Academic Guidelines

AP classes are indicative of the most challenging curriculum a student can take at Bishop Luers and are often highly coveted by the most prestigious universities. The rich course material and demanding assignments typical of AP will help the student develop the knowledge and critical thinking skills expected of most college students. AP classes can be as challenging as introductory college courses. They are fast paced, cover more material than regular classes and require independent work like research and analysis. Bishop Luers offers the following AP courses:

With the help from various partnering area colleges, Bishop Luers can offer numerous dual credit courses within our school. Students need to apply and be accepted by the individual college. Note: Students are responsible for the tuition fees which must be paid directly to the college or university. It is up to the student to verify that their intended college will accept the dual credit. It is the student’s responsibility to request a transcript for the dual credit to be sent to the intended college as well.

Weight values are attached to each Honors, 3rd-5th year languages, dual credit and AP course offered at Bishop Luers. Weight values are used in determining the Honor Roll and cumulative GPA’s.

Honor Roll is determined in the following manner: Honor Roll is based only on quarter grades, not semester. To achieve High Honors a student must earn an A grade point average (4.000 points) with no grade below a B. To achieve Honors a student must earn a B+ grade point average (3.333 points) with no grade below a B-.  Honor Roll is determined as of the official date of the end of the quarter. Any grade changes after the end of the quarter date will not be considered for Honor Roll. Any cheating violation will prevent the student from being on Honor Roll for the remainder of the academic year.

A senior student may earn the distinction of Luers Scholar. To receive this accolade, the student must be on the High Honor Roll every quarter for the first 15 quarters.

The grade of “I” may be given by a teacher because of the student’s failure to complete the academic requirements of the course due to excused absences, as determined by the Administration. It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with the teacher to complete make-up assignments or tests within two weeks of the end of the grading period. The grade of “I” is not a permanent grade.

With parent permission and approval of the school counselor, a student may withdraw without penalty from a class within the first two weeks of the semester to take a study hall. If the request is made after the first two weeks of the semester, the student may withdraw from a class with a grade of WF (withdrawal fail) only and will be placed in a study hall. A WF grade will be entered on the student’s permanent record. A WF grade is computed into the student’s grade point average as an F for the semester. Administration will review all withdrawal requests to determine if it is medically necessary, in which case, the WF may be waived. NOTE: if a student is already taking a study hall, the student will not be allowed to withdraw, so choose your classes wisely. If a necessary schedule change is approved by administration more than two weeks into the semester, the grade that the student was receiving in the “old” class will be transferred to the gradebook for the “new” class. That grade will be put in for every assignment in the gradebook that was completed prior to the student entering the class.

Students attending BLHS will be permitted to retake up to three (3) classes throughout their academic career. When a course is retaken, the higher of the two grades will be recorded on the student’s transcript and calculated into the GPA. The lower grade will be removed from the transcript and will not be included in GPA calculations.

A student whose academic work is deficient can be placed on academic probation. The terms of the probation are set by the Administration on a case-by-case basis. A student can be asked not to return to Bishop Luers for the next semester if he/she does not meet the set criteria. A student who earns a GPA of less than 2.0 and/or is failing two or more classes at the end of a quarter or semester may be placed on academic probation. See handbook for complete policy information.

A student’s academic eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities is determined by grades of the previous quarter of the academic year. Students are ineligible if they do not have passing grades in 70% of their classes (ex. 5 of 7 classes). IHSAA mandates that for athletes, semester grades take priority over quarter grades in determining athletic eligibility.

Students violating school policies and procedures may be suspended from activities. See handbook for complete policy information.

A schedule change policy is in place because our master schedule and teacher assignments are based off student course requests. The school counselors will begin meeting with current students in February/March to pick classes for the next school year. There will be sufficient time to make any necessary adjustments by the deadline: A strict date of May 15 (of prior school year) will be enforced for all CORE and yearlong class change requests. CORE classes are defined as English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Theology and World Languages. Changes to course levels (AP, Honors, Academic) MUST be approved by the teacher. At the start of each semester, students will have 5 school days to request, in writing, a change of electives only. There will be a $15.00 fee for each change. If a CORE class change is requested, it will be reviewed by the administration for possible approval.