Senior Activities and Expectations

Senior Graduation and Participation Policy

Congratulations Senior Spartans! There is an exciting year ahead of you, but remember that your goal is to graduate College, Career or Military ready, so pay attention to everything this year and stay on top of your grades and all graduation requirements, throughout the entire year. To help guide you to a successful Senior year, the following expectations in regards to academics, behavior, and attendance should be on your mind with every decision you make. It is our hope that by setting clear expectations and boundaries, you will be able to make sound choices.

  • ACADEMICS: Seniors will not be eligible to participate in the Graduation ceremonies and senior events, if they are not in good academic standing and are in danger if not graduating. If they receive an F grade in either the Fall or Spring semesters.


  • ATTENDANCE: The Esparto Unified School District maintains a goal of 97% attendance for all students. We expect you to attend school every day. You must maintain a year-long attendance average of 90% or better to be able to participate in senior events. This is a firm figure. Senior events, which include Prom, the graduation ceremony, Senior Sunrise, and Senior Sunset depend on your attendance.


  • TARDIES: We also expect that you will get to your classes on time. You must maintain a 95% on-time percentage for the school year. This means that seniors must have less than 36 tardies to all their classes combined for the entire school year. When averaged out, seniors must have an average of less than 1 tardy a week to all classes to be eligible for senior events.


  • DISCIPLINE: Students that have received 30 demerits are at risk for not being able to participate in senior activities, including Senior Sunset, and graduation; however, they will still receive their diploma.


  • CONSEQUENCES: Students unable to maintain acceptable attendance/tardies/behavior expectations will become ineligible for participation in senior events. If a student loses any privilege and would like to participate in those privileges they will be responsible for scheduling a meeting to meet with the school principal to remediate their academic, attendance, and/or behavior issues.


  • GRADUATION PARTICIPATION: Further, in order to participate specifically in graduation ceremonies, I understand and agree to meet the following criteria:

    • Complete all Esparto Unified School District Diploma requirements or Certificate of Completion. A student must have no F’s in either Fall or Spring semesters.

    • Satisfied all disciplinary consequences resulting from "referrals" or other disciplinary actions, at the sole discretion of the Site Administration of Esparto High School.

    • Satisfactorily discharged all fines or money obligations owed to either Esparto High School or the Esparto Unified School District.

    • Will have attended ALL graduation practices.

    • Have a Senior Year Agreement on file.


Valedictorian & Salutatorian

The Valedictorian and Salutatorian of the graduating senior class will be determined by the principal with input from the Counseling Department. Such determination shall be based on the academic performance of the students' first seven semesters in high school (9th grade - first semester 12th grade). Students in consideration must meet the university A-G requirements for admission. Students must be enrolled in Esparto High School for the entire fall and spring semester of their senior year. Any courses used from previous institutions must be A-G approved (when applicable), offered from a public institution, graded on an A-F, 4.0 GPA scale and listed on a student's official transcript. In general, the Valedictorian is the senior who attains the highest cumulative weighted grade point average of the graduating class and who completes rigorous academic coursework throughout the reporting period. The Salutatorian is the senior with the second highest cumulative weighted GPA in the graduating class who has also completed rigorous academic coursework throughout the reporting period. If more than one student shares the same grade point average and has completed the academic coursework requirement, more than one Valedictorian and/or Salutatorian may be named.


For purposes of selecting a Valedictorian and Salutatorian, rigorous academic coursework is defined as completion and/or enrollment (with expected completion in the senior year courses) in a minimum of four 10 credit courses in Honors or Advanced Placement courses.


The announcement of Valedictorian/ Salutatorian will be made at the Senior Awards presentation and at graduation.


Scholarship Requirements

In calculating an applicant' s GPA for admission, the university will use only the grades from 10th & 11th grade, earned in the above required courses. See the counselor for details.

  • Exam Requirements: Exams must be completed by December of your senior year.

  • All freshman applicants must submit test scores, as described below: Take the ACT plus Writing or the SAT Reasoning Test with Essay

  • Two SAT Subject Tests will no longer be required for admission beginning with the class of 2012. However, students can still choose to submit their scores for consideration as part of their application, just as they do now with AP scores. The Subject Tests may be recommended for certain majors.