The Gasconade County R-2 School District will be transitioning the high school to a plus/minus grading scale in the 2022-23 school year, according to Principal Kris Altemeyer.
“What we had …
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The Gasconade County R-2 School District will be transitioning the high school to a plus/minus grading scale in the 2022-23 school year, according to Principal Kris Altemeyer.
“What we had was the range of grades in increments of 10,” Altemeyer explained. “Whether you had an 80 or 89, it was a B and whether it was a 90 or 99, it was an A. It doesn’t serve our kids. We have a large class and all the students have the same GPA.”
Starting in the 2022-23 school year, an A is 95-100 or grade point average (GPA) of 4.0. An A- is 90-94 or 3.75 GPA. B+ is 87-89 or 3.50 GPA. B is 84-86 or 3.25 GPA. B- is 80-83 or 3.0 GPA. C+ is 77-79 or 2.75 GPA. C is 74-76 or 2.50 GPA. C- is 70-73 or 2.0 GPA. D+ is 67-69 or 1.75 GPA. D is 64-66 or 1.50 GPA. D- is 60-63 or 1.0 GPA; and F is 0-59 or 0.0 GPA.
“Currently, we are the only district in our conference that does not utilize a plus/minus grading scale, and we feel now is the appropriate time to make this transition,” Altemeyer wrote home in a letter to parents. “We want to do everything we can to support our students and make sure those who are meeting the highest standards are properly recognized.”
Altemeyer said that having a 10 percentage point spread for each GPA interval was no longer providing a significant distinction between different levels of performance in the classroom.
“It doesn’t serve our kiddos or the large class when all the students have the same GPA,” he said. “Our scale is starting next school year.”
Altemeyer added that the change in the grading scale will not affect individual classes and will not add “weight” to any particular subject.
“Parents want what’s best for their kid,” he said. “There will be a kid who had a 4.0 in class that will go down to a 3.75. Colleges will look at the difficulty of the class and will see the wide variety of things people do for their GPA. You can’t compare one school to another.”
Altemeyer said that everyone has it in their minds that they can’t get into a good school without a 4.0 GPA, but that isn’t true.
The board approved the change during the April 19 meeting with a 6-0 vote. Altemeyer sent out an April 22 letter to parents to inform them of the change.
