CVU Mission

We believe that every student can demonstrate the behaviors, skills, and knowledge essential for a contributing member of a democratic society. The mission of CVU and the community is to ensure this learning for all students and to challenge them to develop excellence in their individual pursuits.

About CVU

CVU is a comprehensive public high school, serving students in grades 9 through 12.

Present Enrollment: 1416

Teaching Faculty: 111

Calendar: Four quarters, each nine weeks in length. Courses are either two quarters (one semester) long and are worth ½ credit, or four quarters (one year) long and are worth one credit.

Schedule: Four 90-minute block periods daily, alternating days.

Accreditation & Membership

New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)

Vermont Department of Education

As a member of the College Board and New England Association for College Admissions Counselors (NEACAC), CVU complies with the NEACAC Principles of Good Practice.

CVU Community & Student Population

The Chittenden South Supervisory Union, established in 1964, serves the towns of Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, Williston, and St. George. CVU is the public secondary school serving students from these five towns. CVU students come from a wide array of backgrounds, including rural agricultural and suburban professional. Located in the heart of the Champlain Valley on the shores of Lake Champlain, these towns are all adjacent to Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. The total population of Burlington and the surrounding communities is 152,000.

CVU’s students and faculty members come from a range of racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. The student to faculty ratio is 14:1.

CVU Curriculum

CVU provides its students with an extensive and comprehensive curriculum, offering a variety of programs and more than 150 courses. The school is committed to a philosophy of heterogeneous grouping, allowing students to choose an academic path best suited to their learning goals. There are no curricular tracks. The program elected by each student should reflect his/her individual interests, abilities, and needs. Students are encouraged to enroll in the most demanding program possible. This allows the choice of various paths, including college, job training, etc., after the successful completion of high school. School Counselors provide each student with

Sean McMannon, Principal w Patti Tomashot, Director of Guidance w Jane Krasnow & Julie Dimmock, College Counselors w Sandra Twombly, Registrar

assistance in self-understanding and in the selection of courses, both yearly and on a long-range basis.

Students in the ninth grade are enrolled in a Core Program, earning a total of five credits, in English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Health and Physical Education. In addition to these courses, all tenth grade students are enrolled in English 10 and Making of the Modern World (Social Studies), and are expected to enroll in a program that includes courses earning a total of at least six credits; students in grades eleven and twelve enroll in a minimum of courses totaling five credits.

Within the CVU curriculum, students are offered the opportunity to travel and learn about other cultures. In Spanish and A.P. Biology, students may travel to Costa Rica. Students who take Classical Greece may apply to travel through Greece and the Greek Isles. In Latin III & Studio Art, students may be selected to travel to Italy. During the 2007-08 school year, a trip to England, Ireland, and Wales was added to the travel options.

Several special courses/programs indicated on student transcripts require further explanation:

American Foreign Policy: This is a college-level intensive introduction to the roots and practice of projecting American power abroad. Through debates, guest speakers and position papers on such topics as the Middle East, immigration, military intervention, espionage, terrorism and trade, students develop the lifelong skills for analysis and commentary on America’s relationship with the world.

Ancient Greece & You: This interdisciplinary course examines the History, Literature, Philosophy, Art, and Language of the birthplace of Western Civilization with an emphasis on their relevance to the individual, our society, and its government.

Holocaust & Human Behavior: This interdisciplinary course allows students to use History and Literature to consider moral, political, and social implications of the Holocaust and their own rights and responsibilities in a democratic society. This one semester course meets daily for 1 ½ hours and awards ½ credit English and ½ credit Social Studies.

Graduation Challenge: Each senior is required to carry out a personalized educational program in the community. The program components include: creation of a tangible product, a 6-12 page research paper which is evaluated by a faculty panel, 20-45 hours of work in the community, and a formal presentation before a panel of faculty and community members.

Advanced Placement: Preparation leading to Advanced Placement examination is offered in these areas: English, French, Calculus, Art Studio, Statistics, Biology, U.S. Government & Politics, Chemistry, & Music Theory. Students in Advanced Physics and Spanish V may also elect to take AP examinations. While we attempt to honor Junior requests for Advanced Placement courses, access can be limited.

