Grade Point Average, or GPA, is a numeric average of all grades achieved in your classes. The purpose of GPA is to provide a barometer as to overall performance of a student in his or her classes, as well as create a system that allows for comparisons between students, and a class ranking system.

How Your GPA is Calculated - Since most students receive grades on a letter-based system, ranging from A+ for near perfect performance, to F for inadequate performance, each grade must be converted into a number to create an accurate average. (Dubbing someone a "B student" is not as accurate as calculating a precise decimal GPA). Each letter grade is assigned a numeric value, which are then added together and divided by the total number of classes to calculate GPA. 

The Importance of Your GPA -  Part of the requirements to earn a STEM Certificate at LHS is your cumulative GPA (Purple Certificate of at least 3.0 and Gold Certificate of at least 3.5 by the end of your 7th semester of high school). Cumulative GPAs incorporate ALL grades from ALL of your high school classes. When thinking about your GPA, it's important to keep the following in mind:

• At LHS, classes carry the following grade point weights:
  • Non-Honors Classes:  A = 4.0,  B = 3.0,  C = 2.0,  D = 1.0,  F = 0
  • Honors Classes: A = 5.0,  B = 4.0,  C = 3.0,  D = 2.0,  F = 0
• Example:
  • You can see in the example above how the increased "weight" of an honors class can really help boost your GPA!
  • You can also see how the low weight of getting C's can really drag down your GPA.  For every C grade you get, you'll need to get an A in another class to offset the C.