Middle and high school students are now being graded on a quality point system, the subject shared during the School District of Lee County’s latest Facebook Live Wednesday.

Teaching and Learning Director Lori Houchin explained the current grading system, which is based on percentage points — a 92 to 100 is an A.

“We are converting it to what a letter grade equals. A, four points; B, three points; C two points; D one point and F zero points,” she said. “It is calculated in that way now. It helps the students that if, for some reason they didn’t do well on a test, and (their grade) was brought down to a low A. A is now an A. It mitigates the lower grade.”

Parents can still log into Parent Portal and see what percentages the student earns. On report cards the letter grade will now be represented.

“This is the same way that grade point averages has been calculated,” Houchin said. “The way that many school districts have been calculating grades.”

The change is an advantage that has come out of the pandemic with students moving from one school district to another. She said as the grades transferred in and out of the district, the School District of Lee County looked a little different.

“It mitigates a blip in the student profile. It helps them to recover at a much quicker rate, especially now with students being quarantined,” Houchin said.

Teaching and Learning Director Candace Allevato said when looking at all the advantages it shows mastery of their content with the quality point system. She said there are lots of mathematical calculations out there. For example for middle school, each quarter equals 25 percent of the students overall game, compared to high school, which is quarter one, two and exam.

“It may look and feel different at first. The alignment to the grade point calculation is much clearer for a family, especially as they are in high school and looking at state universities and end of course exams. They are now aligned systems,” she said. “More information is in the student progression plan where families can see exactly how those quarters are weighted out for a middle school student verse a high school student.”

Houchin said the board approved the quality point system for this year moving forward.

“It is not retroactive, but we do feel again that we are moving to a system that our students are going to benefit from,” she said.

Gearing up for college

The Facebook live topic also revolved around senior students preparing for the next step — college applications, federal aid and scholarships.

School Counseling and Mental Health Director Lori Brooks said they acknowledge there is a lot of stress when dealing with college applications and scholarships.

“Creating a master schedule of all of your deadlines is critical. Deadlines are looming for competitive admissions, but seniors still have time,” she said. “Plan ahead. Chunk it out. One foot in front of the other. You will get there. Making a master schedule really guides what I need to be doing today, tomorrow, two weeks from now. More than important breathe because we are all going to get to where we need to go.”

The master schedule should include dates for such things as college applications, testing registration deadlines, scholarship applications and financial aid deadlines. Students should also be collecting letters of recommendations from their teachers.

“Try not to be overwhelmed. Put one foot in front of the other. You will get this done,” she said.

Brooks said although seniors are currently in the process of getting everything finalized for next year, the preparation starts in middle school as students are choosing their courses for high school.

“It all starts with the rigor and the courses you are taking,” she said. “It’s never too early for students to do leg work now and checking boxes on a to do list.”

The game plan is a team sport, Brooks said, as students, parents, guardians, caregivers, teachers, student counselors and career specialist all come together.

“Get in the school counselor office and meet your career specialist. We want to make sure they are getting to know students freshman year on,” she said.

Pre-pandemic the district held a college fair with 100 schools represented. Now, a benefit of the pandemic, Brooks said is their College Night includes eight different college fairs, which began in August and will conclude in November.

“Our students are provided access to over 300 post secondary schools at each fair. All state universities are represented multiple times and they have one-to-one with college admission officers on College Zoom fairs,” Brooks said through the National Association of College Admission Counselors.

Seniors should also be aware of FAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which opened on Oct. 1.

“The early bird gets the worm in this case. More money hand out the earlier students apply,” Brooks said. “Please don’t panic. We have plenty of time. It’s very important when applying for colleges to look for their own FAFSA deadline.”

As far as scholarships, she said it is a part-time job for seniors because it helps them garner money for colleges in addition to federal aid. Scholarship opportunities are available in Google Classroom.

“Apply. Apply early, or at least by deadline. Proof read, get feedback. (Make sure) the student does not loose his, or her voice, but definitely want to put our best written foot forward,” Brooks said.

In November, seniors will have access to the Southwest Florida Community Foundation scholarship hub. Brooks also advises seniors to link into national websites, but be careful not to get scammed.

“Parents if you are asked to pay a fee to access any of these, those are the sites to avoid. These are all free,” she said.