California Junior Scholarship Federation

What is CJSF?

The purpose of the California Junior Scholarship Federation, a state-wide organization of over 600 chapters, is to foster high standards of scholarship, service and citizenship on the part of students of California’s public and private junior high and middle schools.

How do students earn membership?

First, students apply for membership through the advisor at Santa Rosa (Mrs. Perry).  Mrs. Perry will be explaining the program to all students during the advisory period.  Students interested in applying should ask for and complete the membership application.  Mrs. Perry will then verify grades from the student’s report cards.  Membership is based on grades earned during the preceding semester/trimester.  Students must reapply (fill out the form with their classes and grades) every trimester. 

Membership Guidelines

Each semester (every 2 quarters), or trimester grade points are calculated to determine membership.  Students must have twice the number of points as academic subjects (for example, students enrolled in 4 academic subjects must have 8 points to qualify.  7th and 8th graders have the following subjects:  Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and Science. PE does NOT qualify as an academic subject.

Points are awarded as follows:

A grade of “A”                                    3 CJSF points

A grade of “B”                                    1 CJSF point

A grade of “C”                                    0 CJSF points

A grade of “D” or “F”                          disqualifies a student for that semester

In addition to grade points, members must complete at least one service project per year—last year, a peer tutoring schedule was set up for these students and they visited primary classrooms once or twice a week.  This year, that will take place during the advisory period. Students not wishing to participate in peer tutoring will need to complete some community service on their own and turn in documentation to Mrs. Perry. 

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Honor Members

An honored member is a student who has qualified for membership in at least five trimesters in 7th and 8th grades (this would be one full year plus an additional two quarters or trimesters).  Honor members will receive a CJSF gold seal on their middle school diplomas.

7th graders may apply for membership for the first time at the end of the 1st trimester.  8th graders interested should have applied last year during their 7th grade year and continue turning in their grades and the end of each trimester this year.  Those 8th graders having enough points in both 7th and 8th grade years will qualify for honorary membership, receive the CJSF gold seal on their diplomas, and wear the gold cord with their graduation gown during the promotion.  

Example #1: Sample Santa Rosa schedule/grade points:

Language Arts                 A                 3pts

Social Studies                 C                 0pts

Math                               B                 1pt

Science                           A                 3pts

Total                                                  7pts—does NOT qualify

Total needed                                      8pts

Example #2

Language Arts                 B                 1

Social Studies                 A                 3

Math                               A                 3

Science                           B                 1

Total                                                  8pts—DOES qualify

Note:  We will NOT be counting exploratory courses in the academic classes required at this time.  Also, remember—any D or F in an academic class automatically disqualifies the student for that semester.  For last year, current 8th graders will need to show grades for all 3 trimesters. 

Questions:  please contact Sarah Perry