Interpreting New Vista Transcripts

In this section of our web site you will find materials that will help you understand and interpret a New Vista transcript. This document provides brief background information as well as a guide to the other available documents.

In 1992, the Boulder Valley Board of Education created New Vista High School to "break the mold" of conventional secondary school practice and offer another learning option to all interested secondary students in Boulder Valley Schools. The guiding principles of the school include: high expectations for all students, graduation by exhibition, authentic learning, valuing diversity, personalization and utilizing community resources to expand the learning environment.

A small public high school of choice, serving a heterogeneous student body, we have two goals. The first is one that every high school must have ­ to educate students in the conventional subjects and prepare them for the full range of post-secondary programs, including highly competitive colleges and universities. The second goal is more unusual and defines our unique environment. We have created structures and opportunities to help each and every student identify and pursue interests or talents at which they are genuinely motivated to excel. We want all students to begin to define their public identities and to select a post-graduate path which will lead them to a meaningful way of life in the world.

As a result of our innovations, the credentials of New Vista students differ in several ways from those of students at conventional high schools. We have provided a variety of documents to help you better understand the school and our students. These include:

Our School Profile which provides a description of distinctive elements of the school, basic demographic and test data, and a list of the Culminating Projects of the prior year's graduating class.
An explanation of the Grades Used on New Vista Transcripts interprets the letter grades you will find on transcripts.
Information regarding Class Rank, School Honors and Advanced Classes is helpful in comparing our transcripts to those of other schools.
A translation of our Credits and Core Curriculum to more conventional high school course offerings will help interpret the numerical values on the transcripts.
A recent Course Description Handbook will help you understand the content of each course.
Activities, such as service, sports, lessons, and career exploration, which students at other high schools undertake exclusively outside the school day, can, at NVHS, be encompassed by either our Community Experience or Learning Unit Contract programs (described in the School Profile). Our students, therefore, earn credit for activities that would be extra-curricular at other schools. We encourage students to identify these activities as such on their college applications.

If you need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Kirk Quitter, Principal, or our College Counselor, Diane Mastromarino.

Sincerely yours,

Kirk Quitter
Principal