What is on an MCPS transcript, exactly

[Anonymous]

My high school freshman had major medical issues this quarter, and missed a lot of school. There's some disagreement between me and the school about whether her 504 was appropriately administered, and there are some assignments that she never received that are graded as zero. My position is that it is the school's error in not giving them to her, and that they need to fix the error by either marking them as excused or giving them to her now so she can complete them and petition for a grade change.

However, from looking at edline and the MCPS grading policy, I'm not entirely sure which assignments are worth fighting. In one class, for example, she has an 81. The extra assignment would make her have like an 86 -- so still a B. I won't fight that.

In another class, changing the assignment would change her letter grade for the quarter, but I'm not sure it changes the letter grade for the semester when it's averaged with the exam grade and first quarter. It's on the border between a D and a C (I know, but she missed more than 1/2 the semester so it's kind of a miracle she passed). It appears that if she gets a BCC, a BCD, a BDC, or a BDD (that's Q1, Q2, Exam) she'll have a C for any combo.

But is it just semester grades that go to colleges? Or semesters and exam grades? Or will they see that D for the quarter. I don't really want to fight for a grade that won't make a difference in the long run.

Oh, and for those of you who would like to tell me that your kids would never get a D, even if they were in a coma, and that I'm a lousy parent, whatever.

[Anonymous]

Colleges only see the semester grade - no quarter grades, no exam grades. There is a notation by each class that is advanced, honors, CM level. They see the GPA and weighted GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges only see the semester grade - no quarter grades, no exam grades. There is a notation by each class that is advanced, honors, CM level. They see the GPA and weighted GPA.

Thank you! That helps a lot.

[Anonymous]

Your DC will have an opportunity to explain a drop in grades due to a medical condition on his applications, just be sure its an excuse that would go over well. He also has a few years to bring things up -- better to have a dip in grades as a freshman than later.

[Anonymous]

Without knowing all the circumstances, I might press a little harder about the 504.

They have a legal obligation to provide all of the accommodations and if they did not, you might be able to get them to allow DC to redo some of the work.

I would call a 504 meeting and if possible get an ed consultant in there to support you. It costs money but is a worthwhile investment if you are looking at things like college admissions down the line.