Description
This article provides additional detail for understanding high school GPA information that is displayed and how the Cumulative GPA is determined. Ultimately, the Semester grades reflect the final outcome in each course, so ONLY the semester GPAs are used when calculating the Cumulative GPA.
Overview
Term and Semester GPAs
At the High School level, semester grades are comprised of multiple grading periods (Terms) and a separate Exam score (if used for a given course). Each term is cumulative, including all previous assignment grades from prior terms in the same semester. Essentially, each term is a checkpoint on a student's progress on the way to completing the semester. The results in the last term of the course reflect all work up to that point. If a course also uses the Exam component, this is then combined with the term result to determine the final semester grade.
Diagram illustrating how a typical semester is structured. *(For a trimester, the structure would be similar, but would only include two terms)
Cumulative GPA
When viewing a student's GPA information in Skyward, data from both the grading periods (Terms) and Semesters is displayed. The separate Exam results do not show in the GPA screen. As described earlier in this article, semester grades are based on the Terms (cumulative) and the Exam results (if used) which may lead to a perceived discrepancy between the Term GPA and the Semester GPA values.
As stated in the introduction above, ONLY semester GPAs are used when determining the Cumulative GPA.
Example view of GPA in Family Access
Questions?
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