To the relief of students and many parents, North Haven High School will switch to a weighted 4.0 grade point average scale in the fall, said Director of Guidance Rebecca Carr.

"The change was prompted in part by a student," Carr said.

The school has been using what is generally recognized as a 7.0 scale, but Carr said that is difficult to quantify.

"Technically, the highest GPA a student could get is a 9.5, but in truth, that's not attainable because they'd have to be taking all (advanced placement) classes and receiving an A-plus in every one, and that's not possible," she said.

The weighted 4.0 scale means every student will have the opportunity to earn a 4.0 average. Students taking AP classes can earn an extra percentage for scoring an A-plus in those classes, but it's not a dramatic increase.

"It levels the playing field for scholarship committees and college admissions offices," Carr said. "The 4.0 scale seems to be the common language for GPAs in America."

Superintendent of Schools Sara-Jane Querfeld said she served on a scholarship committee and realized the current GPA scale in town "was confusing to scholarship committees and to colleges."

"Many of the people who sit on scholarship committees don't work in education, but they understand the 4.0 scale because it is so common," Carr said.

She said students "don't talk about GPA right now because it doesn't mean anything to them."

Carr said she received input from several college admissions offices as she worked on recalculating the formula and "we had several math minds look it over to be sure it made sense and worked."

The new formula will begin in the fall and parents will receive letters outlining the change at the end of this school year.

The honor roll system at the North Haven Middle School will also change in the fall. Students will have to earn a 90 percent average grade instead of an 87 average in order to receive honors. High honors will continue to be awarded to students with a 95 percent average or higher.

Principal Philip Piazza said roughly 60 percent of students receive honors and the goal was to set the bar a little higher to encourage students to work harder and to restore the luster of receiving honors.