General Attendance Policies and Procedures 

The SDPBC Student and Family Handbook outlines the attendance procedures. All school procedures conform to the following District-wide procedures. 

• Parents are responsible for notifying the school when a child will be absent and for informing the school of the reason for the absence.
• Parents are expected to notify the school when their child is absent and inform the school of the reason for the absence within 24 hours by a written note. A verbal communication from the parent for the reason  the absence would also be acceptable. 
• School officials may require medical verification of absences. It is the responsibility of the student to make up work missed because of absences 

Middle School Attendance Policies and Procedures

Students must be in attendance for a minimum of 90 percent of the class time to earn a passing grade in a middle school course. Students who are absent more than 10 percent of class time may earn a passing grade by demonstrating mastery. Mastery is defined as follows:

• earning a minimum grade of “D” for the quarter;
• and passing the quarterly assessment with a minimum grade of “D”.

Students who successfully demonstrate mastery will receive the grade earned and the quarterly assessment is not factored into the grade.  

Middle School (6-8) Curriculum

The middle school curriculum includes standards for the following content areas:

• Arts Education
• Career and Technical Education (CTE) 
• English Language Arts 
• Mathematics 
• Physical Education 
• Science 
• Social Studies
• World Languages

Promotion from 8th to 9th Grade:

• The student must successfully complete the following courses:
  
  • Three middle grades or higher courses in English Language Arts 
  • Three middle grades or higher courses in mathematics
  • Three middle grades or higher courses in social studies, one of these courses must be at least a one-semester civics education course
  • Three middle grades or higher courses in science
• The student must complete a Career & Education Planning course

Middle School (6-8) Promotion and Retention

Students who successfully complete the required courses in each grade must be promoted to the next grade level.

Promotion to Grade 9
In order to be promoted to Grade 9, students must meet the following requirements:

Subject - Number of Courses Passed
English Language Arts - 3
Mathematics - 3
Science - 3
Social Studies - 3
Career and Education Planning - 1

Note: Promotion to high school is contingent on meeting the requirements above.

Middle School Grading Scale

Description and definition of middle and high school grades
The grading system and interpretation of letter grades for all middle and high schools must comply with the grade scale identified in Florida Statute § 1003.437. These grades are used to measure student success in courses Grades 6-12

A (90-100) - Outstanding Progress - Indicates thorough mastery of subject
B (80-89) - Above Average Progress - Indicates above average mastery of the subject
C 70-79) - Average Progress - Indicates average mastery of the subject
D (60-69) - Lowest Acceptable Progress - Indicates below mastery of the subject
F (Below 60) - Failure - Indicates lack of mastery of the subject

Calculation of final grades in middle school
A final grade for a year long middle school course is calculated by averaging the grades from each of the four nine-week marking periods. A final grade for a semester-long middle school course is calculated by averaging the two marking period grades.  The final grade is calculated on a 4.0 system and converted to a letter grade.

4.0 = A
3.0 = B
2.0 = C
1.0 = D
0 = F

Report Cards

Middle and high schools in the SDPBC report grades to parents on a nine-week schedule. Each school determines Honor Roll criteria for students. Check with your child’s school counselor for honor roll information.

Middle School Attendance Policies and Procedures

Students must be in attendance for a minimum of 90 percent of the class time to earn a passing grade in a middle school course. Students who are absent more than 10 percent of class time may earn a passing grade by demonstrating mastery. Mastery is defined as follows:

• earning a minimum grade of “D” for the quarter; and 
• passing the quarterly assessment with a minimum grade of “D”.

Students who successfully demonstrate mastery will receive the grade earned and the quarterly assessment is not factored into the grade.

Reporting Attendance
 Attendance and academic performance shall be reported separately on student report cards. Students cannot be exempted from academic performance requirements based on policies or practices designed to encourage student attendance. [Florida Statute § 1003.33] 

Per Florida State Statute 1003.4156(e), a requirement for middle school promotion is that students complete one course in career and education planning in grades 6, 7, or 8, which may be taught by any member of the instructional staff. 

The SDPBC will be introducing and implementing Xello to our middle school students and parents as the provider of career and education planning virtual platform. Students will be able to log in through their student portal in SIS.

Xello Parent Pamphlet
Navigating Through Xello Account
Welcome To Xello Video

AVID

Requirements
Students must meet the following requirements and conditions, as stated in the Dual Enrollment Articulation Agreements, in order to be eligible for participation in the Dual Enrollment Program: Students must be enrolled in Grades 6-12 in a SDPBC school. Students in Grades 6-9 must have earned four (4) high school credits with at least a 3.50 GPA, two of which must be an English Language Arts course and a mathematics course.

Students must earn college ready scores on either the SAT, ACT, Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (P.E.R.T.) PSAT, or ACCUPLACER as specified in the Dual Enrollment Articulation Agreement. Students must earn college ready scores on all sections of the above-named tests, as specified in the Dual Enrollment Articulation Agreement, to enroll in any course except career/technical courses at Palm Beach State College. Students enrolling in mathematics courses at Florida Atlantic University must take a mathematics placement exam, Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS)

Middle School Students must contact their School Counselor or SDPBC School Counseling office to begin the Dual Enrollment application process.