A new school year almost always has a first. Last year, it was a new building. This year it’s something students may find even more exciting: a new grading scale. The modified ten-point grading scale–which is ten points each for A’s, B’s, and C’s, and five points for D’s– replaced the old seven-point scale. This leaves many students looking forward to making better grades and pulling up those GPA’s.

So what prompted the school board to change the grading scale? “A lot of colleges are on 10-point scales, so it keeps it fair,” said FCHS guidance counselor Samantha Lewis. A committee of teachers, parents and administrators reviewed the grading scales of other local schools and suggested that a change should be made. The change makes it possible for Fluvanna to be compared equally with other surrounding schools.

Juniors, and especially seniors who will be applying to colleges in the next year or two, may wish that the change had been made earlier. “The new grading scale is awesome, but I wish we had it all four years so our GPA’s would be evened out,” said senior Marie Brown. One thing to keep in mind is that colleges that use a ten-point grading scale will modify their GPA assessment to match what it would be if FCHS had always had a ten-point scale.

The new grading scale does not mean that it will automatically be easier to get an A. “If a student is a C student, they’re a C student. Our rubrics will reflect that,” said English teacher Victoria Zavadsky. “I raised my expectations in order to help prepare my students for college. I’m only doing this for essays. My tests and quizzes will still be graded the same way,” she said.

But not all teachers are grading harder. “My grading philosophy has not changed. I like a ten-point scale because it is what most universities use and it’s what I had when I was in high school,” said Social Studies teacher Mitchell Pace. So what kind of grade-boost you get may depend on the classes you take. Still, with admission to at least some colleges and universities getting tougher every year, Flucos can probably agree that any grade-boost is a good one.