Academics are at the core of your high school experience. This is true for every class you take at East. Adults in the school community will help you develop a plan which may be modified as appropriate. It is your responsibility to:

• Be in class on time every day
• Be prepared, including having all necessary books, materials, and assignments completed
• Participate productively in class activities
• Respect yourself and others’ property
• Monitor graduation requirements

ECHHS ADVOCACY PROGRAM
GOALS FOR ADVOCACY
All students benefit from a significant relationship with an adult; therefore, an Advocacy Program will exist where each staff member will meet with his or her student advocates individually and in small groups on a regular basis. Such a relationship fosters increased academic success and supports student needs throughout high school. Active student participation in the Advocacy Group promotes a sense of belonging to the wider school community. Attendance in Advocacy is mandatory.
Student advocates will accomplish three things through the Advocacy Program:

1. Conduct regular self-assessment of academic progress during the year in all subjects, concentrating specifically on major projects and test performance;
2. Engage in discussion of issues important to the school and community;
3. Receive assistance in monitoring and planning the completion of the service learning requirement.

CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
All students are encouraged to find a club or an organization on campus that interests them. An advisor who is a member of the faculty or staff must be part of a club in order for it to function. Students interested in joining, forming or learning about a club should talk to the assistant principal in charge of clubs. In the fall, students will participate in club day. During Advocacy, students will receive a list and description of clubs and organizations at ECHHS. Advocates will distribute a club brochure describing all clubs at ECHHS in the fall. Because participation in clubs is strongly encouraged, the Board of Education will review the percentage of students involved in clubs and that stays on campus during lunch.

COLLEGE AND CAREER INFORMATION CENTER
You’ve been asked what you are going to be when you grow up for the last 12-15 years. Maybe you know exactly what you want, or maybe you don’t have a clue! The College and Career Information Center (CCIC) and the Career Development Coordinators, Mr. Carter and Ms. Parker, can help.

• Do you need help with choosing courses that will “fit” with a particular major in college?
• Would you like to take a career inventory?
• Would you like to do a computer search for colleges? Learn about the military?
• Are you looking for a job or an internship?
• Are you interested in taking courses at the community college for dual enrollment?
• Do you just want to sit down with someone who can help with the overwhelming college and career search process?
• Are you looking for SAT I/II information, work permits, college applications, tutors?

You should be interested in all of the above! They give you insights into career and college majors, as well as giving you an inside track to career and workforce contacts. The CCIC is the place to investigate all of these questions and so much more. ECOS (Educational and Career Opportunities System) is an Internet based program that East subscribes to so that students can access this college and career search program from any Internet connected site. It lists scholarships offered at East and offers a calendar specific to the happenings at East. We post all of the dates for visits from college representatives and any additional programs which are of interest to our students. Any student can receive a password to access this program by visiting the CCIC. Check out the information in books, videos, the Jobs Notebook, scholarship notebook, and file drawers full of college information, scholarship applications, and information on summer opportunities.

A career counselor is available during the day to assist you with materials. The CCIC is open from 8:00 A.M. until 4:00 P.M. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 AM – 12:45 PM on Friday. For more information there is always up-to-date information at: http://www.echhs.org click on Academics, then click on CIC.

CORRESPONDENCE COURSES
Correspondence courses are only given through an approved institution and are reserved for juniors and seniors who are either transfer students or are trying to make room in their schedules for other courses. All correspondence courses must be approved by your counselor. These courses are not included in your daily schedule and are self-directed. The counseling department does not recommend trying to make up a course you have failed in the regular school year through correspondence. All midterms and finals for correspondence courses will be taken at East AND THE GRADES WILL APPEAR ON YOUR TRANSCRIPT. When a senior has not completed at least one semester of a year long required course via correspondence by the second week of January, that senior will be placed in the second semester of the East equivalent to that correspondence course. Seniors must successfully complete correspondence courses two weeks prior to the date of graduation.

COUNSELING PROGRAM
The focus of the East Chapel Hill High School Counseling Department is to work with all students in a positive and proactive way, offering services in three areas of student development: personal/social counseling, educational planning, and career development. Counselors are assigned by alphabetical categories. You may make an appointment to see your counselor by seeing the counseling secretary in the appropriate Quad.

Personal and social issues may be addressed through individual counseling, small group counseling, and/or referrals. If a student or a student’s parent does not wish to have a student participate in the group counseling experiences that are offered, they should notify the Counseling Office.

The Counseling Department also includes a full-time Family Specialist who serves as a social worker for the school and a full-time Student Assistance Specialist who works with our intervention team and with substance abuse prevention and intervention services.

