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Report cards - Is this normal?


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We sent our son to school for the first time this year  He is a freshman in high school.

First semester just ended, and although his grades are posted on the parent portal website, I have been not-so-patiently waiting for a report card, checking the mailbox, etc, and DS said to stop looking because he doesn't get one until the end off the year.

I thought he was kidding, (or misinformed,) and so I called the school office today and they said that he is indeed correct.  If I want a 'hard copy' I'll have to print out my own from the website. The website tells how many credits he has earned so far, but does not give a GPA, or tell if he made the honor roll, etc.  That is also assigned at the end of the year.  

I was shocked. Is this normal these days?!

 

 

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Dh's school is 100 percent digital now. The parents can log in at anytime and see everything. The school board apparently did some number crunching and can save major money by not printing and mailing all the various information home. That includes report cards. They are transcribing permanent records now as well into a digital database and no longer filing physical copies. The switch is complete in three years. They claim it will help efficiency for every teacher to have all k-12 records in front of them at any screen at all times. Truancy letters are state law and have to be mailed, but Dh wouldn't even get a physical pay stub if it weren't for the union flipping out.

 

It bothers me on many levels.

 

ETA: I do not know if it is normal "everywhere," but progress reports and grades stopped going home three years ago when the economy tanked. Since then it has spread to everything else here.

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Yes, this is normal. It saves a tree or two. Until last year, both my kids were in brick and mortar schools and report cards were printed by me. I could review the grades online after the term ended whenever I wanted. The only hard copies I received from the school were for test scores or parent-teacher comments, things I added to a 'school records' file I started for each child. It does seems strange that they didn't provide a term GPA *shrug*.

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That is not normal here. We get hard copies of mid-term, semester and final grades. Students bring them home and a parent signs the bottom which we have to cut off and send back to school with our kids. GPA is on all report cards and honor roll is on semester and final grades. We can also log in and check.

 

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I can view everything online but both dds still bring home a report card as well. There are a few classes oldest will not have a grade in until year end though. Those are the ones with end of course exams that they have to pass and count for a huge chunk of their overall grades (mostly math and science classes at high school level).

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although his grades are posted on the parent portal website... The website tells how many credits he has earned so far, but does not give a GPA, or tell if he made the honor roll, etc.

 

Edited: Hm. So basically the only thing you don't have is their GPA calculation? There should be something on their district website.

 

Online would be fine (we do get a hard copy, mainly because the school district doesn't want to miss the grandparents raising kids, those who don't have Internet at home), but no grades would not be fine, so it depends on what kind of grades you are able to see.

 

We can see students' cumulative GPA in each course throughout the quarter. It's all live for the parents and kids to see. That is how they track their own progress, whether or not mom or dad is looking. It's how they will do it in college so why not high school?

 

I share your frustration.

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Haven't been around in a while, just popped back in today...  :)

 

Our school still sends a paper report card at the end of each quarter, as well as having it posted online as we go through the year. 

 

I wouldn't necessarily mind not having a paper copy until the end of the year (with an option to self-print), but it's not my experience to not have GPA or honor roll at all throughout the year.  Usually they have academic eligibility for activities, honor society different things like that, and I wonder how they would compute it if they're not tracking most recent GPA's??

 

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Thank you all for the replies.  

 

I checked in my parent handbook last night, and they gave the point totals awarded for each grade, so I was able to figure out a GPA.  It just seems so different than what I was used to when I went to school,  (but granted...that was many moons ago.) ;)

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