National Honor Society

All students in grades eleven and twelve with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher are sent a letter inviting them to consider NHS membership. Students on the academic eligibility listing are invited to attend an informational meeting to discuss the selection process, the requirements for membership, the activities of the organization, and the responsibilities of membership.

Students are asked to fill out a student information form which indicates co-curricular activities, leadership positions, community activities, volunteer service, work experience, and recognition or awards received. Second, students are asked to fill out a commitment form indicating their interest in being an active member of the organization. Third, students are asked to have six different adults verify their information form activities. Lastly, students are asked to answer two essay questions:

1. Why are you interested in becoming an NHS member?  
2. As an NHS member, how can you contribute to the betterment of the organization in regard to service projects?

Each faculty member is given a list of candidates (those academically eligible and ones who indicated an interest in becoming a member of NHS) to rate on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest) in the areas of leadership and character. Each eligible candidate must receive a minimum of five votes from the faculty.

The faculty council (members of the present teaching staff) and the principal are responsible for the final selection of members. These members understand the importance of exercising their responsibilities in the most objective manner possible.

The ratings by the entire staff and comments from staff members are presented to the faculty council by the advisor. A discussion follows each presentation. Each committee member may vote YES, NO, or ABSTAIN. In order to be accepted for NHS membership, a student must receive a YES vote from the majority of the committee who vote on their nomination.

Parents and students must understand that no student has a right to be selected for membership in a chapter of the National Honor Society. Reconsideration of the faculty council’s decision is a rare occurrence if the council is to be expected to take its assignment seriously. Chapters are not obligated to share with parents and students information concerning specific students not selected for membership in the NHS. The principal may listen to complaints from students not selected or from the parents of such students. Following such discussions, if the principal believes that some kind of technical mistake has been made, the principal may ask the faculty council to reconvene to review the situation. Technical errors might include the inadvertent omission of a student’s name from the list of those qualified for induction, the erroneous average of points, or the like. In the absence of specific evidence to the contrary, however, the principal must assume that the members of the council are exercising their discretion in a legitimate manner and with the good faith expected of them.

The selection process will be public information, available to parents and students upon request; it will be fair, non-discriminatory, and consistently applied.

Members of the National Honor Society may be dismissed for failure to maintain standards of scholarship, leadership, character or service that were used as the basis of their selection. When questions are raised regarding these standards, the NHS advisor will call a meeting of the faculty council. The purpose of the meeting would be to review pertinent information and to question those parties who may have information about the failure to maintain NHS standards. The student in question may attend the hearing and present information. They may be accompanied by parents/guardians, but representation by legal counsel is not appropriate. Following the taking of evidence, the faculty council will be sequestered and reach a decision regarding dismissal of the student from the National Honor Society.

The decision of the faculty council may be appealed to the building principal. In such cases the decision of the building principal will be final. The National Council and the National Association of Secondary School Principals will hear no appeals in dismissal cases.