Academic Performance

The objective of this policy is to establish a consistent set of standards to be applied in determining grade promotions for all elementary students. The scope of this policy is to be applied to all entering and continuing students.

DEFINITIONS

Promotion  - The advancement of a student from the most recent grade completed to the next successive grade.
Retention  - Requiring a student to repeat the grade in which he was most recently enrolled.
New students - Those students entering Trinity Classical Academy for the first time, coming from another Christian school, a home school, or a public school.
Current students - Those students enrolled in Trinity Classical Academy during the current year.

NEW STUDENTS
New students must meet the following criteria to be accepted into the next successive grade level:

ELEMENTARY:

1. Provide to Trinity Classical Academy documents showing that they successfully completed the previous grade by a demonstrated proficiency of at least 70% or higher in reading, math and English. They also should have satisfactorily (60% or higher) completed science and "social studies"- (history and/or geography) within the previous curriculum.
   
   
2. Recognizing that many public schools (and some home schools) do not use letter grades (A F) or percentages to indicate academic proficiency in the elementary grades, a mark of "satisfactory" in a least 90% of the subjects on the student's transcript/report card will be acceptable. However, if there is any doubt as to the student's abilities or the quality of the curriculum used previously, the student will be tested in the three critical areas (reading, math, and English mechanics) using the in-school SRA standardized testing and scoring materials.
   
   
3. If the new student has taken any standardized tests, the student should have earned national scores of at least 50% or higher in reading, math and language (as appropriate to age level). If he has never taken any standardized tests and there is any doubt as to his abilities, step 2 should be followed.
   
   
4. The results of any in-school testing will be combined with a new student's report card and any previous standardized testing score to determine the best grade level at Trinity for that student to enter. If the combined results are not satisfactory, the parents will be apprised of this and be encouraged to consider having their child retained at the previous grade.  (It should be noted that Trinity's academic program tends to be a challenge with varying degrees of difficulty for students coming into the program. Should a student have had academic difficulties in his previous program, the likelihood of compounding that difficulty would be great were he to be promoted to the next successive grade at Trinity.
   

CURRENT STUDENTS
Current students must meet the following criteria to be promoted to the next successive grade:

ELEMENTARY:

Elementary students currently in Trinity Classical Academy must meet all the following basic criteria for promotion to the next successive grade:

1. Pass reading, math, and English with at least a 70% average.
   
   
2. Have no more than one "F" per quarter in any other academic subject (e.g. math, science, etc.) and no more than two 'T's" in the same subject within an academic year. It is incumbent upon the appropriate teacher that all due curriculum objective, grading guidelines, and teaching requirements be faithfully executed. For example, the requirement that there be at least 10 objective grades per subject area by which the quarterly grade is computed has a significant bearing on a complete and accurate assessment of a student's success in that area. Too few grades can force the teacher to make a poorly documented and therefore non­objective determination.
   
   
3. In addition, when considering promotion of a student currently enrolled, special emphasis should be given to the appropriate level of mastery of the following skills/subjects in the grades noted:

KINDERGARTEN TO FIRST GRADE:
- Behavioral maturity and reading readiness for First Grade

FIRST GRADE TO SECOND GRADE:
- Able to read silently and orally with adequate speed
- Correct use of phonetic skills and fundamental comprehension
- Able to write complete sentences with neat lettering
- Able to add and subtract single digit numbers with at least 70% accuracy

SECOND TO THIRD GRADE:
- Cumulative mastery of above requirements
-  Able to read fluently and independently, using books at a second grade level
- Able to write neatly and correctly identify the basic parts of sentence
- Able to spell correctly with at least 70% proficiency
- Able to add and subtract two -digit numbers with at least 70% accuracy

THIRD TO FOURTH GRADE:
- Cumulative mastery of above requirements
-  Satisfactory (70%) completion of curriculum objectives for this grade level

FOURTH TO FIFTH GRADE:
- Cumulative mastery of above requirements
- Satisfactory (70%) completion of curriculum objectives for this grade level

FIFTH TO SIXTH GRADE:
- Cumulative mastery of above requirements
- Satisfactory (70%) completion of curriculum objectives for this grade level

HOMEWORK

Trinity Classical Academy may assign some amount of homework to many of its students at any given time. Below are the primary reasons or causes for homework being assigned:

Students often need some amount of extra practice in specific, new concepts, skills, or facts. In certain subjects (e.g. math or languages), there is not enough time in a school day to do as much practice as may be necessary for mastery. Therefore, after reasonable in-class time is spent on the material, the teacher may assign homework to allow for the necessary practice.

Repeated, short periods of practice or study of new information is often a better way to learn than one long study period.

Since Trinity Classical Academy recognizes that parental involvement is critical to a child's education, homework can be used as an opportunity for parents to actively assist their child in his studies. This will also keep the parents informed as to the current topics of study in the class.

Homework may also be assigned to students who, having been given adequate time to complete an assignment in class, did not use the time wisely. The homework, in this situation, serves a corrective, as well as practical purpose.

Guidelines for Assigning Homework:

The necessity for doing homework will vary from grade to grade and even from student to student. The amount of time spent on homework may also vary significantly from student to student depending on the student's capabilities and work habits. The guide below should be regarded as maximum times, not as required minimum times, and then only if homework is assigned. The guide should also be regarded as applying to the average night during an average week for the average student. Some students may consistently spend more time than the guideline prescribes, some may consistently spend less. If homework is regularly assigned, the teacher will provide some sort of detailed syllabus or homework assignment schedule so the students will know what to anticipate and how to plan for homework.

   *Normally homework is not to be assigned over holidays or vacation periods.
   *Normally weekend assignments should not exceed a regular "weeknight" assignment.