National Junior Honors Society
St. Pius X Catholic School is entering its
third year as an enthusiastic participant in the National
Junior Honors Society (NJHS). Like the National Honors
Society, the NJHS is a co-curricular opportunity that recognizes
middle school students who demonstrate outstanding performance
in each of the following areas: scholarship, leadership,
service and character. A Catholic school should
call upon students to appreciate and develop the gifts
with which they have been blessed. Given the types
of personal and civic qualities endorsed by NJHS, this
program provides the school an opportunity to recognize
the academic, service and leadership characteristics of
students and, more importantly, engage participants in
further leadership and service experiences aimed at nurturing
and, in some cases, enhancing the spiritual, academic and
social goals of the school.
In order to qualify for NJHS, students must be presently
enrolled in the 7th or 8th grade and meet each component
maintained in the following four-part criteria:
- Scholarship Requirements:
- Students must earn a 93% overall average for two
consecutive quarters. Note: A student becomes
eligible after the first quarter of his/her 7th grade
year (the last quarter of the 6th grade year and the
first quarter of the 7th grade year count toward this
requirement).
- Service Requirements:
- The quality of service experiences is weighed more
heavily in the selection of members than the quantity.
- Some examples of service would be serving at mass,
cantering and serving for funerals, and helping to
set up the church for Christmas and Easter. Soup
kitchen on Mondays will not count as a service project,
however, if a student attends and helps at the soup
kitchen on his or her own, then that is acceptable.
- Service requirements include parish and community
involvement.
- Leadership Requirements:
- Regular attendance of the student at school without
regular tardiness
- Active participation in school-related and/or extra-curricular
activities
- Character Requirements:
- No notable or consistent pattern of behavioral
or organizational referrals
- No incidences related to the bullying of other
students
- An observable commitment to inclusiveness, kindness
and “doing one’s best”
Those students who qualify for NJHS will be invited to
submit an application to members of the Faculty Council
who will make determinations based on the criteria outlined
above. Students accepted as members will formally
join NJHS at one of two annual induction ceremonies, one
held shortly after the conclusion of 1st quarter and the
other held after the conclusion of 3rd quarter (our first
induction ceremony will be held during fourth quarter,
sometime soon after Easter). Members will participate
in a variety of service and leadership activities (to be
coordinated with the help of the Faculty Council) while
a part of NJHS. As members, all students will be
expected to continue to meet the standards (academic and
otherwise) which served as the basis for their selection
to the program.
A complete list of rules and guidelines for NJHS is included
below:
THE FACULTY COUNCIL
- The Faculty Council shall consist of five voting faculty
members appointed annually by the principal. The chapter
adviser shall be an ex-officio, non-voting, sixth member
of the Faculty Council. No principal or assistant principal
may be included on the St. Pius X Catholic School Faculty
Council.
- The term of the St. Pius X Catholic School Faculty
Council shall be one year. Members may be appointed to
consecutive terms.
- The SPX Faculty Council shall meet at least once a
year to review the procedures of the chapter, select
members, and to consider non-selection, dismissal, other
disciplinary actions, and warning cases.
- The SPX Faculty Council will develop and revise, when
necessary, all chapter procedures for selection, discipline,
and dismissal of members, all of which must remain in
compliance with the national guidelines.
MEMBERSHIP
- The Faculty Council shall reserve the right to award
honorary membership to school officials, principals,
teachers, NJHS advisers, adults, students with disabilities,
or foreign exchange students in recognition of achievement
and/or outstanding service rendered to the school in
keeping with the purposes of the National Junior Honor
Society. Honorary members shall have no voice or vote
in chapter affairs.
- Membership in our St. Pius X Catholic School chapter
is an honor bestowed upon a student. Selection for membership
is by a Faculty Council and is based on outstanding scholarship,
character, leadership, and service. Once selected, members
have the responsibility to continue to demonstrate these
qualities.
- An NJHS member who transfers into St. Pius X Catholic
School from another school and brings a letter
from the principal or chapter adviser to the SPX school
adviser shall be accepted automatically as a member in
the St. Pius X Catholic School chapter. Transfer members
must meet St. Pius X Catholic School standards within
one semester in order to retain membership.
