One thing that is somewhat confusing on a transcript is a withdrawal from a course. The course name shows and the grade is 0. Parents always question this. We are thinking about adding a W to the marking column to show that the class was withdrawn. Does anyone else use this or have any ideas or pros and cons of this? Does anyone have guildelines on withdrawals vs drops? Currently, we give two weeks after the semester starts to drop. After that it is a withdrawal, unless they go from a standard course to an AP course, or if they go to a higher academic level, we drop the old course. If they go to a lower academic level, we withdraw the course. One thing we are trying to do is have consequences for excessive and late schedule changes. Norm Dunkin Director of Information Services Landmark Christian School [Email Removed]

We added the W to our translation tables last year for a couple different reasons. I like it because if a student drops a class that they are failing after the official drop add period then at least the course doesn't just disappear from the transcript. So there is that consequence that you are referring to. Another reason that it is useful is for when kids transfer out. We just had a student withdraw from school so to show that he was with us for the first 5 weeks, we gave him a grade of a W for all of his current classes. I can't think of any negatives that have come from implementing the W. I think it tells the whole picture and I'm glad that we are finally using it. Tara Tatasciore Registrar/Math Teacher Archmere Academy Claymont DE 19801 [Email Removed]

We too include a W on the transcript for courses dropped after the add/drop period. The only issue we've had is with teachers who do not use the W in their FAWEB gradebook. The grade that the student had when they left the class then is then updated to the database when grades are posted and if it isn't caught can cause issues as you might imagine. Anyone with a solution?

Jennifer, the only thing I can think of for you is to login to FAWewb as a supervisor and add the W grades into the gradebooks for the students. A bit time consuming, but it would get the job done. Thanks for your response to my post. Norm Dunkin Director of Information Services Landmark Christian School [Email Removed]

We added a W into our translation table. The student posted from FAWeb with no grade, and we added it in the grading module in Education Edge. Steven Logan Mount Paran Christian School Kennesaw, GA [Email Removed]

We have two designations for transcripts if a student withdrawls from a class. WF is they are failing when they withdraw, or WP if they are passing when they withdraw. These are only used if a schedule change is requested after the formal drop-add period. We also have added these to our translation tables. Larry Landon School

We have W's for withdraw pass and W/F for withdraw/fail. Neither is worked into a student's gpa. This is completely outside the FAWeb sphere and only entered through EE grades. The best time to do this is when dropping/withdrawing the student from the class in scheduling. If you have set a withdraw date for each term in the Session area of your school year calendar, the scheduling module will ask if you want to drop or withdraw the student from the course (after that withdraw date has been reached). This is when I will enter the W or W/F for the semester grade for the student. Nancy Beckett Registrar University of Detroit Jesuit High School & Academy