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Grades and Grade Point Average (GPA)
Find a summary of key grading policies and details about grade points and how they are calculated.
Grading policies
Academic achievement policies are defined by board policies and district regulations. These policies were set based on feedback from teachers, administrators, district leaders, parents and community members. For specific details, see
How grades are determined
Expand AllPreK-K
Cycle grade guidelines and weights
The pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teacher will evaluate the student’s mastery of district curriculum and state standards by observation and student performance. Reports should reflect the progress of a student in the areas of:
- Listening and Speaking
- Phonological Awareness
- Print Awareness/Reading Readiness
- Comprehension
- Writing/Fine Motor
- Social Studies
- Mathematics
- Work Habits and Social Development
- Science/Health
- Art, Music, Physical Education
EOY grades
Letters & symbols will be used to reflect skill mastery.
Grades 1-5
Cycle grade guidelines and weights
Teachers are required to update grades in Skyward a minimum of one time per week.
- Minor grades: 80% (8 grades minimum) - Classwork, assignments, homework and quizzes
- Major grades: 20% (2-3 grades minimum) - Tests, projects, products, Benchmark Exams, common assessments
EOY grades
- Cycle 1 - 25%
- Cycle 2 - 25%
- Cycle 3 – 25%
- Cycle 4 – 25%
Total: 100%
Grades 6-8
Cycle grade guidelines and weights
Teachers are required to update grades in Skyward weekly.
- Minor grades: 70% (10 grades minimum) - Classwork, assignments, homework, quizzes
- Major grades: 20% (4 grades minimum) - Tests, projects, products, Benchmark Exams, common assessments
- Cycle exam: 10% (1 grade per cycle)
Semester grades
Semester 1
- Cycle 1 - 50%
- Cycle 2 - 50%
Total: 100%
Semester 2
- Cycle 3 – 50%
- Cycle 4 – 50%
Total: 100%
Final averages
Report card and transcript formats only display semester averages. There is no final or end-of-year average. Credit, grades, grade points, rank in class, etc., are all based on semester grades only.
In the rare event that a student has one semester grade below 70 and the other above 70 so that the student’s overall average is passing for a two-semester course, the failing grade will be displayed with a “period” after it to designate that credit was earned for this semester.
Grades 9-12
Cycle grade guidelines and weights
Grades should be documented weekly.
- Minor grades: 60% (10 grades minimum) - Classwork, assignments, homework, quizzes
- Major grades: 30% (4 grades minimum) - Tests, projects, products, Benchmark Exams, common assessments
- Cycle exam: 10% (1 grade per cycle)
For dual credit courses taught on or off the high school campus, the grading system used will be the grading system of the partner college or university. If numeric grades are not provided, letter grades will be converted (EIC Exhibit C) and submitted to Skyward at the end of each semester.
Semester grades
Semester 1
- Cycle 1 - 50%
- Cycle 2 - 50%
Total: 100%
Semester 2
- Cycle 3 – 50%
- Cycle 4 – 50%
Total: 100%
Final averages
Report card and transcript formats only display semester averages. There is no final or end-of-year average. Credit, grades, grade points, rank in class, etc., are all based on semester grades only.
In the rare event that a student has one semester grade below 70 and the other above 70 so that the student’s overall average is passing for a two-semester course, the failing grade will be displayed with a “period” after it to designate that credit was earned for this semester.
Grade point system
The grade point system is a process for weighting courses based upon the difficulty of the courses. In our grade point system, more rigorous courses receive additional grade points resulting in a 5.0 scale compared to the traditional 4.0 scale. The collection of grade points begins in 9th grade for most students.
Student GPA is calculated several times each year during their high school career. A student’s most recent GPA calculation is normally reported on the student’s report card at the end of each grading cycle.
The official GPA posted on the final transcript and used for graduation purposes is calculated after the second to the last grading cycle of each student’s senior year. This official GPA is used to determine each student’s final rank in class. The two students having the highest rank designated as Valedictorian and Salutatorian. A 3.5 GPA is required for honor grads starting with the class of 2016.
Texas law provides automatic admission to the Texas public college or university of a student's choice if that student graduates in the top ten percent of his/her senior class, so a student’s GPA and rank in class is very important for college admission. See the section below regarding GPA Calculation for more details about this process.
Because other institutions sometimes ask for students’ grades in other formats, we can produce a student’s GPA based on a universal 4.0 scale and a student’s overall numerical grade average, but the weighted GPA described below is the official GPA used for all GISD designations.
Grade points
The following designations indicate the type of grade points available for a particular course.
(IB), (IntH) International Baccalaureate grade points (only offered at Garland HS)
(AP), (PreAP), (Adv CTE), (H), (MST)*, or (AMS)* Honors grade points
(DC) Dual credit grade points
(R) Regular grade points
(B) Basic grade points
(NGP) Does not receive grade points
*Only offered at North Garland HS
The following grade point table indicates the grade point system to be used for all high school courses. The course descriptions found in the course guides indicate (1) whether grade points are awarded for each course and (2) if grade points are awarded, what level of grade points are awarded. Not all high school courses earn grade points. For example, students enrolled in many of the athletics, physical education and music courses are not awarded grade points.
Evaluation of student effort will be numeric grades with grade points awarded in the following manner:
A student who transfers into a district high school with higher-level course credits, such as International Baccalaureate (IB), International Honors (IntH), Advanced Placement (AP), Pre-AP/Honors, or Dual Credit, shall receive similar credits counted toward the GPA according to the list of higher-level courses offered to other students in the same graduating class at that district high school and the grade point scale used for credit earned in the district.
Grade Point Average (GPA) calculation procedure
- Multiply GPA Credits by the GPA Points to calculate the grade points earned for each semester.
- Divide total GPA Points by the total GPA Credits to calculate the cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA).
- Calculations are rounded to 5 decimal places.
To see the breakdown of the GPA averages and examples for students graduating in 2022 or before, see our 2022 and before grade point table page.
To see the breakdown of the GPA averages for students graduating in 2023 and after, see our 2023 and after grade point table page.
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