Academic Honors

Honor Roll: Honor roll is computed at quarter and at semester. A 3.25 GPA is needed to earn honor roll recognition. ESHS students are recognized at a Honors Convocation after 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarter.

Academic Letter: A 3.75 GPA for the current year only will earn a student Academic Letter recognition. Students receive academic letters for the previous year in the fall at the National Honor Society Induction ceremony.

National Honor Society:
Juniors and seniors at Elkhorn South High School with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible for membership into Elkhorn South Chapter of the National Honor Society. Candidates are evaluated on the basis of the four standards of membership: scholarship, service, leadership, and character by the members of the Faculty Council.

Academically eligible students will be invited to an informational meeting late in August to obtain information regarding membership requirements. All forms and additional information is available on the ESHS website under Activities. Students who submit the necessary forms will be notified by mail as to selection status. Those students who are selected as members of the Elkhorn South Chapter of the National Honor Society will be inducted in mid-September – specific dates will be announced.

National Merit Recognition: This is based on a student’s performance on the PSAT exam taken during junior year. Student’s are notified in the fall of senior year if they earn a qualifying score. The qualifying score index changes yearly and is state-based. There are two categories awarded: semi-finalist and commended. Semi-finalists continue in the competition, commended students do not. Typically, an index score of 200 or better will earn recognition. See your counselor if you have questions or visit the National Merit website (http://www.nationalmerit.org/).

AP Scholars: The AP Program offers several AP Scholar Awards to recognize high school students who have demonstrated college-level achievement through AP courses and exams. Although there is no monetary award, in addition to receiving an award certificate, this achievement is acknowledged on any AP Grade Report that is sent to colleges the following fall. There are various levels of recognition if students have taken at least 3 exams earning at least a grade of 3. Visit www.collegeboard.org for more information.

President’s Award for Educational Excellence: Seniors with a 3.5 cumulative GPA after 7 semesters and earning an ACT Reading score of 28 or a ACT Math score of 26 will earn this award at Honors Night in May.

Graduation Honors:

•Honor Cord–students earning a 3.25 cumulative GPA at the end of senior year will be recognized as graduating with honors and will receive an gold cord to wear at the ceremony.

•National Honor Society–National Honor Society students in good standing will be recognized at graduation and will receive a NHS stole to wear at the ceremony.

•Top 5%–students ranked in the top 5% of the class will be recognized during the graduation ceremony. Elkhorn South High School does not recognize a class valedictorian.