Student/Family Handbook

Sierra uses the following Grading Categories and Weights for All Classes

Pre-AP Shared Principles: Close Observation and Analysis, Evidence-Based Writing, Higher Order Questions, and Academic Conversation = 70%
Departments will determine percentages of each shared principle (not to exceed 30% or be less than 10% for any one shared principle)

Summative Assessments = 20%
Examples include: Unit Tests, Performance Tasks, Performances, Labs, Essays, etc.
Departmental syllabi will include the types of tasks that will be categorized as Summative Assessments

Final Exam = 10%

One per semester per course

Juniors and Seniors are the only students permitted to go off-campus for lunch.

Lunches are based on your 3^rd period teacher on A days and your 7^th period teacher on B days.

• A Lunch: English/CLDE, PE/Health, World Languages/AVID, Fine Arts/CTE, Seminar
• B Lunch: Social Studies, Math, Science, Special Education

Visitors Parking is located in front of the school

Student Parking is located South of the building (baseball field side); students must have a parking pass on their car. Parking passes can be obtained from the bookkeeper, Kyle Ellis.

Staff/Auditorium Parking is located North of the building (closest to the YMCA) and in the rear of the building.

Event Parking is located in the parking lots closest to the baseball field


Parking at the YMCA is not permitted.

updated December 2023

On-time attendance to classes is one of the top indicators of academic, social, and emotional success for students. The Colorado Department of Education has conducted extensive research on the relationship between attendance and success. As we reviewed and studied that research, we were constantly drawn back to the following information that, while targeted towards Freshmen, is relevant to all of our students:

• Freshmen who miss more than two weeks of school flunk, on average, at least two classes—no matter whether they arrive at high school with top test scores or below-average scores. In fact, freshmen who arrive with high test scores but miss two weeks of school per semester are more likely to fail a course than freshmen with low test scores who miss just one week.
• More than 95 percent of students with a B average or better in their freshman year graduate. 
• Freshmen who earn a B average or better have an 80-percent chance of finishing high school with at least a 3.0 GPA. 
• Freshmen with less than a C average are more likely to drop out than graduate. 

We are implementing new policies to hold students accountable to their on-time attendance moving into the Second Semester of school year 23/24.

Beginning the week of January 15, 2024, students who accrue excessive tardies will be assigned to after-school detention. These detentions will take place on Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm to gain back missed instructional time due to being tardy to classes. Detentions will be supervised by teachers and administrators who will be available to help students with missing work. Students will be expected to be on time to detention, have their phones put away throughout the duration of the detention period, and leave immediately at 4:00 pm. Students will have access to the Seminar Bus, which departs at 4:10 pm and drops students off at stops near their normal bus stop.

Students who accrue five (5) or more tardies throughout Monday and Tuesday will be assigned after-school detention on Wednesday.
Students who accrue three (3) or more tardies throughout Wednesday and Thursday will be assigned after-school detention on Friday.
Parents and students will be notified through email on Tuesdays and Thursdays if their student will be assigned to detention. Additionally, a list of student numbers for students assigned to detention will be posted in designated spots in the building for students to review. Lastly, students will be notified through Advisory the day of detention should they have missed our other forms of notification. Administration will perform hallway sweeps each period on Friday, clearing the halls into the Café for retraining on policies, reviewing expectations for students, and progressive discipline.