Math Seminar This is a rigorous two-year program designed for highly skilled and motivated math students. The course content enables students to accelerate through the Geometry /Algebra II sequence while delving more deeply into the academic content.

Community Learning Programs: Students interact with the local community through our DUO program. DUO is a service-learning program that enables students to receive elective credit for working and learning in the community. Sample service work includes Buddy, Peer Tutor, In-School Volunteer and Academic Internship.

IDS: (Independent Study) On an individual basis, CVU faculty members offer students the opportunity to pursue independent programs in areas of strong interest. These courses are designated IDS on the transcript.

Language Sequence: CVU offers four languages: French I-V or AP, Spanish I-V, and Latin I-III, and Chinese I.

CVU’s NCAA Approved Core Courses
English
Ancient Greece & You Applied English I & II AP English Creative Writing Dramatic Literature Core English 9	English 10 Global Literature Gothic Tales & Sci. Fi. Holocaust & Human Behavior Major American Lit. Popular Literature	Major British Lit. Trends in Cont. Am. Fic. Utopian Literature Writing Prose
Mathematics
Adv. Algebra & Trig. Algebra I Algebra II, L1 Algebra II, L2 AP Calculus	AP Prob. & Statistics Computer Programming I Computer Programming II Discrete Mathematics Geometry L1	Geometry L2 IMP 1-4 Intro Prob. & Statistics Math Seminar Trig. & Pre Calculus
Social Science
Am. Foreign Policy	Current Issues	U.S. and the World
AP U.S. Govt & Politics Ancient Greece & You	Economics Holocaust & Human Behavior
Core Social Studies 9	Making of the Modern World
Natural & Physical Science
AP Chemistry Adv. Topics in Physics AP Biology Biotechnology	Core Science 9 Ecology Environmental Systems Geology	Microbiology Modern Physics Physics I Physics II
Botany	Intro to Earth & Space	Thayer Model Engineer
Chemistry I Chemistry II	Intro. Human Biology Intro. to Phys/Chem.	Zoology
Additional Core Courses
AP French	Latin I-III	Spanish I-V
French I-V

Athletics

CVU offers athletic instruction and competition at two levels.

As part of the curriculum: Ninth and tenth grade students are required to participate in the physical education program during the school year. Ninth graders are required to take Project Adventure and Personal Health (Wellness), both ½ year courses. Tenth graders are required to take a ½ year of Personal Fitness. Juniors and seniors may choose to sign up for more wellness courses as electives or earn additional PE credit through athletic participation. At the interscholastic level: CVU offers thirty varsity and junior varsity teams in sixteen different sports. Approximately 60% of the student body participates in sports and intramurals.

CVU Athletic Offerings

Season	Sport	Men’s	Women’s	Co	V/JV/F
Fall	Cross-Country	X	X		V/JV
	Field Hockey		X		V/JV/F
	Football			X	V/JV
	Soccer	X	X		V/JV/F
Winter	Alpine Skiing	X	X		V/JV
	Basketball	X	X		V/JV/F
	Gymnastics		X		V
	Ice Hockey	X	X		V/JV
	Nordic Skiing	X	X		V/JV
	Wrestling			X	V
Spring	Baseball	X			V/JV
	Golf			X	V/JV
	Lacrosse	X	X		V/JV
	Softball		X		V/JV
	Tennis	X	X		V
	Track & Field	X	X		V
V=Varsity, JV=Junior Varsity, F=Freshman

Clubs and Activities

In addition to concerts, plays, art exhibits and dances, there are more than 30 student-run clubs and activities available. A partial list of the activities follows.

CVU Co-Curricular Activities

Amnesty International                       Partner’s Club

Art Club                                                 Peer Tutoring

Drama                                                    Pit Orchestra, Fall Musical

Fall Intramurals                                  Poetry Club

Filmmaker’s Club                               Rowing

Forensics International Club            Rugby

Future Business Leaders of Am.      Scholars Bowl

Jazz Ensemble                                     Snowboarding Club

Key Club                                                Step Aerobics

Madrigals                                              Student Council

Math League Club                                Table Tennis

Mountain Biking                                 Ultimate Frisbee

Music – Band                                       Video Club

National Honor Society                     WORD                   (Diversity Club)

Music – Chorus

Transcript Interpretation

Students at CVU earn their grades under a rigid set of rules that assures the honesty and integrity of grades earned.

