This document contains information that applies to
The Instructor
Mr. John SpurgeonThe best way to contact me is via email. Teachers at Valley Catholic High School have two email addresses. Mine are jspurgeon at
- valleycatholic
- vcstudent
For general correspondence, you may send email to my valleycatholic (.org) account. Messages sent to my vcstudent email address will be received and read eventually, but responses may be delayed. It's better to contact me using my valleycatholic email address if a quick response is desired, because I tend to check for messages received at that address more frequently.
Unless other arrangements have been made ahead of time, when emailing assignments, only messages sent to my vcstudent email account from a VCHS student account will be accepted.
Please include your name in the body of all messages you send, especially when submitting assignments via email. Sometimes it's tricky and time consuming to map an email address to a name I'm familiar with.
Policies and Expectations
All students attending Valley Catholic High School (VCHS) should be familiar with the VCHS Academic Integrity Policy. Students enrolled in AP Computer Science A should also be familiar with the contents of the document General Policies for Computer Science Courses.Grades
Letter grades are calculated by the PowerSchool software. The default scale typically used in classes at VCHS will be used. Some exams, quizzes, projects, and assignments may be weighted differently than others.
Quarter and Semester Grades
Quarter grades will be a function of four components weighted as follows:
- 35% - Exams
- 35% - Projects
- 20% - Quizzes
- 10% - Effort
First semester grades will be a function of all scores from the first two quarters except for the lowest project score for the semester. There will be a final exam at the end of the semester; the score for the exam will contribute to the second quarter grade. Second semester grades will be a function of all scores from the last two quarters except for the lowest project score for the semester. There will be no second semester final exam.
Marks
When grades are curved or when grading requires a significant element of subjectivity, the system of marks and corresponding numeric values shown in the table below will be used. In such cases, assignments that show some sign of legitimate effort will receive a mark ranging from ++ for work that wildly exceeds expectations to -- for work that reflects the least amount of acceptable effort. Marks will be translated to points or percentages when they are recorded in PowerSchool. Only the numeric values shown in the table will be used, i.e. students will not receive scores in between those values. Work that is missing entirely or work that clearly indicates cheating will receive a score of zero.
| Mark | Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| + + | 104 | Outrageous; exceeds requirements of the assignment by a long shot; a program or assignment that makes you weep in a good way; the type of thing that gets you remembered; if you get a ++ and want a letter of recommendation, just ask; awesome. |
| + | 100 | Aw, nice job; hearty pat on the back. |
| ✓ + | 95 | Solid; you did a great job; you got everything right; things look good. For programs: nice style, nice software engineering; and the program works flawlessly. |
| ✓ | 89 | A pretty solid effort; all the requirements have been met; maybe there’s a little problem here or there. |
| ✓ - | 82 | There are some significant issues. |
| - | 74 | Bad times; there are more significant problems; maybe the work is very sloppy or cursory. |
| - - | 65 | The product submitted is just a shell; no real effort was put into it. This assignment also makes you weep, but not in a good way. Aw, man. What did I teach? Where did I go wrong? |
| 0 | 0 | Reserved to distinguish from “made really bad effort” to “made no effort at all” or “cheated.” |
Exams, Quizzes, Programming Assignments, and Effort
- Not counting the 1st semester final, there will be at least one exam each quarter. Exam scores might be curved. If scores are curved, the curve will not result in any student receiving a lower grade than the grade that would have been received if a straight grading scale been used instead.
- All students must take all exams with the exception of the last exam of the year, which will be optional for students who take the AP exam. Students who do not take the AP exam will be required to take the last exam of the year.
- Several short quizzes will be given throughout the year. Quizzes may or may not be announced ahead of time. Make-up quizzes will not be offered for students who are not in class on the day of the quiz. Students may miss up to 25% of the quizzes offered without penalty. Penalties for missing more than 25% of the quizzes will be at the instructor’s discretion.
- There will be about 3-4 programming projects per quarter.
The lowest score for a programming assignment will be dropped when semester grades are computed.
Grades for all programming assignments will be included in the calculation of quarter grades.
The score for programming assignments turned in late will be reduced as follows:
- 1 day late - 10% reduction in credit
- 2 days late - 25% reduction in credit
- 3 days late - 50% reduction in credit
- 4 days late - 80% reduction in credit
- 5 days late - no credit
- The effort component of students’ grades is subjective and will be determined at the end of each quarter based in part on evidence recorded in instructor and student journals, class participation, and performance on quizzes and exams.
- Students can demonstrate positive effort by:
- Following instructions carefully.
- Meeting general behavior and academic integrity expectations.
- Asking for help when help is needed.
- Providing evidence in their journals that they are paying attention in class and working on homework assignments.
- Making good use of time provided to work on projects or other assignments in class.
- Staying focused on computer science work while in computer science class.
- Students can demonstrate negative effort by:
- Not following instructions carefully.
- Not meeting general behavior and academic integrity expectations.
- Not asking for help when help is needed.
- Not providing evidence in their journals that they are paying attention in class and working on homework assignments.
- Not making good use of time provided to work on projects or other assignments in class.
- Not staying focused on computer science work while in computer science class.
Alternate Assignments and Extra Credit
Alternate assignments will be considered only in unusual circumstances such as extended absence due to a medical condition.
Extra credit assignments may or may not be offered. This decision is solely in the hands of the instructor. Arguing with or pestering the instructor over extra credit assignments is strongly discouraged and will not help. Be polite and be prepared to accept “no” for an answer.