Students need to report their grade point average (GPA) when applying for college and applying for scholarships. A student’s GPA is also used to determine their class rank.  This number is only updated at the end of the year; however, for seniors, it is updated at the end of the first semester as well as the end of the year.  Most colleges use a 4.0 scale, which requires students to convert it themselves in order to figure out whether they have a chance to get in or not.  There are websites that convert it for you, but they aren’t always reliable.

Riverbend High School, as well as all Spotsylvania County schools are on a 4.5 GPA scale with Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment classes on a 5.5 scale.  This means that a 100 in a normal class is weighted the same as a 90 in an AP class. GPAs are calculated using high school courses, including those taken before ninth grade, like Algebra I, Geometry and foreign languages.  All classes except for study halls and teacher aids count towards GPA.  The grade earned in each class is converted to a number that is then added together and then divided by the number of credits attempted.  When a class is failed and repeated, both grades are counted towards the GPA.

Junior Grace Saunders said, “The GPA system is an efficient way to average a student’s achievements in their classes.  However, it can become complicated to assess individual student’s level of academic success because it is such a general set up.  It does not clarify the variety of classes with different difficulty levels.”

A student, John Doe, earned the following grades on a 4.5 scale:

Adv. English 10- 85%= 3.25; Geometry- 92%= 4.00; AP World History- 90%= 5.00; Biology- 80%= 3.00; Band- 98%= 4.50; Spanish III- 79%= 2.75; Study Hall- N/A;     

His overall GPA is a 3.75 on the 4.5 scale and once converted onto a 4.0 scale, his GPA is 3.283.  

This is the scale used by Spotsylvania County to determine Grade Point Average:

Non-Weighted 4.5 Scale                                         Weighted 5.5 Scale for AP/DE classes
98-100 = A = 4.50                                                    98-100 = A = 5.50
95-97 = A = 4.25                                                       95-97 = A = 5.25
90-94 = A = 4.00                                                      90-94 = A = 5.00
88-89 = B = 3.75                                                       88-89 = B = 4.75
86-87 = B = 3.50                                                       86-87 = B = 4.50
84-85 = B = 3.25                                                       84-85 = B = 4.25
80-83 = B = 3.00                                                      80-83 = B = 4.00
78-79 = C = 2.75                                                        78-79 = C = 3.75
76-77 = C = 2.50                                                        76-77 = C = 3.50
74-75 = C = 2.25                                                        74-75 = C = 3.25
70-73 = C = 2.00                                                       70-73 = C = 3.00
68-69 = D = 1.75                                                       68-69 = D = 2.75
66-67 = D = 1.50                                                       66-67 = D = 2.50
64-65 = D = 1.25                                                       64-65 = D = 2.25
60-63 = D = 1.00                                                      60-63 = D = 2.00
59 or less = F = 0                                                      59 or less = F = 0