GPA is not weighted. Grades received in a college course are entered as a P. Grades for all courses transferred from another high school use that high school’s grading system, although a GPA calculation always uses the CVUHS grade table shown below:

Letter	Percent	Grade Point
A+	98-100	4.33
A	93-97	4.00
A-	90-92	3.67
B+	88-89	3.33
B	83-87	3.00
B-	80-82	2.67
C+	78-79	2.33
C	73-77	2.00
C-	70-72	1.67
D+	68-69	1.33
D	63-67	1.00
D-	60-62	0.67
F	Below 60
P	Pass: Grad Challenge is P/F
WP	Withdrew Passing
WF	Withdrew Failing
WX	Withdrew Poor Attendance

High Honors: All A’s; Honors: All A’s and B’s

Grades during senior year are reported to colleges for all students after first quarter. Students are not ranked. CVU uses the Latin System of Recognition: Summa Cum Laude – 4.1 and above, Magna Cum

Laude – 3.8 and above, and Cum Laude – 3.5 and above.

School Achievement Data

Average CVU SAT Subject Test Scores 2009

Category	Score	# of Students
Literature	681	17
US History	676	5
Math 1 C	669	16
Math 2 C	686	18
Eco. Biology	716	5
Mol. Biology	750	12
Chemistry	634	8
Physics	*	2
French	619	8

*Not Available

GPA Distribution, Class of 2010

GPA

Percentage of Class

4.1 and above

   1% (summa)

3.8 – 4.09

11% (magna)

3.5 – 3.79

13% (cum)

3.0 – 3.49

         29%

2.0 – 2.99

        33%

Below 2.0

         13%

2009 Advanced Placement Results

Test	5	4	3	2	1	Total
Art	1	2	2	2	0	7
Biology	43	11	7	0	0	61
Calculus AB	14	7	10	6	1	38
Chemistry	4	9	6	4	1	24
English Lit.	6	13	11	6	0	36
French	1	2	14	12	2	31
Gov’t. & Politics	32	15	9	6	1	63
Spanish	2	2	1	3	1	9
Statistics	0	2	12	12	3	29

Graduation Requirements

To meet graduation requirements and to achieve a diploma, a CVU student must earn a minimum of 20 credits and complete a Graduation Challenge Program. A year-long class at CVU is valued at 1 credit, and a half-year course is valued at a .5 credit. Consistent with the CVU mission and philosophy, students are encouraged to set goals for greater achievement, rather than for minimum requirements; most students earn more than 20 credits. The 20-credit minimum must include:

English/Language Arts: 4 credits

Social Studies: 3 credits, including U.S. History

Mathematics: 3 credits

Science: 3 credits, including Intro. Earth & Space, Intro. Biology, & either Intro. Phys. / Chem., or the combination of Chemistry I & Physics I

Practical Arts: .5 credit

Fine Arts: .5 credit

Physical Education: 1.5 credits, including Personal Fitness

Health: .5 credit

Graduation Challenge: .5 credit

Electives: 3.5 credits

College Placement Data Comparison 2002-2009

Year	# Graduates	% 4-Year	% 2-Year
2009	322	68%	3%
2008	331	71%	4%
2007	326	67%	1%
2006	318	66%	6%
2005	321	65%	5%
2004	296	63%	1%
2003	268	63%	1%
2002	278	60%	3%

National Merit and Presidential Awards

	NMSF	NMC	NMSR	PSC
08-09	5	14	3	3
07-08	4	14	2	3
06-07	2	17	1	6
05-06	6	6	NA	1
04-05	5	15	NA	1
03-04	2	8	0	1
02-03	2	11	0	2
01-02	6	14	1	8

NMSF = National Merit Semi Finalist

NMC = National Merit Commended

NMSR = National Merit Scholarship Recipient

PSC = US Presidential Scholar Candidates

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