Achievement · Organizations · Graduation Requirements · Grading System · Report Cards & Testing

As stated in the school’s mission statement, Cedar Creek School seeks to provide a superior college preparatory educational experience to students in North Central Louisiana based on the highest standards of academic excellence and personal conduct. Cedar Creek School offers a college-preparatory course of study designed to develop the knowledge, intellect, and critical thinking skills of each student. The curriculum and instructional design of Cedar Creek School are aligned with the school's mission and expectations for student performance. The curriculum employs instructional strategies and co-curricular activities to promote the active involvement of students in the learning process. Our program strives to meet the needs of students in kindergarten through twelfth grade at each stage of his or her development.

Cedar Creek offers a challenging educational program with a full range of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Throughout its program, our size encourages the formation of close relationships among members of the school community. Enrollment is limited in order to maintain a close family atmosphere and achieve an optimum teacher/student ratio.

Cedar Creek School strives to create an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement designed to help each student recognize and attempt to reach his or her full potential. We seek to be a warm community marked by cooperative and caring effort among students, parents, faculty, administrators, and staff.

Academic Achievement

Cedar Creek has established itself as an exceptional college preparatory school with accreditation granted by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The colleges our graduates have attended evidence the quality of education offered to Cedar Creek students. Students have been accepted to such selective colleges and universities as Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Chicago, Darmouth College, Duke, University of Georgia, Harvard, Hendrix, Millsaps, Mississippi State, University of North Carolina, Purdue, Rhodes, Rice, Randolph-Macon, University of the South (Sewanee), University of Southern California, Southern Methodist University, University of Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, United States Naval Academy, Vanderbilt, University of Virginia, and Wheaton.

Academic and Leadership scholarships, including several National Merit Scholarships, have been offered to Cedar Creek graduates. Cedar Creek students have earned academic recognition, national scholarships and awards in numerous areas. Typical are these awards:

• One of only two schools in Louisiana to have students named to USA Today All American Academic first team
  (4 students) and second team (4 students)
• Named an All Star High School by USA TODAY for being 3rd in the Nation in 1st place team members
• Discover Card Tribute Award
• Hugh O'Brian Leadership Scholarship
• National International Science Fair Awards
• National Honor Society Scholarship
• NEH/Research Grant
• National Coca Cola Winners
• National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium
• Tandy Technology Math-Science Scholarship
• Tandy Top 8 Science Students in America Award
• National Endowment of Humanities Research Grant

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Academic Organizations

Cougar Scholars

Cougar Scholars is an academic honor society formed in 1982 to recognize and reward exceptional academic achievement. Membership is attained through an accumulation of at least 25 points earned through academic accomplishments. Points for each academic attainment may range in value from 1 to 4 and are weighted according to the level of academic difficulty. Points are earned through academic achievements such as end of year honor rolls; local, regional, or state social studies fairs; local, regional, state, or international science fairs; regional and state literary rallies; junior science and humanities symposium; published works in Reflections, Southern Voices, or professional journals; or competitive scholarships. Questions about Cougar Scholar records should be addressed to the advisor, who is responsible for maintaining updated records.

Members of the Cougar Scholars who demonstrate extraordinary scholarship are eligible for consideration for membership in the Cougar Academic Hall of Fame. Induction into the Hall of Fame is contingent upon recommendation of the Cougar Scholar Faculty Committee and is included in commencement exercises in the student's senior year. Each student inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame receives a plaque and a commemorative gift, and his or her photograph is displayed permanently in the high school library.

Members of the Cougar Academic Hall of Fame must be exceptional students and must have consistently achieved at the highest levels in a variety of scholastic endeavors. Their accomplishments must be considered extraordinary when judged both by local standards and by national standards.

A committee comprised of the Cougar Scholar sponsor and five teachers of academic subjects is responsible for the administration of all matters concerning the Cougar Scholar organization. The principal appoints this committee.


National Honor Society

The National Honor Society is an organization founded in 1921, to promote recognition of students who reflect outstanding accomplishments in the areas of scholarship, character, leadership, and service.

The Cedar Creek Chapter of the National Honor Society is a chartered chapter and as such follows the National Constitution. Chapter bylaws govern the selection of members, service, requirements, officer responsibilities, and discipline and dismissal of members. A copy of the chapter bylaws and selection of member’s procedures are available upon request.

Induction into the Cedar Creek Chapter of the National Honor Society is an honor based upon the principles of scholarship, character, leadership, and service.  Potential members of the NHS must be juniors or seniors not currently holding membership who have a cumulative scholastic grade point average of 93.2 (excluding Driver’s Education, Physical Education, and Off-Campus courses). Students must have attended Cedar Creek School for one semester. Potential members are first evaluated by the faculty. A faculty council then reviews the faculty evaluations, along with records of tardies, absences, and disciplinary actions, and information submitted by the student. After all reviews are complete, faculty council members cast private votes as to selection or non-selection for membership. A majority vote is required for membership.

Members of the NHS are to serve as role models and exhibit the qualities of honesty, kindness, courtesy, and integrity both in and out of the classroom. Members should show leadership in organizations, show appropriate classroom decorum at all times, act responsibly by completing tasks on time and avoiding tardiness. Members should always be willing to help others in need whether by word or deed.


