National Honor Society Procedures
The purpose of this organization is to create an enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote worthy leadership, and to encourage the development of character in the pupils of Elizabethtown Area High School.
To be eligible for membership in this society, a student must have maintained a cumulative weighted GPA of 96% and receive favorable recognition in the areas of leadership, service, and character, as evaluated by the National Honor Society Faculty Council, high school faculty and administration. Membership is open to juniors and seniors.
The process is as follows:
- At the end of each school year, the administration provides the National Honor Society advisors with the names of students in grades 10 and 11 who could reach the 96% weighted grade point average requirement by the end of the first semester of the following year as juniors and seniors.
- The administration will review the candidates’ high school disciplinary record. Students with in-school or out-of-school suspensions during high school will be removed from the pool of candidates.
- All students who meet the above requirements will receive an invitation in November via their school email containing a code for a Schoology course that contains all the documents necessary to apply for membership in November. Applications will be due in mid-December. The exact due date will be indicated in the letter of invitation in the Schoology course. Late applications will NOT be accepted.
- Candidates complete the application for membership, listing high school leadership positions, service activities, complete an essay and submit the application to the high school office by the due date.
- The National Honor Society Faculty Council and the advisor(s) will review the applications for service and leadership. A 4-point scoring rubric will be used with 4 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. No single score lower than 3.0 will be deemed acceptable in any category for qualification into the National Honor Society. Candidates who do not meet this level will be removed from the pool at this point.
- Faculty members will evaluate potential candidates’ leadership and character via a googledocs survey. Faculty will only rate the students they have had professional interaction with during the student’s high school years. The National Honor Society Faculty Council and the advisors will review the faculty scoring. Each applicant will receive a score for leadership and a separate score for character. These will be calculated by averaging the teacher ratings in each category. A minimum cumulative average of 3.0 is necessary for qualification for induction into the National Honor Society. If an individual potential inductee’s behavior requires special evaluation in the area of character, the National Honor Society Faculty Council will investigate and make a recommendation.
- Students weighted grade point average will be reviewed at the end of the first semester of the year of induction. Students will be notified via letter of their qualification for induction by February each year. Induction will be held in late February or in early March yearly.
- To retain membership, students are required to maintain the 96% weighted grade point average and may not receive any discipline suspensions.
- Juniors are expected to complete a minimum of two approved service projects of 10 hours or more each. Seniors are expected to complete a minimum of three approved service projects of 10 hours or more each. The total number of service hours needed by graduation is 50.