Academic FAQs
What is a Cumulative GPA?
Cumulative GPA is the credit weighted average of all classes a student has taken at STM.
When do we calculate a Cumulative GPA?
Since the Cumulative GPA needs a class’s Actual Credit Earned in its calculation, we can only perform the calculation after credits are actually earned. The two times of the year are the end of 1st Semester and the end of 2nd Semester (end of year). Cumulative GPA’s cannot be calculated at any other time.
What are the Grading Scales: Unweighted vs. Weighted?
We calculate two separate GPAs, one for Standard classes (unweighted) and one for Honors and some AP classes (weighted). If you compare the Weighted and Unweighted columns in the grading scale table on the right, you can see the Numeric Equivalent value earned for each possible Letter Grade.
How do we calculate student Cumulative GPAs?
Cumulative GPAs are calculated by performing the following calculations for each grade scale, Weighted and Unweighted (see scales at right):
- for each class, using the appropriate grading scale (standard/unweighted vs. honors/weighted) for that class, take the earned Letter Grade Numeric Equivalent (eg: 4.667) times the Credits Earned (eg: 0.5)
- Add all of these products up
- divide by the Total Credits the student could have earned
Why are the Class Credits included in the GPA calculation?
The Class Credits are included as an overall weighting factor. For example, a PE class only earns .25 credits per semester whereas a normal Algebra class earns .5 credits. This credit difference allows the grade in Algebra class to be twice as important in the overall Cumulative GPA calculation as the equivalent PE class grade.
What GPA values are on the STM Report Card?
The GPAs displayed on the STM Report Card are the latest Cumulative GPAs calculated for the student. Important: for Quarters 1 and 3 they are the values calculated from the preceding term the student has completed and earned credit for and do not include the Quarter 1 or Quarter 3 grades. Occasionally, with new Freshmen, the values come from a Summer School class the student may have taken before the Freshmen year began.
What do attendance numbers on the Report Card mean (Period Attendance)?
STM takes “Period Attendance”, that is attendance of each child in each period of the day (excluding lunch). So for every day your child has a possible attendance count of 8 (periods). When we take attendance we give each mark a possible status: Present, Unexcused Absence, Excused Absence, Unexcused Tardy, Excused Tardy. The counts you see at the bottom of a Report Card are the period attendance totals for all days in that Quarter (1/2/3/4) and Total for the year.
You can see a detailed report of each period attendance not marked Present by click “Student Information” and then “Attendance”. Keep in mind Retreat days, which will be entered as 8 Excused Absences (8 periods missed for a full day).
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