules of NHS. Thank you I thought I read somewhere on the NHS site that it was something that the rules should be available to the public so that is where all of this started. I should not have included anything else in my vent that distracted my original thought/topic but I hadn't had coffee yet so I was off and running. I will let DD take care of the rest of this - but thank you!
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Post by myshelly on May 23, 2016 16:55:07 GMT
I will validate you, and say it is NOT weird. Most of that info would be on our yearly school calendar that comes out the beginning of the school yr. All that stuff would be set before that. I think each school has different standards and different ways of doing things. Here, homecoming is NOT teacher generated, but the kids. Yearbook is an ECA. Sounds like your child isn't very involved in the school? I would recommend they get more involved, and ask the kids involved in it, ie yearbook. The only thing they would have to scramble for HS would be the volunteer hours. It's not a crime to be an involved parent, nor ask questions. Just don't be obnoxious about it..ha. Your school calendar detas the voting process for homecoming queen? Your school calendar gives info a a not yet planned senior prom two years away? Your school calendar has info on enrolling in the yearbook elective? Your school calendar has the requirements for NHS? That must be some calendar. I somehow doubt your school calendar has any of those things. So what info exactly is the OP asking for that wos be on a school calendar?
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Post by mom on May 23, 2016 16:57:12 GMT
Ok people calm down. I don't need to know this very minute I was just saying it would be nice if information like big events were posted on the website. That's all. I just used a few random examples that clearly people are zoning in on. The topic (see the topic line up there?) was National Honor Society and how I thought it was WEIRD that other schools had that information on their website and how ours did not. Then I thought it was weird that the guidance office didn't have it on their site or even know what the requirements were. I just thought it was WEIRD and UNINFORMED. Carry on, please, for the love of god, I'm not having to know things that don't concern me until next year, (it won't be there next year either) I just thought it was frustrating that the the age of media that our school is so awful in communication on a website. Wow. I will make a mental note to not post unless I agree with you. But I think its possible you are right: the school is keep ing secrets from you. I can't imagine why.
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Post by cindyupnorth on May 23, 2016 17:12:17 GMT
Prom, yearbook, homecoming, national honor society, anything to do with any of those topics you would imagine would be or should be listed/posted somewhere - no. It's all a big secret. How does one get nominated for homecoming? No idea. How is voting conducted? No idea. How do you join or submit pics for yearbook? No idea. Prom details? No idea. Not posted anywhere and you have to ask 80 million people to find out any answers, and my DD will be a junior next year and I still don't know these answers. Your school calendar detas the voting process for homecoming queen? Your school calendar gives info a a not yet planned senior prom two years away? Your school calendar has info on enrolling in the yearbook elective? Your school calendar has the requirements for NHS? That must be some calendar. I somehow doubt your school calendar has any of those things. So what info exactly is the OP asking for that wos be on a school calendar? Yes, actually our school calendar has a lot of that info on it. It would tell when sign up for yearbook was, and who to contact, when pictures were due. When the NHS was meeting and who to contact. When Prom was, and when Grand march was. A lot of that info she asked about. Yes, it doesn't include everything. I didn't say it did. Ps, let's not beat a mom up about asking a question on here. as usually we pick apart every little thing she asked. She is just wanting to know what other schools do. She was frustrated. can't we support that? You can't tell me everyone else's school does everything perfect? We all have our struggles with schools. We all have our struggles with our kids. I think we are totally picking this post apart.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on May 23, 2016 17:25:12 GMT
okay, I gotta say I find the questions about Homecoming and prom weird-- but I guess because when I was in school (along time ago, now, lol) those are all student-run and student-led activities. Our parents didn't even have the option to come to our prom dinner or dance to take pictures; it's a student activity and parents didn't come-- it just wasn't even thought about.
as for Homecoming and prom voting, I think that was all student-driven voting with our class advisors doing the leading and counting?? I don't remember exactly, but I was on the prom committee; we did all the planning, fundraising, decision-making, decorating, etc. with our class advisor's assistance. No parents involved!!
