The National Honor Society is a nationwide organization that recognizes exceptional secondary school students. Members of the Chapter at Old Saybrook High School have and continue to demonstrate good character, strong leadership, excellent scholarship, and generous service.  

In the Fall of each academic year, candidates are evaluated considering these four pillars: Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character. 

To be eligible for consideration, a student must be a member of the Junior or Senior class and have attended Old Saybrook High School for at least one semester. Juniors and Seniors must have achieved an exact cumulative grade point average of 93.00 or higher. There is NO rounding. 

If students meet the pillar of scholarship, they are invited in the fall to fill out a form to be a member of the National Honor society. If the form is turned in complete and on time students are chosen by a majority vote of a five-member faculty selection committee. In considering candidates, the following criteria are examined:

Scholarship: an exact cumulative grade point average of 93.00 or higher as of the start of Junior year. 

Leadership: a record of active participation in clubs/organizations in the school/community, a record of leadership in an organization, sport, or club, a commitment to serve as a role model within the school community. Sustained participation in school or community activities is required (membership alone does not guarantee acceptance into the NHS). 

Service: a record of sustained service in the Old Saybrook High School community and/or other school-sponsored organizations or local community outreach programs. Active participation in service projects is strongly encouraged.

Character: a responsible school attendance record, a positive disciplinary record, a record of academic honesty and integrity, a record of exemplary behavior and cooperation with both faculty and students.

Membership in the National Honor Society is both an honor and a responsibility.

Members are expected to continue to demonstrate the qualities of Character, Leadership, Service, and Scholarship; they will be held to the highest of standards with regard to honor, discipline, academics, and all membership duties and activities. 

The Induction ceremony takes place on the Monday before Thanksgiving break at 7:00 pm in the OSHS Auditorium. Check school announcements for the exact date every year. 

Once inducted into the NHS, students must maintain their standing in the organization and fulfill the following requirements:

• Demonstrate a commitment to Scholarship and Service. The group will decide on a community service initiative to work on. NHS students are required to do ten (10) additional hours of service each year above the school community service requirements.  OSHS requires 30 community service hours for graduation. 

       If you are inducted to NHS as a junior, you will need 50 hours total. 

If you are inducted to NHS as a senior, you will need 40 hours total. 

• Demonstrate Leadership and positive involvement in the Old Saybrook School Community.

• Demonstrate strong Character: have no record of academic dishonesty, have no pattern of truancy, excessive absences, or tardies, and have no disciplinary record of frequent detention, suspension, or inappropriate behavior.

• Students are required to attend all meetings. Meetings are posted at the first meeting in the fall on the Google Classroom. If a student is unable to make a meeting, they are responsible for reaching out to both advisors by email to let them know they will not be attending prior to the meeting. 

• Students who do not meet the criteria of membership will be given a verbal warning, then a written warning, then the student will be invited for review by the faculty council and may be dismissed.

  
  

Deficiency in any or all the above can disqualify a student from membership in the NHS, resulting in dismissal. In such cases, the student’s record will be reviewed by the NHS Faculty Council.