This page will answer questions commonly asked by students and parents.
- What happens when I am absent from school? How do I get make-up work?
- What happens if I get to class after the bell rings?
- What are exam days like at the end of the semester?
- What is a GPA and what is it for?
- How do I pass to the next grade and what are credits?
What happens when I am absent from school? How do I get make-up work?
An automated system calls home daily to notify parents of your absence from school.
When you return to school from your absence(s), you must bring a note written by
a parent/guardian and/or doctor's excuse to the student services office, explaining the reason for your absence(s)
(the Student Services office is located behind the main office).You have two days to provide
the note. If a note is not submitted, the absence is listed as unexcused. ONLY DOCTOR'S EXCUSES ARE ALLOWED TO MAKE UP
WORK. If you are suspended you may only make up to 67% on any work missed. All other absences are not considered excused.
When you return to school, talk to your teachers. Each student will receive one day to make up
work for every excused absence. If you will be will be out of school for an extended amount
of time (3 or more consecutive days), a parent/guardian needs to contact Student Services to
make arrangements to obtain makeup work.
Remember that once you reach 5 absences in a class, excused or unexcused, a computer-generated
letter will be mailed home. This letter tells your parents/guardians that you are approaching
academic failure. St.Tammany policy states that students with more than 5 absences in a class
are subject to failure, retention, or summer school. If you are approaching this 5 day mark in
one or more classes in a semester, please contact your counselor immediately.
What happens if I get to class after the bell rings?
The first day or two of school, 9th grade teachers are lenient with students who are still learning their way around the halls.
After that, though, students entering class after the bell rings are late. Teachers issue late students tardies. After your first
tardy, you’ll be issued a lunch detention. Lunch detention runs Monday-Thursday in the cafeteria detention area.
What are exam days like at the end of the semester?
An exam schedule will be announced near the end of each semester. You will take one exam on a given day
All freshmen, sophomores and juniors must attend exam days. Seniors can earn exemptions for exams
(with the exception of EOC exams) by having good grades and good attendance.
What is a GPA and what is it for?
GPA stands for Grade Point Average and it’s the average of all of the final grades in the classes you’ve taken.
Every semester, you are issued final grades on your report card and those are averaged with all of the final
grades you receive, starting in 9th grade, all the way through your senior year. Your GPA is a part of your transcript.
It is used by college admission offices to help determine whether or not you would be a good candidate for admission.
GPA’s are also used in scholarship decisions, as committees decide to whom they’ll award scholarship money. Employers
often review transcripts as a part of screening potential employees. For these reasons, it’s important to get the best
possible grades, which will result in the best possible GPA for you. Please remember that your GPA starts now and will
follow you all through high school. If you start out earning poor grades you’ll have a low 9th grade GPA and that means
a more difficult time bringing it up.
See your freshman student/parent handbook for more detailed information about your GPA and how it’s calculated. If you have
questions about how your GPA from this year can impact your senior year and college admission, make an appointment to meet
with your counselor.
How do I pass to the next grade and what are credits?
High school is unlike any other grade in that, you are now working to gain credits by passing your classes.
The school year is divided into 2 semesters. Each semester, you are supposed to earn 1/2 credit for each class
that you take. You earn that half credit by passing your class. The second semester you should earn the second
half of the credit. Therefore, by the end of the school year. you should have earned 1 whole credit for each class
that you take. If you do not earn the necessary credits you will have to attend summer school. If you cannot
afford summer school, you will not be able to move on to the next grade level and you may risk not graduating with your class.
It is important that you turn in all assignments, and that you follow all rules and expectations of Salmen High.
Not doing so, may affect your future.