ETA: At OUR high school prom WAS only for the junior and senior class members and their dates. No other HS kids could just 'show up' there; I'm sure that policy varies from school to school.
ETA2: yearbook was an extra-curricular activity and people on yearbook were in charge of it all, with guidance from the faculty advisor. Yearbook members took the photos at school events, etc. and there was no 'sending photos' to get included.
one more: I grew up in a really small town with a small school, but I seem to recall that the only thing for NHS was our GPA; there was no application process at all that I can remember. I KNOW I never did anything that would qualify as 'community service' and I was in the National Honor Society.
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Post by holly on May 23, 2016 17:35:49 GMT
Our HS is the same way, nothing is posted, I have to go digging to find information. They couldn't even post dates and times for homecoming and prom. But they sure can tell you every single sport going on for everyday.
When they were younger I found out after the fact about the AVID program, had never heard of it, found out after my oldest was already in HS. I go to all the open houses and feel like I am an involved parent but I don't feel like our school communicates well and I give that feedback whenever I am asked. And when I ask my kids to find out it's just as hard for them to find out, it's not readily available information sometimes.
I think schools should post when testing days are, when SAT dates are available etc. it's not that hard to add things to a calendar. I go to our calendar and there are sports on it and that's it. I don't even think graduation is on it. If it is there isn't any information about where and what time.
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Post by anonrefugee on May 23, 2016 17:37:04 GMT
beanbuddymomOur large suburban high school has extremely student-led NHS. A large number of high performing kids with other service activities are opting not to join because it only adds a label, no experience or even fun. I've let my qualifying sons choose, both for this and NJHS. Any reasonable person can tell by their scores, activities and other service organizations that they're Honor worthy. You know, it is the same way at my son's school too. He is in the top 10% of his graduating class and of those kids, probably only 3% joined the NHS. They all have the grades (which for our school is a minimum 3.5 GPA,) but they didn't feel like it helped them in the long run. Their school already has volunteer component (to graduate you have to have a certain number of volunteer hours) and most of them work outside of school and play sports of some sort so they cover pretty much every thing that NHS requires without the all the fees and 'hassle.' Thanks for that, good to know its not just us!
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Post by Darcy Collins on May 23, 2016 17:38:21 GMT
You may look into whether your school communicates via other channels. I am new to the whole high school thing, but luckily a friend clued me in that if I wanted to be up to date on what was going on, I needed to follow the school on twitter or facebook. The district runs the website and apparently it's a nightmare to keep in up to date and timely, so only the bare essentials are there. I had this antiquated notion that the school would send out emails about various things like fall sports and other info - but apparently parents detest lots of emails. So the school will only send out emails if they're vitally necessary. All extra-curriculars, sports, clubs, etc communicate via social media. I'm glad someone clued be in as cross country practices start next week and I'd have had no clue if I didn't read it on twitter.
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Post by cindyupnorth on May 23, 2016 17:42:00 GMT
Good point Darcy!! Our district does that too. A lot of info is on FB!
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scrapaddie
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Post by scrapaddie on May 23, 2016 17:55:23 GMT
NHS seems to vary by school. At our school (large, urban, 3,500 students, traditional high performing), NHS opens applications in the spring. The application is several pages and requires teacher/advisor signatures for every activity listed, plus a recommendation, which takes some time and effort to collect. Students have to prove they meet the gpa requirement to even receive the application. Only about 75 students are picked each year. The actual selection criteria seems to be a bit of a black box, with preference to leaders, athletes, etc. Nothing wrong with making it hard to get into, but it's frustrating when other schools or districts have looser requirements. My brother's child, Perfect Polly, lives in a small town where the only requirement is a minimum gpa and then automatic acceptance. My parents repeatedly criticize DD for not getting in. Urgh. l Leadership IS a NHS requirement. At my school, a panel teachers will review all the applications reading every essay and every recommendation. We actually had a parent who was going to sue the school because her student was not accepted. The parent had to be reminded that her students have been caught cheating on a test. That does not exactly fulfill the ideals of national honor Society
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