The ECHHS Counseling Department and the College and Career Information Center strive toward the following goal:

To inform, encourage and support students during their process of exploring and choosing among career, college, and employment possibilities. Each student should leave East Chapel Hill High School with an idea of what he or she wishes to be doing in the following year after graduation as well as possible ideas for future years.

In order to accomplish this goal, the following methods will assist in our process:
• Outreach - A proactive approach alerting students to various counseling and career guidance services at East that help ensure all students are reached.
• Instruction - Programs and special events to engage students and parents.
• Counseling - Helping students explore issues related to educational and career planning resulting in a well considered Career Development Plan (CDP).
• College and Career information - Resources are available to provide current information to students about occupations, career development, and educational options.
• Community Based and Employment Opportunities - Internships, apprenticeships, and part-time work facilitate the testing of career interests and help students develop effective work abilities.

Tutoring is available free of charge from student government. A copy of the list of tutors is available in the Student Government Office, CCIC or from faculty members.

DRIVER’S EDUCATION
Bryant Driving School in Durham conducts our driver’s education classes. To register for a class, please call them at (919) 489-7550 or fax them at (919) 419-0538. A schedule of class dates and times is posted in each assistant principal’s office and in the main office.

There are several changes in the procedures regarding how a student obtains and retains his/her driver’s permit or license. A student will need to have a Driving Eligibility Certificate in order to receive a North Carolina driver’s permit or license until he/she reaches the age of eighteen (18). The Division of Motor Vehicles will NOT issue a permit or license without a Driving Eligibility Certificate. PURSUANT to G.S. 20-11 (n) and (nl), a student who wishes to get and keep a permit or license to drive prior to his/her 18th birthday must be enrolled in school, must pass 5 out of 6 courses or pass 70% of the courses he/she is taking, and must not be given a suspension nor placement in an alternative educational setting of longer than 10 days for possession/sale of alcohol or controlled substances on school property, bring/possess/use a weapon on school property nor assault any school personnel on school property. Students who do not meet these criteria will be reported to the DMV and will have their permit or license revoked.

You can obtain a Driving Eligibility Certificate by first completing a request form in the Quad C assistant principal’s office, Room 196. There is a two working school day time period for processing each request. Parents must come in to the Quad C assistant principal’s office to sign the completed certificate. The certificate is valid for 30 days from the date of issue. Students must also show written proof of North Carolina residency in order to obtain an original driver’s license, permit or identification card. This policy is for first time issuances only. This is in addition to the requirement of two forms of identification, unless one of the required ID documents has the applicant’s residential address on it. Acceptable documents of proof of residence(for the student not the parent) are: school records signed by a school official such as a report card, valid passport, military orders, immigration and naturalization service (INS) documents, library card, North Carolina voter registration card, computer generated check stub or computer generated tax record.

A STUDENT WHO IS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 AND DROPS OUT OF SCHOOL OR IS SUSPENDED FOR THE YEAR WILL LOSE HIS/HER DRIVER’S PERMIT OR LICENSE.

EDUCATIONAL INTERNSHIP
All students enrolled in an internship are to leave campus within ten minutes of the designated internship period. All work study or work release students must report to the staff person or Media Center during their work study period. Students participating in an Educational Internship are not permitted to leave campus during their internship period, unless the internship is at an approved, off-campus site.

ENGLISH REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION OF STUDENTS FROM NON-AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOLS (applies to Class of 2003):
A student coming from a high school outside of the United States must complete at least two (2) years of English in the form of a standard English course, and one of these classes must be English III or English IV (dependent upon consultation and recommendation of the English Department). Up to two (2) years of English as a Second Language (ESL) can count toward the total requirement of four (4) credits of English. If a student is coming here from a foreign country and enters into and successfully completes English II, III, or IV, we can grant the English that was studied in the home country as credits toward our English requirements.

EXAM EXEMPTIONS
We think that semester exams are an important part of the educational process because they offer students an opportunity to review and deepen the connections in the course content.

Seniors with a “B” average and no more than nine (9) excused absences for the second semester will be exempted from their spring semester exams. Seniors who will graduate in January will be exempted from their final exams if they have a “B” average and have no more than three (3) excused absences for that semester. A cut will forfeit the exemption for any qualifying senior.

No major assignments shall be assigned and no major tests shall be given during the five (5) days prior to the beginning of semester/final exams.

There are NO exemptions from State/System end-of-course tests.

GRADE PLACEMENT
In order to be classified a senior, you must have earned 14 credits that include 3 credits of English, 2 credits of social studies, 2 credits of math, and 2 credits of science.

In order to be classified a junior, you must have earned 10 credits that include 2 credits of English, 1 credit of social studies, 1 credit of math, and 1 credit of science.

