The Greene County School District recently made decisions concerning students and their education moving forward into next school year, due to the impacts of COVID-19.

Pre-kindergarten through 8th grade will be promoted to the next grade level in the fall. Additional meetings will be held with teachers to determine what material wasn’t covered during the third trimester and that material will be delivered to the students in the fall. However, those students that were considered for retention were those prior to the school closure due to the virus. It will be the judgement of the teacher, principal and counselor that if a student is prepared and demonstrates the knowledge and skills prior to the school closure and can fully participate in the higher grade level, that student will be promoted. 

As for 9th-11th grade students, there are a couple of routes for them to take. All 9th-11th graders will be given credit for third trimester classes that they are enrolled in. Those will be given a “P” for passing and will not impact their grade point average. However, those high school juniors who are enrolled in public speaking, which is a required class to graduate, will not be required to retake the class for credit, but must complete “job shadow” during their senior year.

Those students enrolled in courses that are considered required prerequisites for career and technical education (CTE) and fine arts classes will be waived. As for 9th and 10th grade English Language Arts students and foreign language courses, the standards are the same with varying degrees of complexity. Teachers are working to provide individual student learning and will continue to do so until the student has mastered the essential standards. Students that are working through Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II in that order, each one is not a precursor to the next, along with students taking biology and chemistry. 

As for pre-calculus, advanced placement calculus, advanced chemistry and physics, students must demonstrate proficiency in the preceding course in order to move on. The teachers are developing proficiency assessments for students to complete prior to taking one of these classes. If the student chooses not to take the assessment or fails it they will be required to take the prerequisite course next school year before they can enroll in one of these courses. 

As a reminder the District is continuing to utilize voluntary educational enrichment opportunities for students and Superintendent Tim Christensen encourages students to take advantage of those opportunities.