Quill and Scroll

The Quill and Scroll Society is an International Honorary Society for High School Journalists. The Society was founded at the University of Iowa, April 10, 1926, as a non-secret honorary high school society. It was organized to recognize and reward ability and achievement in writing and other phases of journalistic work. The purpose of Quill and Scroll is to instill in students the ideal of scholarship; to advance the standards of the profession of journalism by developing better journalists and by including a higher code of ethics; to promote exact and dispassionate thinking, clear and forceful writing.

Membership is selective. The students selected must be juniors or seniors. They must be in the upper third of their class in scholastic standing. Because of a small student body, Cedar Creek School requires a "B" average or better). They must have done superior work in some phase of journalism school publications work such as writing, editing, business management or production. They must be recommended by the journalism supervisor and then approved by the secretary-treasurer of the Society.


National Jr. Honor Society (7th & 8th Grade)

Membership in this chapter shall be based upon scholarship, character, leadership, citizenship, and service. To be eligible for membership in this chapter, the student must have earned in the first semester of either seventh or eighth grade a minimum scholastic average of 90% in each academic subject during the first nine weeks, again in the second nine weeks, and for the first semester.

Candidates will then be approved for membership by appropriate faculty and the principal. Induction
takes place in the second semester of each academic year. A member of the NJHS who transfers to this school will be automatically accepted for membership in this chapter upon presentation of a letter signed by his or her former principal certifying membership. In order to retain membership a transfer member must then maintain the membership requirements for this chapter.

A member who fails to maintain the minimum scholastic average of 90% in each academic subject in a nine-week grading period or who fails to continue to demonstrate the qualities of scholarship, leadership, citizenship, and service is automatically placed on probation during the succeeding nine-weeks grading period. During this time the member will remain active and can participate in all club functions and activities.

Any member who is on probation for failure to maintain the minimum scholastic average of 90% in each academic subject or who fails to continue to demonstrate the qualities of scholarship, leadership, citizenship, and service is classified as an inactive member if he/she does not maintain the minimum requirements for a second consecutive nine-week grading period. While on the inactive roll, the member may not participate in club meetings, club-sponsored activities, spring induction, or any other NJHS function. The member will continue as inactive for the present nine weeks and the nine weeks following. If the minimum requirements are met at that time, the member can be returned to full membership status.

The Cedar Creek Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society is a chartered chapter and as such follows the National Constitution. Chapter bylaws govern the selection of members, service, requirements, officer responsibilities, and discipline and dismissal of members.


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Graduation Requirements

In order to comply with the new LA Core 4 curriculum established by the State Board of Regents for admission to the Louisiana State University System beginning with 2009-2010 entering freshmen, Cedar Creek School has mad changes to the graduation requirements.
To graduate from Cedar Creek School, a student must be a full time Cedar Creek student through May of his/her senior year, and must complete a minimum of 24 high school credits distributed as follows:

• English: 4 credits
• Mathematics:4 credits, including one credit each in Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry
• Science: 3 credits, including 1 credit in Chemistry and 1 credit in Biology
• Social Studies: 4 credits, including one credit each in American History, Civics/Free Enterprise,
  World Geography and Western Civilization
• Foreign Language: 2 credits in the same foreign language
• Fine Arts: 1 credit (Art Appreciation and Music Appreciation)
• Speech: 1/2 credit
• Physical Education: 2 credits
• Health: 1/2 credit
• Electives: 2 credits to fulfill 24 credit requirement
  

Graduating seniors for years 2010, 2011, and 2012 will be required to complete 23 hihg school credits.
Electives are to be chosen in terms of the pupil's abilities, interests, and needs.

To count toward graduation, all course credits must be earned while a student at Cedar Creek School or a pre-approved accredited institution. High school courses taken during the eighth grade year (such as Algebra or Biology) will receive high school credit and are included on the high school transcript and the grades earned will be included in the cumulative high school grade point average.

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Report Cards

Report cards will be available on line at the end of each nine-week grading period as indicated on the school calendar published at the beginning of each school year.  If any outstanding debt is owed to the school, access to RenWeb is blocked and grades cannot be accessed.

Report on Student Progress

Progress reports will be electronically mailed to parents via RenWeb at the end of the third and sixth weeks of each nine-week grading period.

Standardized Testing

Board of Trustee policy requires students to take the ACT examinations at least once prior to the completion of the junior year. To help students prepare for these important college entrance tests all students in grade 10 take the PLAN and all students in grade 11 are required to take the PSAT. Students in grades 9 and 10 are encouraged to take the PSAT as preparation for 11th grade testing. In addition all students in grades 6 - 10 take the Stanford 9 Test. All sixth grade students take the Orleans-Hanna Algebra Prognosis Test as part of the placement process for 7th grade pre-algebra. Please refer to the monthly Cougar News for updates in the Counselor Corner section. ACT Programs are Explore, PLAN, and ACT. College Board Programs are PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and AP Exams.


Summer Reading

Each student in elementary grades through 12th are required to be involved in the Summer Reading Program sponsored by the English Department. The program includes reading two books chosen by members of the English faculty. Students in High School Honors courses will be expected to read one additional book. Students in the Academically Gifted English Program (7-12) will be expected to read additional books during the summer. They will have related summer assignments and will be tested upon returning to school.

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