• HP stands for Honors program, which is a schedule of classes, designed to challenge students and prepare them for college level classes.
• The Honors Program classes are different because they provide an enhanced learning experience focused on critical thinking skills, research work, experiential learning and service learning.
• The Honors Program program consists of advanced courses that start in middle grades. A student meeting the criteria of the Honors Program program in middle school may be permitted to participate at the high school level.
• The program was developed to provide students in the Floyd County School System with courses designed to prepare them for the rigors of the most demanding college or university available.
• The reason for having an Honors Program program is to allow students to challenge themselves academically, as well as give parents the satisfaction of knowing their student is prepared for college classes.
• FCS feels that it is extremely important for students to take courses that are challenging because when a student takes the next step and begins to take college courses on their way to earning a degree, the classes gradually become more difficult for the student. Preparing for those difficult classes early can help the student to be more successful in the future.
• The program began in the fall of 2002.
• The first class to graduate with the Honors Program seal was May of 2006.

• The Honors Program enables a student to take courses that provide more of a challenge needed in which to be successful taking college courses. Colleges are choosing students for admission that have the honors, AP courses that provide a richer and rigorous curriculum. The Honors Program gives the opportunity to receive a grading policy that rewards students for taking advanced level courses. Learning is assessed through tests, written reports, oral presentations, projects, and portfolios.
• The Regular Education courses are geared towards readying a student for college. However the student does not receive the enhanced learning experiences and the grade curve. The standards for the HP courses are much higher in general than the regular education classes.

• The Honors Program guarantee is a guarantee that states if any graduate of the program is required to take a remedial class after entering a college or university will be reimbursed the cost of the remedial class by the Floyd County School System.
• In order for the student to earn the guarantee, the student must have earned the Honors Program Seal at graduation and entered an accredited college or university the fall after graduation from high school.
• The expectation of a guaranteed Honors Program diploma is that the student will be prepared for college level courses and will not have to take remedial classes once they enter college.

1. Grades- Grade Average from core courses in 6^th , 7^th , and 8^th grades - must have an 85 or above
2. Attendance- average of the year
3. Discipline- total number of discipline records from 6^th , 7^th , and 8^th grades
4. Student must complete the application process
5. Personal Interview
6. Recommendations - 3 teacher recommendations - Must be 8^th grade teachers in core content areas.
7. Essay written on-sit
8. Parent approval

• Students will apply their 8^th grade year for the Honors Program in high schools.
• Students that do not apply in 8^th grade or those that transfer to FCS after their 8^th grade year must proceed with the application process. Students may enter only if the high school has room in their Honors Program.
• Students must start the program in 9^th grade in order to receive the guarantee and seal.
• Special Education, ELL or CIS students may participate in Honors Program if they meet he criteria necessary.
• Gifted Students are required to apply- the Honors Program is our gifted education program in high school.

Teachers receive training for HP/AP through meetings that are scheduled throughout the year to help them learn to facilitate the student in rigors of college prep classes.

• Honors/AP Meetings- The main goal of these meetings is to align a curriculum to provide challenging academic work.
• Vertical Team Meetings assists in Honors Program courses because the middle and high school teachers are in direct contact with each other regarding standards, alignment, and course offerings in the program. The high school teachers assist the middle grade teachers so that the student is fully prepared for the next level.
• Advanced Placement Training is sponsored by the College Board. The training allows teaches to prepare rigorous academic challenges for students who may receive college credit for a course if they pass the AP test. The AP test gives the student college credit for a course without actually taking the class depending on the score, which allows them to exempt the course.

Printable version of HP Curriculum

• The emphasis of the curriculum in HP is to provide each student with a well-rounded knowledge of each of the studied areas. The areas of study include English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, and Foreign Language.
• The courses are taught on a higher level than the normal courses of a particular subject. The workload for many classes may be increased and with that increase the amount of reading may become larger.
• Problem solving, critical thinking, high standards, and high expectations are all components of Honors Program.
• Research work will be performed with reports, oral presentations and projects.
• Projects and portfolio assessments are included in the Honors Program curriculum. It is part of the students' learning experience as a whole.
• Georgia Performance Standards are also apart of the HP Curriculum.
• Modern Language/Latin- All of the foreign languages offered by the school are considered to be apart of the HP program beginning at the year three. Year 1 and Year 2 of a foreign language are considered basic regular education classes.  The foreign languages taught in the Honors program are French, German, Spanish, and Latin. Spanish is offered in the middle grades for 8^th graders.
• Specified courses at each grade level have a service learning component built into the program of study.
• There are a number of classes in the Honors Program taught through Distance Learning/Video-conferencing.
• Executive Internship is offered to Honors Program 12^th students for a career exploration course.
• Directed Studies is currently being planned to offer students courses that are not being currently offered at their school.

• A student does not have to be identified gifted to participate in Honors Program.
• All students are not identified as gifted in a particular subject area; however, some students may be gifted in a content area.
• Gifted students in 8^th grade will automatically apply for the Honors Program- these are the gifted classes in high school.

• These are all programs of study.
• The Honors Program prepares students to become "college ready."
• PSO programs give the student the opportunity to take college courses at the college during the school day and receive college credits before entering the college. However, this will start the HOPE clock hours ticking and will make a student ineligible for valedictorian or salutatorian.
• The AP program gives the student a chance to take a rigorous level course and then take a placement test to determine whether or not they will receive college credit for that course without actually taking the class once the student is enrolled in college. HP classes are pre-requisites to taking AP classes. AP Classes are part of the FCS Honor Program.

• The Floyd County Association for Academic Excellence is a parent support group for Honors Program, AP, and gifted students. The group meets three times a year- fall, winter, and spring.
• A parent can do many things to assist a student in the Honors Program.
• A parent should make sure the student gets a healthy breakfast.
• Parents can help the student with completing projects, presentations, and homework.
• The parent should also be actively involved with teachers so that any help needed by the student may be given.

• County-wide grading policy has been developed to provide incentives for students.
• FCS has developed a new grading procedure that correlates more closely with the HOPE scholarship calculation.
• All Honors Program classes will be graded on a 7 point curve on tests and projects.
• All AP courses will be graded on a 10 point curve for tests and projects.
• Middle school math and foreign language Honors Program classes will also follow the 7 point curve on their major grades.
• End of Course Test (EOCT) will count for 15% of the student's final grade with no extra points added.