In order to be classified a sophomore, you must have earned 5 credits that include 1 credit of English.

In order to participate in sports, you must pass five courses, be promoted and be in attendance 85% of the school year. [Note: This rule will also apply to getting a driver’s license in North Carolina.]

GRADING SCALE
Report Card Grading Scale

A 93-100 Outstanding Effort and Consistently High Quality Work

B 92-85 Solid Performance with Good Quality Work

C 84-76 Adequate Performance with Adequate Effort

D 75-70 Barely Satisfactory Effort

F 69 and below Unsatisfactory Performance

WP Withdrawn Passing

WF Withdrawn Failing

Progress Report Grading Scale

S Student has consistently turned in his/her work and grades on most major tasks (tests, papers, projects) are in the A through high C range

N Student has some missing work and/or grades on most major tasks (tests, papers, projects) are in the low C or D range

U Student has considerable work missing and grades on most major tasks (tests, papers, projects) are Fs. Parents are encouraged to review the student’s work and contact the teacher.

GRADUATION
Participation in the graduation ceremony requires that a student successfully complete all of the graduation requirements prior to the date of graduation, participate in graduation rehearsals, and be in good standing with the school including paying fines owed to the school. The graduation requirements are listed in the ECHHS Course Offerings booklet, or may be obtained from your counselor.

HONOR CODE
Cheating is the act of gaining an unfair advantage, or misrepresenting one’s knowledge. It includes, but is not limited to:

Wrongfully using or taking the ideas or work of another. For example:

--Giving or receiving unauthorized aid from another person on assignments, papers, quizzes, tests, or examinations.
--Plagiarizing.
--Getting advance information about quizzes, tests, or examinations.

Using or consulting unauthorized materials or using unauthorized devices on papers, quizzes, tests or examinations.

Using any portion of a paper or project to fulfill the requirements of more than one course, unless the student has received prior permission to do so.

Intentionally misrepresenting the need for extra time on any assignments, papers, quizzes, tests or examinations, in order to gain more information.

Choosing to be absent on the due date of a paper, project, quiz or test.

Lying about any of the above.

Violating the honor code will result in a “0” (zero) for the work in question at a minimum. In addition, incidences of cheating can jeopardize admission to the National Honor Society and one’s ability to get college recommendations. ECHHS’s Integrity Committee meets on a regular basis and may suggest additional consequences for cheating or add additional actions that constitute cheating.

National Honor Society
Selection for membership in the ECHHS National Honor Society (NHS) begins with meeting the requirements for G.P.A. and completed service learning hours (30 hours for sophomores, 40 hours for juniors). Students who meet these requirements will receive a letter inviting them to pursue membership in the NHS. Interested students will complete an activities form, demonstrating their leadership, service, and character through the activities in which they participate. They must also sign up in the counseling office for one of the essay sessions. Because NHS seeks students who exhibit the highest standards of scholarship, service, character, and leadership, candidates write a multi-paragraph essay in which they are asked to clearly demonstrate that they have met the service, character, and leadership criteria above and beyond the average student at East Chapel Hill High School. The essay, along with the activities form, will be reviewed by the entire NHS Faculty Council.

In addition to the student-produced essay and activities form, the NHS Faculty Council requests input from the entire ECHHS faculty. The faculty is asked to fill out an evaluation form, assessing each candidate’s character, service, and leadership. The council also performs a thorough review of the candidates’ discipline history. From all of this information, the NHS Faculty Council determines each student’s eligibility for membership in the NHS, and decides by a majority vote.

Once students are inducted in the NHS, they are expected to maintain high standards of scholarship, leadership, service and character. Students who fall below the standards may lose their membership. Responsibilities of NHS members include the following required activities: participation in service projects, attendance at monthly meetings, fundraising, PTA Thrift Shop hours, and representation at school/community events.

The presence of the NHS on our campus sets high standards for all of our students. There is a clear message that we value academic excellence, strong leadership, service in the school and community, and the highest standards of integrity and honesty. Members of the NHS will respect and adhere to the Honor Code. A student who is disciplined by the administration for cheating will forfeit membership permanently.

For a complete listing of the official NHS descriptions of students who exhibit high standards of service, character, and leadership, interested students should ask the NHS Advisors, members of the NHS Faculty Council, or their assistant principal.

MEDIA CENTER
The Media Center of East Chapel Hill High School provides a variety of services to help students use media for scholastic and recreational needs. The Media Program is designed to help students acquire skills in reading, listening, observing, and communicating ideas. The center combines function with comfort. There are areas for study, research, computer use, video viewing, video production, pleasure reading, and group work. The Center is open from 7:45 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Monday through Thursday, and until 4:00 P.M. on Friday.

