Welcome back to Robertson’s Reportings! On May 8, new Guilford County grading guidelines were announced for the school year. Instead of the guidelines that had previously been planned after the virus cancelled school, even newer guidelines were released. For ninth through eleventh graders, their final report card will be based on what they got in Quarter 3. If they had an 80% or above, a number will be shown. If they had between 60% and 79%, PC19 (Pass COVID-19) will show on their transcript. All other grades, failing grades, will be WC19 (Withdrawal COVID-19). During distance learning, students can only improve their grade, according to state guidelines. If students with a WC19 want to get their grade up to a PC19, they can do the work that their teachers are assigning. Students with a PC19 or a numeric grade can talk to their counselor about if they would prefer something different, either PC19 or their numeric grade, on their transcript. Seniors’ grades will be more simple. They can only have a PC19 or WC19 on their transcript. GPAs for this year will be based on First Semester grades. All information about GCS grading policies can be found here.

Reportedly, there have been over four million cases of COVID-19 worldwide as of last week and nearly 300,000 deaths. In the United States, almost 1.5 million cases have been reported. North Carolina is still in Phase One of our reopening, but many other states have loosened restrictions much more. These states include Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. On the other hand, a public health official, Barbara Ferrer, from Los Angeles claimed that “with all certainty” the stay-at-home order for the region will last for at least two and half more months. Later on, Los Angeles’ mayor said not to worry, and that she was merely saying that there will still be some restrictions, such as social distancing and the usage of face masks, to ensure the safety of seniors and other people susceptible to the virus. Still, Ferrer’s comment has made people wonder how long the virus and restrictions will last.

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