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Madison Metropolitan School District

Key Vocabulary

Key Vocabulary for Entering High School

  • Transcript - A high school transcript is basically a record of your academic accomplishments in high school. It lists every class you took, when you took them, and the grade you received in each class
  • Credit - Value assigned to each class taken in high school. Credits are earned at the end of a semester once you pass the class. Classes are either worth .5 or 1.0 credit. Classes worth a half (.5) credit is only a semester long class, classes that are worth one (1.0) credit is a year long class.
  • GPA (Grade Point Average) - A way of converting your grades into a numerical scale. The grades that you receive in your high school classes are all averaged together to arrive at one cumulative grade, which is then converted into your GPA.
  • Honors Courses - These are courses that provide opportunities to explore course material at a broader, deeper and more complex level than the standard course.
  • Elective classes - A course you take because you want to rather than to fill a particular requirement, although you still get credit for it. (Examples: Fashion and Sewing, Choir, Video Production etc)
  • Study Hall - A period in your school day set aside to study and complete assignments. No credit is awarded for study hall.
  • Graduation Requirement - Courses that a student must take in order to graduate from high school.
  • Post-secondary - Any education beyond high school. (4 year college, 2 year college, apprenticeships, certificate programs etc).
  • Dual Enrollment - A course which allows you to receive both high school and college credit.
  • Semester - How a school year is divided. Each school year in CISD is divided into 2 Semesters. Fall Semester and Spring semester. Each semester has 3 marking periods or 3 six weeks terms represented as Sem. 1 and Sem. 2 on the report card. A semester grade is posted to the transcript for each course taken. The semester grade is an average of the 3 six week grades.