CHSS Spotlight – February 2024

Welcome to the February edition of the CHSS Spotlight, where you’ll learn about what’s happening at CHSS, find information about strategies and practices to support 9th Grade Success, get to know schools in the CHSS network, and preview upcoming events.

Spotlight Data

Congratulations to CHSS partner schools across our national network making incredible gains in 9th Grade On-Track Rates from Semester 1 in 2022-23 to Semester 1 in 2023-24! Here are a few highlights: 

East Valley High School in Washington 84%-91%

Central High School in Arizona 75%-81%

Raton High School in New Mexico 73%-95%

John F. Kennedy High School in Colorado 69-74%

George Washington High School in Indianapolis 74%-81%

Spotlight Webinar: Fair Grading Practices with Prairie View High School

Prairie View High School, a large comprehensive high school outside of Denver in their fourth year of partnership with CHSS, joined us for a webinar that featured their journey with Fair Grading Practices.

View the webinar recording

Spotlight Roadmap Strategy: Create a Proportional Grading Scale (12.1 on our Roadmap)

Giving a zero in a 100-point grading scale is unfair and has an immense negative impact on a student’s course average. Just two or three zeros are enough to cause failure for an entire semester, and even one course failure in 9th grade can lead a student to drop out of high school, incurring a lifetime of personal and social consequences.

Each grade band should have the same proportional impact – A, B, C, D, and F. With a 100-point grading scale, the lowest grade that should be a given is a 50 out of 100. Another great option is to use the 0-4 grading scale that mirrors the GPA scale used in most high schools.

Implementation tip: A great first step is to use our Gradebook Self-Reflection Tool to give 9th Grade Success Teams the opportunity to analyze trends and patterns in grading that
might impact student outcomes and success. 

View & download 

Network News

Partner schools across the CHSS National Network started 2024 off strong with Commitment to Graduate Ceremonies for 9th grade students!  

Pojoaque Valley High School, New Mexico

Center High School, Colorado. Their ceremony included a celebration of 9th Grade On-Track gains of 79%-92% from Semester 1 last year to Semester 1 this year.


CHSS Quarterly Collaboratives are well underway! Across our CHSS National Network, partner schools are coming together to network, collaborate, and deepen understanding of the CHSS Roadmap for 9th Grade Success!

CHSS partners in Yakima, Washington State

CHSS partners from Evergreen, Castle Rock, and Kelso in Washington State


CHSS Demonstration School Camelback High School hosted CHSS network partners for a for a visit to learn from Camelback’s journey and see exemplary 9th Grade Success practices in action! Participants heard from Principal James Arndt, Freshman House Coordinator Erika Wimble, and Phoenix Union Superintendent Thea Andrade about how they partnered with CHSS and transformed the 9th grade experience. Principal Arndt says 9th Grade Success work is a “moral imperative.” 

Participants saw Camelback’s 9th graders using Flex Time to engage with real-time interventions during Advisory, observed exemplary 9th Grade Success team meetings, and engaged with a panel of students, teachers, and administrators.

Learn more about Camelback High School here


Contact Us

info@highschoolsuccess.org | highschoolsuccess.org