Academics

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Expectations:
 
To participate in athletics, or any extracurricular activity for that matter, all students must be in "good academic standing".  Good academic standing according to our school district is a GPA of 2.00+ for the SEMESTER preceding the season of competition.  For football, this means that you must have earned a 2.00 or better in the Spring Semester of the previous school year.  Not just the 4th Quarter, but the Spring Semester in total.
 
As far as we (the Staff of Puma Football) are concerned, the 2.00 minimum should never come into play!  We expect our players to perform at a level well above that minimum.  We expect our players to perform in the classroom to the best of their ability just as they are expected to on the field.  Certainly, there will be challenging classes, assignments, and tests.  Regardless, no member of our program should ever approach the minimum with planning, effort, and good time management!
Monitoring:
 
All players in our program are expected to turn-in a "Weekly Grade Progress Report" to their head coach prior to Monday's practice each week.  The "WGPR" is a form that the student's teachers will fill out to keep the student informed of their performance in class.  The form can be picked up in the counseling office and must be presented to teachers on Mondays.
 
Coach Higgins and Coach Ross review the Progress Reports every week and look for each player to maintain a positive trend in their classes.  If a negative trend occurs, action will be taken to stimulate improvement.
 
The Progress Reports are usually left with the coaches.  However, if the parent would like to see the Progress Report also, we will gladly check-off and return the Progress Report to the player for home delivery!
 
Support:
 
Contrary to the false perception that amazingly still persists in some circles, our school does not simply cater to the top percentiles!  MCHS offers many forms of academic support to ALL students.
 
The primary support is Advocacy.  Every student is assigned an Advocacy period that is in addition to their regular class schedule four days each week. Advocacy is a period that can be used by students to 1) work on homework, or 2) visit any of their teachers for additional help in class.
 
Aside from Advocacy, there are programs students can participate in including our Peer Tutoring and after school Teacher Tutoring programs.  To find out more about any of these programs, contact your Guidance Counselor.
Strategies for Academic Success:
 
Below are just a few simple things that can substantially improve academic performance:
  • Use a Calendar as a planner that is exclusively for your school assignments.
  • When you are given any assignment, enter in your Calendar the "Assignment Date" and the "Due Date".
  • After that, you can then form a reasonable and efficient "Completion Plan" that takes into consideration all of your pending assignments.  Your Completion Plan must include a "Completion Date".
  • Your Completion Date must not be the same as your Due Date!  Strive for a Completion Date on all assignments that is at least 2 days prior to the actual Due Date. This will allow you a cushion of 1 whole day to make any minor changes you feel would improve the quality of your work.  This is where "A+'s" come from!
  • NEVER put yourself in the position of cramming or scrambling to complete an assignment the night before a Due Date.  You will be tired and stressed.  It is impossible to do your best work under those conditions!
  • This is the big one, PRIORITIZE your life!  The Phone, TV, Video Games, and Web Surfing are all HUGE TIME WASTERS!!  If you think you're going to get your homework done AFTER the phone call/favorite show/updating your Facebook, etc.....you are a kidding yourself!  Get your homework done FIRST!  So, get off the computer right now and GET IT DONE!!!