During the school day, students coming to the Media Center must have a pass signed by a teacher or administrator. Passes are not required at lunch, before or after school. No food, drinks, cell phones are permitted in the Media Center. Students are reminded to consider the needs of others and to work quietly in the Center.

The Center houses a large, diverse collection of both fiction and non-fiction books, audio tapes, CDs, current magazines and newspapers. A thirty-two-station research-learning hub contains networked CD ROMs, on-line subscription databases, and an on-line catalogue all of which can be accessed from home. Full-text magazine and newspaper indexes, encyclopedias, and subject-oriented biographical and literary sources are on the hub. Internet access is provided for educational purposes. Additional information about the Media Center can be found on our website:

http://www.chccs.k12.nc.us/echhs/mediacenter/media_center_home.htm

SERVICE LEARNING
All East Chapel Hill High School graduates must complete 50 hours of service learning in order to receive a diploma. The Service Learning Program at E.C.H.H.S. is grateful for the many services-to-others provided by our students and other community members for the benefit of ECHHS. In return for this generosity we fully support the Board of Education’s requirement that a small token of individual time be delivered by each student at E.C.H.H.S. for the betterment of our community.

The staff at ECHHS may help students achieve their service learning goals by incorporating up to 15 hours of service activities into the curriculum as students move from ninth to twelfth grade. For example, biology may teach a lesson that has a two (2) hour service activity as part of the unit’s requirements. However, the staff believes that the students should initiate the majority of the activities they undertake to meet their 50 hour requirement.

Student Responsibilities
• Contribute at least 50 hours of service to the community in at least two (2) separate activities. The second activity must account for at least 10 of the 50 hours.
• Make contact with the agency/organization you wish to serve prior to beginning any service activity and establish the times and dates of your service, what you will be doing and what training you need to undergo prior to your service experience. A list of potential service opportunities is available through the Service Learning Office, Room 108, or log onto echhs.org and click on Academics to obtain service learning information.
• Make sure that you sign in with your agency or coordinator and that you get your documentation form signed by your supervisor.
• Turn in all completed service learning documentation forms to Room 108 as soon as possible after the activity is completed. The form will be checked by the service learning coordinator to see if it meets the approved criteria. You will be notified by the service learning coordinator in writing, through your 1st period teacher, if there is any problem. If you are not sure if an activity is eligible for service learning credit, please obtain pre-approval through the service learning office.
• When all 50 hours have been completed, all students are required to submit a 1-2 page written report that reflects on their experiences. The specific instructions and formatting requirements will be discussed through senior English classes.

Restrictions
1) Students are required to participate in at least two different service activities. Both activities may be provided through the same agency. In addition, time spent formally organizing and planning the activity or participating in training will be counted as long as the hours are verified by the supervising adult (not a relative).
2) Service learning activities for which students are personally compensated or which is a required form of restitution will not be counted toward the service learning requirement. The service cannot be provided to a for-profit organization unless it provides a benefit to their clients that they otherwise would not receive. Activities engaged in through an organization such as a church or student club, which are primarily for the benefit of the members, will not be approved (e.g. raising funds for a trip).
3) Prior approval by the service learning coordinator is advised, particularly for service opportunities which have not been publicized through the Service Learning Office. No more than 25 hours of service learning credit may be earned during the summer months immediately prior to entering 9th grade at E.C.H.H.S.

NOTE: The hour requirements for students who transfer into the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System after ninth grade will be prorated as follows: 40 hours for students entering as sophomores, 30 hours for students entering as juniors, and 20 hours for students entering as seniors. Also, please note that documentation forms are not accepted during the summer months. There will be up to a two week turnaround period for the service learning coordinator to document service hours completed during the summer months.

VALEDICTORIAN SELECTION
The valedictorian for ECHHS will be the student(s) who has/have received only the grade of “A” for all classes in which he/she has enrolled over the course of his/her entire high school career. This includes any courses taken at other high schools, through correspondence courses, during a summer school experience, or at any institution of higher learning for which a student has been given high school credit.
This does not mean that weighted grades which are equivalent to an “A” count. The letter grade assigned must be an “A”.

The valedictorian must be in residence at ECHHS for one semester in order to be considered eligible.

WITHDRAWAL PROCEDURE
If you are transferring to another school, obtain a withdrawal form from the Quad C counseling secretary at the beginning of the last day you plan to attend East Chapel Hill High School and follow the directions attached to the form. Books must be returned and all financial obligations met before withdrawing from school. Transcripts will not be released until all obligations to the school have been met. All withdrawals need to begin with a parent/guardian conference with your assistant principal or counselor.