Your HOPE GPA Has Changed

This message is really important for seniors, but the changes it details most likely will affect all grade levels.  HOPE GPAs have historically only included Language arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language course grades. This has made understanding what courses count in a HOPE GPA rather simple.  With the graduating Class of 2012 and beyond, The Georgia Department of Education decided to allow certain CTAE courses to count as a fourth science.  Early on, it was determined that only "pure science" courses (like Biology, Chemistry, etc.) would count in the HOPE GPA calculation.  This week, we discovered that the Georgia Student Finance Commission is now counting the CTAE fourth Science courses in the HOPE GPA calculation.  This could mean that your HOPE GPA is better or worse than the one that was given at the senior meeting.  It is vitally important that parents of seniors and seniors themselves go on www.gacollege411.org to check the current HOPE GPA to determine HOPE eligibility status with these courses now factoring in.  We apologize for this newest development from the State level.  We are telling you as we are finding out about this.  We are including directions on how to check your student's HOPE GPA.  If you have not done this, it is imperative that you do so immediately to determine your student's HOPE eligibility prospects.  Every year, we have one or two parents of a graduating senior who is very disappointed to learn that their son or daughter will not be getting HOPE.  That is so unfortunate, as there is an easy way to get a HOPE GPA.  Please take some time to sit down and follow the steps below.  Your prompt reaction to this post is wise.

1. Log in using your students user ID (typically six digit student umber and last name) and password (the one that they built)

2. On the home page, look for "Your HOPE GPA"  in the Shortcuts section.

3. If your student has not entered his or her Social Security Number into their Portfolio under "Your Profile," then "The Basics,"  and "edit," they will need to do so before the HOPE GPA will be visible.

4. Signify what high school your student goes to, and then you will see the GPA.  If you want to determine how it all came to be, click on "View Detailed Report."

If you need any help with this, please contact your school counselor.