• BECOMING A MEMBER
    of the CB West Chapter of the National Honor Society 




    ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
     
    1. Only Juniors and Seniors are eligible for selection into the National Honor Society.
     
    2. Students must have met the required cumulative 3.7000 weighted GPA while enrolled at CB West.  GPA's are calculated from 9th grade to the present. GPA's are not like tests and quizzes; a student's cumulative high school Grade Point Average cannot and will not be rounded up.  
     
    3. Students meeting the previous two requirements will be sent an email from an NHS adviser inviting them to apply for membership to the West chapter.  Emails are sent in late June or early July.
     
    4. Students previously dismissed from the NHS are not eligible to apply again.
     
     
    TRANSFER STUDENT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
     
    According to the NHS Handbook, students must have completed one semester of academic work at Central Bucks West HS in order to become eligible for membership.  Since the Central Bucks high schools' application season is June-September, junior transfer students who meet the above requirements will be invited to apply in the summer before their senior year.  Senior transfer students will be eligible for their final year of high school by providing their GPA and transcripts to their Guidance Counselor and having them verify eligibility with the NHS advisors. 
     
    If a transfer student was already inducted into the National Honor Society at his/her previous high school, they will be added to CB West's chapter upon presentation of a certificate of membership or letter from a prior NHS adviser confirming induction.
     

    SELECTION PROCESS:
     
    1. A Faculty Council selects all members of the National Honor Society. The NHS advisers are not voting members of the Selection Council.
     
    2. Student applications are evaluated for the following criteria required of National Honor Society members: scholarship, leadership, service, & character.
     
    3. To be accepted into the West chapter of the NHS, students are expected to have service to school, service to community, leadership, and good character.

        *Service to school is defined as having an ongoing commitment to representing and/or serving  CB West through membership in clubs, organizations, and/or sports. It is expected that Juniors have 5 hours of school service, and seniors 10 hours.

        *Service to community is defined as activities that are done for or on behalf of nonprofit organizations, (and outside of family & school) for which no compensation has been given. Juniors are expected to have performed 10 hours, and seniors 15 hours.  Hours are calculated from the end of 9th grade. 

        *Leadership positions should be elected or appointed, and require students to be directly responsible for leading and directing others. Examples of acceptable leadership positions are class/club officer, team captain or coach, work manager, and newspaper editor, to name a few.

        *Good character is defined as having no record of cheating or plagiarism, intentional dishonesty, violations of school rules & policies, or offenses in the community.
     
    4. Students are required to get letters or signed evaluation forms for all activities in and out of school.  To ensure privacy, letters are to be sealed and not opened by the student.
     
    5. There is a solid deadline for completed NHS applications. Any application, letter, or form received after this date will not be accepted. In fairness to all, there are no exceptions to this rule.
     
    6. Applications are examined by the Faculty Selection Council and all applicants will receive a letter announcing the Council's decision. Letters are usually emailed 4-5 weeks after the applications are submitted.
     
    7. Induction is held shortly after the letters go home, usually in early November. See the District Calendar or NHS calendar for the exact date.

     
    RECONSIDERATION PROCESS:
     

    According to the CB West National Honor Society Faculty Council, an eligible student who has not been selected for membership can ask for further information and potentially request a reconsideration of the decision.  The following guidelines list the procedures for students to follow.

    The approved timeframe for the reconsideration process is within ten calendar days of the date on the decision letter, but not on or after the scheduled date of the NHS Induction ceremony. 

    1.       The student must set up an appointment with an NHS adviser at which time the adviser will explain the Faculty Council’s decision regarding non-selection to the NHS.

    2.       If the student is not satisfied with the Council’s decision based upon meeting with the adviser, the student may request, in writing, that the Council reconsider their decision.  This written appeal must be submitted to the adviser.  The request must not include new letters of reference or additional activities or service, but is intended to clarify what the student already had submitted on his/her application.

    3.       Once the letter of request is submitted, the NHS Faculty Council will re-evaluate the student’s application considering the letter of appeal.

    4.       The student will receive a letter from the NHS Faculty Council with their re-evaluation decision.

    5.       If the student would like to pursue reconsideration beyond the NHS Faculty Council, s/he must make an appointment to meet with the building principal. 

     

    --------------------------------------------------

    NHS maintains policies and practices that are designed to prevent discrimination against any qualified candidate on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, and disability.  This policy of nondiscrimination applies to all practices, including the selection, discipline, and dismissal of members.