Academic Notes

The minimum requirements for a diploma from Father Judge High School:

Required Courses

* Student strongly encouraged to take these courses.

A minimum of 6 credits must be carried for all classes.

Course of Instruction
The courses listed on this page are planned for your son's school year. The school Administration reserves the right to cancel any course or to merge a two track offering into one track. The Administration also reserves the right to implement any ancillary services which may become available during the school year. These services may necessitate a change of roster. Once accepted, a student cannot drop an (AP) Advanced Placement course.

Academic Promotion and Withdrawal
Students must receive a final grade of 70% in all subjects to be promoted. Those with a failure at the final report must remove the failure by attending the Diocesan Summer School. A student with two failures on the final report is automatically on academic probation for the next school year. If he has two failures on the final report the following year, he may be dismissed. If he has one failure on the final report the following year, he remains on probation. Seniors, who would be dismissed under the probation policy, will be permitted to attend Diocesan Summer School to remove the failures. He will be able to receive a diploma after receiving a passing grade in summer school. Ninth grade students with five failures at the end of the first semester may be dismissed. Tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students with four failures at the end of the first semester may be dismissed. A student on academic probation who receives three failures at the end of the first semester may be dismissed. Any student who receives three or more failures at the end of the school year will be dropped from the rolls of Father Judge.

The Tracking System
Tracking is a system designed to meet the particular need of the individual student at the level of his intellectual ability. Therefore, State-required subjects, except health and physical education, are offered at four different level of academic difficulty, ranging from advanced to remedial work. Electives are offered at different track levels depending upon the intrinsic difficulty of the subject matter in relation to the other electives. The following can be used as a guide to understanding the track system.

Honor Roll
Honors signify that a student is being recognized for his academic achievement with respect to his overall course of studies. It recognizes that he has made a serious effort to maximize his abilities commensurate with his education level.

First honors are awarded to students with a grade average of 90.0 or above, provided there is no mark under 85. Second honors are awarded to those who have a grade average of 85.0 or above and no mark below 80.
Mid year honors are determined by averaging semester grades.
End of year honors are determined by averaging final grades.

Rank in Class
Rank in class, both current and cumulative, is determined by the adjusted quality point average. The quality point average is obtained by dividing the number of quality point by the number of credits. To compensate students taking more than five credits, a mathematical adjustment is made when computing the average . Quality Point table is in school calender. Adjustment tables are available in the Studies Office.

Program of Studies
I. Course Selection Procedure

Each student will be given a course selection sheet which contains subject offerings for a given school year. The student will be required to select his subjects for the coming school year based upon his ability, his career goals, and his teacher's recommendations.

The student will be given courses selected only if he meets the basic requirements of the courses in achievement and ability and also receives the recommendation of his teachers.
Within each course the student will be placed at a track level which is commensurate with his achievements, ability and teacher recommendation. Conflicts which arise due to scheduling difficulties in tracks will be remedied by the Assistant Principal, keeping the students' abilities and the school's resources as compatible as possible.
The Assistant Principal of Academics is the final arbiter in all decisions relevant to student placement in courses.
In the event of a conflict in scheduling, the Assistant Principal of Academics will honor the alternate choices of the student to the greatest degree possible. If there are no alternate choices, courses will be assigned at the discretion of the Assistant Principal.

II. Course Change and Course Drop Policy

Since course selection should be done only after careful and thoughtful consultation with parents and teachers, the following procedures are established for a change or a drop in a course.

1. Ordinarily, changes in course selection must be made no later than February 28th.
2. Changes after February 28th will NOT be considered if submitted for the following reasons :
   - Teacher preference
   - Reduction of load because of outside employment
   - Change of mind as to personal preference or course content
   - Displeasure with schedule
3. Rosters are available in August. Errors and limited changes are made at that time.
4. Ordinarily, once the school year begins, no courses or tracks are changed.
5. All changes are dictated by student abilities, past grades, cumulative rank, times offered, and class size.