- Members who resign or are dismissed are never again
eligible for membership or its benefits.
SELECTION OF MEMBERS
- To be eligible for membership. the candidate must be
a member of those classes (seventh or eighth grade) designated
as eligible in the St. Pius X Catholic School chapter
bylaws. Candidates must have been in attendance at the
school the equivalent of one semester. (Some candidates
may be ineligible for induction because of the semester
ruling. Many students, including students of military
parents, are required to move with parents or guardians
that have transferred in their work. The present school
principal should seek a recommendation from the previous
school principal pursuant to the candidate's selection.
On the basis of the recommendation of the previous principal,
the Faculty Council may waive the semester regulation.)
- St. Pius Faculty Council agreed upon a 93% overall
average for two consecutive quarters to become
eligible for membership. Candidates shall then
be evaluated on the basis of service, leadership, and
character.
- Service Requirements:
- The quality of service experiences is weighed
more heavily in the selection of members than the
quantity.
- Some examples of service would be serving at
mass, cantering and serving for funerals, and helping
to set up the church for Christmas and Easter. Soup
kitchen on Mondays will not count as a service
project, however, if a student attends and helps
at the soup kitchen on his or her own, then that
is acceptable.
- Service requirements include parish and community
involvement.
- Leadership Requirements:
- Regular attendance of the student at school without
regular tardiness
- Active participation in school-related and extra-curricular
activities
- Character Requirements:
- No notable or consistent pattern of behavioral
or organizational referrals
- No incidences related to the bullying of other
students
- An observable commitment to inclusiveness, kindness
and “doing one’s best”
- The selection of each member to the chapter shall be
by a majority vote of the Faculty Council. Service
requirements include parish and community involvement. Number
of service projects should not be limited by a set amount
and should be subjective. Some examples of service
would be serving at mass, cantering and serving for funerals,
and helping to set up the church for Christmas and Easter. Regular
attendance of the student at school without regular tardiness
is a requirement. Soup kitchen on Mondays will
not count as a service project, however, if a student
attends and helps at the soup kitchen on his or her own,
then that is acceptable.
- The selection procedure shall be determined by the
Faculty Council and shall be consistent with the rules
and regulations of NJHS.
- The National Council and NASSP shall not review the
judgment of the Faculty Council regarding selection of
individual members to local chapters.
DISCIPLINE AND DISMISSAL
- The Faculty Council, in compliance with the rules and
regulations of the National Honor Society, shall determine
the procedure for dismissal. A written description of
the dismissal procedure shall be available to interested
parties. Faculty Councils can consider disciplinary
actions that are less severe than dismissal if circumstances
warrant.
- Members who fall below the standards that were the
basis for their selection, shall be promptly warned in
writing by the chapter adviser and given a reasonable
amount of time to correct the deficiency, except that
in the case of flagrant violation of school rules or
the law, a member does not necessarily have to be warned.
- The Faculty Council shall determine when an individual
has exceeded a reasonable number of warnings.
- In all cases of pending dismissal, a member shall have
a right to a hearing before the Faculty Council.
- For purposes of dismissal, a majority vote of the Faculty
Council is required.
- A member who has been dismissed may appeal the decision
of the Faculty Council to the principal and thereafter
under the same rules for disciplinary appeals in the
school district.
- The National Council and NASSP shall hear no appeals
in dismissal cases.
INDUCTION OF MEMBERS
- Induction of new members into the National Junior Honor
Society is an important event for the student, the chapter
and St. Pius X Catholic School. Each chapter is
obligated to hold an induction ceremony. Prospective
members are not full members until they have been properly
inducted, preferably soon after selection.
- New inductees will be presented with a certificate
of membership and a small token of appreciation.
- Members will be registered in a registry book specifically
designed for St. Pius X Catholic School.
- Induction ceremonies, held in the form of an Honor
Breakfast, will be held twice a year, once after the
beginning of the first quarter and after the third quarter
of each year. Parents of new inductees will be
invited and all previous inductees will be included.
- The Honor Breakfast will be hosted by the Faculty Council
and specific members of the SPX NJHS.
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