With the start of the new year, it's time for the return to school. I hope that you had a wonderful break spent with family and friends. We now gear up for the last three weeks of the first semester of this school year. All course grades will be final on January 27th. This is the grade day date and semester grades from teachers are due on this date. A reminder that semester grades are final and are permanently recorded on transcripts. These grades are also used for calculating cumulative grade point averages. For the first time, some students course grades will be "weighted". Grades in all AP courses will be weighted which means that an A grade in an AP course carries with it 5 points instead of the usual 4 points. A grade of B carries with it 4 points etc. Because of weighted grades it will now be possible for students to accumulate a cumulative grade point average of over a 4.0 GPA. I also want to remind each of you that beginning with this years graduating class an Honors Diploma is a requirement for consideration as a Valedictorian or Salutatorian. This is a significant change from past policies. Please encourage your son or daughter to continue to do their absolute best in all classes between now and the end of this semester, mad welcome back to school!