covid19 and high school transcripts

[Momto6inIN]

My DS who is a sophomore at Purdue got an email that the university will be putting an * on all transcripts for this semester since they went to online. I also think they are considering switching to pass/fail (or may have already done so, but I don't know that for sure). This completely and totally ticks him off, but that's another thread 😉

My question is, should I be putting an * on my high schoolers' transcripts stating that their academic work has not changed due to covid19, just their extracurriculars? My 2nd DS who is a senior had a DE course in the fall, but all the rest of his work is at home with me and hasn't changed, nor has my DD's who is a sophomore. I know admissions departments will all be dealing with a variety of students and a wide range of how their schools dealt with the pandemic for several years to come, but I wondered if I needed to point out the fact that ours proceeded as normal.

What thinks the Hive?

[Miss Tick]

I like this idea! Mine are freshmen, so I don't imagine it having much is an effect. I had been thinking that going forward everyone will be thinking that this semester was majorly disrupted and reflexively write it all off, but our school schedule has not been affected. Not at all! In fact I've been thinking I may add our own May-mester just to keep everybody busy as this thing drags on.

My understanding is that Purdue engineering is giving students the option of taking a grade or switching to pass/fail. Either way has complications, though.

[Matryoshka]

5 minutes ago, SusanC said:

My understanding is that Purdue engineering is giving students the option of taking a grade or switching to pass/fail. Either way has complications, though.

All my kids' universities are taking this approach - and I think they can choose at the last minute.  I kind of like this, as it still gives them incentive to strive, but also gives grace if the online switch isn't going well fo whatever reason.

[Hadley]

I have added a paragraph to my school profile that states that we did NOT stop schooling during the pandemic.  I am in a county where the public schools are still doing nothing, a month in to the shut-down (that’s for a whole ‘nuther thread). I want to be sure that colleges see the work my son continued to do.

[BusyMom5]

This has crossed my mind as well.  My high school Jr is taking all college classes, online, and course materials and assignments are still the same.  My Freshman is still taking the same mom-taught courses.  Nothing has changed for either of them.  The local high school tried to keep teaching,  but just today gave up.  All post-spring break stuff is enrichment,  not for a grade.  

[Aloha2U]

Perhaps just putting a quick blurb in each course description of any extra curriculars (or other courses) about how they were affected and/or changed to compensate for social distancing, and then a simple notation made in the school and student profiles?

PE Course Description: *During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, __________ training continued at home while practicing social distancing.

Music Course Description: *During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, guitar lessons with the instructor continued via Skype at home while practicing social distancing.

Homeschool Profile: During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, our studies continued as usual with little to no interruption while practicing social distancing.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Mom21

[Guest]

I just added notes to DD's classes-both for the ones that were unchanged and for the college classes that changed very abruptly. 

[Junie]

Our homeschooling is all at home and hasn't changed.  I am not planning to make any remarks regarding work on dd17's transcript.

[mom2scouts]

That's an interesting idea. I think most schools will either use the grade the student had when things shut down or go to Pass/Fail.  Colleges won't really know what to make of this semester's grades and may not take them seriously. Our academic classes are all taught at home, so nothing has changed. I like the idea of making a note on the school profile. DS was swimming most mornings and we were going to use that as a PE course on his transcript, but the pool closed and I'm not sure how to handle that. Maybe I'll just convert that to Pass/Fail, and/or make a note on the transcipt or course description that the pandemic changed it to home workouts.