US ACADEMICS
US ACADEMICS
At the upper school level, teachers work to provide a supportive educational process that encourages students to take ever-increasing risk and responsibility for their choices, effort, and achievement. In addition, teachers invest themselves in mentoring relationships with students so that each student is known, appreciated, and personally encouraged to excel. It is our belief that God reveals himself in His world and His word. Coursework and learning experiences are designed to communicate the relevance of Scripture while encouraging students to live lives of authentic faith.
FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
• CPA uses assessment and grading practices that serve to give authentic and timely feedback to students about their current levels of mastery and their progress toward academic goals within each unit. Formative assessments are used on a frequent basis within the classroom to assess each student’ s learning on a continual basis. These formative assessments inform instruction and guide future instruction which will improve student learning. In addition, teachers are able to give timely and instructive feedback to students. Results of this feedback allows students to take ownership of their own learning by reflecting upon their work. As a result, students will have the opportunity to receive additional time and targeted support from teachers to improve their learning. In the end, the variety of formative assessments and the respective feedback will lay the foundation and prepare the students for future, summative and high-stakes assessments.
• Summative assessments occur at the end of an instructional period or unit to evaluate student learning based upon understood and established criteria. These summative assessments are based upon the set objectives, learning tasks, and formative assessments allowing students to apply their learning in authentic, meaningful, and standard-based avenues.
• The benefits of this continual assessment, feedback, and intervention process negates the need for retakes on summative assessments. Teachers will return and post grades for summative assessments and assignments within a five-day period. Long-term assignments, projects, and papers may take up to 10 days to grade and return to students.
CLASS REGISTRATION AND CHANGES During the pre-registration process, students select the courses that best meet their needs and interests. Teachers make class recommendations based on student data. Parents have the opportunity to review and approve the classes requested by the student. Students receive a copy of their schedule during the summer and will have an opportunity to make changes. Not all requests can be accommodated due to master schedule constraints, course availability, and teacher approval.
After semester classes begin, students will remain in their requested classes for that term. If a teacher identifies a student is misplaced, the teacher will start a discussion with the assistant head of US-academics. A change in placement will occur only after a review of prior work and a team discussion that includes the assistant head of US-academics, teacher, parent, and student.
ACADEMIC TESTING Dates of all tests are available from the CPA College Counselor or the assistant head of US- academics.
• Pre ACT( in the spring, grades 9-10)
• ACT— American College Testing college entrance exam
• Fall: Senior ACT Administration
• Spring: Junior ACT Administration
• PSAT— a preliminary SAT( in the fall, grades 9 – 11)
• AP— Advanced Placement( administered in May)
• SAT— Scholastic Assessment Test college entrance exam( taken off-site)
STANDARDIZED TESTS Fees for the practice ACT, Fall Senior ACT, spring ACT test date, and PSAT are included in tuition.
The SAT, ACT,( outside of the grade 11 spring administration date), and SAT Subject Tests are not administered by CPA. Students are responsible for registration and fees to take these college entrance examinations. All juniors are required to take the ACT or SAT at least once in their junior year. Many students take both.
Advanced Placement( AP) examinations are nationally administered in May to students enrolled in AP-level courses. Students may receive college credit based upon their performance on these examinations. Each college or university independently sets the performance standards for college credit.. Students enrolled in an AP course are required to take the AP examination. If for any reason a student does not sit for the AP exam, they must take a final exam developed by the teacher which will be included in the student’ s semester average. Families are responsible for the cost of all AP exams.
GRADING SCALE AND QUALITY POINTS Numeric and letter grades appear on the report card and transcript. Each numeric grade is assigned corresponding quality points based on the table listed below. Numeric grades are rounded to the closest whole number when determining quality points.
HOMEWORK POLICY Teachers and academic departments determine the value and frequency of homework assignments. Students with questions concerning homework should ask the individual teacher for clarification. Teachers will be cognizant of other homework assignments and student responsibilities when they decide to schedule a major test or assignment.
FINAL SEMESTER GRADE CALCULATION The calculation used to figure the semester grade in an exam class is as follows: each quarter grade is worth 40 percent totaling 80 percent, and the exam is worth 20 percent of the final grade.
For example: 1st quarter grade 90 x. 40 = 36 plus 2nd quarter grade 85 x. 40 = 34 plus Exam 70 x. 20 = 14 Final average = 84
For non-exam classes, each quarter counts 50 percent of the semester grade.
SENIOR EXAM EXEMPTION Seniors who have a semester average of at least an A-( 89.5 and above) in a course prior to the semester examination will be exempt from the semester examination in that course.
GRADE POINT AVERAGE
The cumulative Grade Point Average( GPA) is computed by taking the total number of accumulated quality points and dividing it by the number of academic courses taken. The GPA is recalculated at the end of each semester.
The cumulative GPA includes all courses taken during the upper
18 / CPA US Student Handbook 2025-26