Following a year long study of grading practices, spearheaded by a committee comprised of B.I.S. teachers and administrators, Barnstable Intermediate School is unveiling a new grading approach, which includes a new report card and re-take policy.  The report card will consist of three separate grades:  a content grade, an effort grade, and a behavior grade.  The content grade will be determined by a student's performance on summative assessments:  projects, tests, and essays, and will be represented by a percentage value.  The effort and behavior grades will be presented as a score of 1 through 4 and will be determined using a rubric (please see New Form Report Card link to read rubrics).  The intention of this new grading approach is to create a feedback tool that is more comprehensive and meaningful to parents and students.  Included in this new grading approach is a re-take policy that is meant for content grade work.  As part of our school's belief in effective effort, we believe that it is important to provide students with opportunities to improve on their initial efforts.  With our new report card and retake policy we hope to advance student learning by creating a more defined focus on content mastery.  These items will be addressed during both the 6th and 7th grade Open House nights.