Kathryn Sutton

Gossip was flying at the beginning of this school year over the newly introduced Freshman Academy. What is it? Why was it started? Is it good? For those who aren’t freshmen the news is mixed; teachers make it sound great, this school paper reports good news, and yet the freshman complain. Now, a semester into the 2008 – 2009 school year, some honesty can be brought to the table over the Academy.

The Freshman Academy is a touchy subject for some people, and the opinions of the students vary greatly. This year the Academy was instituted to aid incoming freshman with adapting to the high school, and making sure they have the skills to succeed in the following years. It is also a response to mounting studies showing the problems many students have in the transition between middle school and high school, where many students’ grades tank. As a major part of the Academy, a new class called Success in High School (SIHS) became mandatory for all freshmen. A semester later, some of the students are thankful for the extra help, while others are frustrated and would rather be on their own. Others are unsure, and don’t have a definitive point of view. Not much can be done to change the Academy now because of scheduling constraints, but is the opportunity to improve the program and avoid pitfalls that have occurred this year, so that next year things can flow smoothly.

In December 2008, 31 students of varying grade levels took an anonymous survey about the Freshman Academy. Here are the results of the surveys:

* 68% of the 31 students surveyed thought that they were well prepared for high school.
* 2/3 of the 31 students surveyed said they had good grades their first semester of high school.
* Although 59% of students surveyed appreciate the effort of the school to aid incoming freshman, 67% would choose not to be in the Academy.
* 3/5 of students said they don’t like being divided into teams.
* 81% of freshmen would rather take an elective than SIHS.
* Most students struggle with time management, study skills, and understanding GPA & class rank in high school. (Topics covered in SIHS)
* A majority of students said that high school rules, public speaking, and plagiarism weren’t problems for them, so there’s no need to include these in SIHS

Many students aren’t pleased with the Academy and would rather take an elective, but the Freshman Academy shouldn’t be abandoned so soon. The hostility toward the program is in part because it is a change, even if it is to help students. No matter how the program is changed there will likely still be harsh criticisms of it because it is in its early stages. In a few years most of that will die down, and the Academy will be much better because of time and experience. Students will likely be warmer towards it even if they don’t love it.

Some suggestions from the surveyed students may help teachers and administrators running the program. For example, instead of making the SIHS class mandatory for all students, target the ones who had lagging grades in middle school. The question for teachers is how to determine which grades count as lagging, as grading expectations differ between middle school and high school. One option is to devise an assessment for eighth grade students. Also, to make the SIHS class a few days a week instead of every day, or only one semester long. Contrary to the opinions of the teachers, many students believe there isn’t enough material to cover a full year, and students could take an elective second semester. A problem here might be creating enough electives for all of the students, but it makes more sense. Lastly, the students like spending time with their guidance counselors, and planning for the future. Maybe a good way to help the program would be to expand the number of days the students spend with their counselors from one, to two or three.

Another major reform for the program would be to edit the curriculum and take more time for planning and development. Freshmen surveyed reported that GPA, class rank, study skills, test taking skills, and what colleges look for were topics they really feel really they benefitted from. Stress management, high school rules, plagiarism, and the resources at PAHS were topics that some students felt were pointless. Using Vista and SAT prep are also potentially good topics to cover. An issue is that what is useful to one student isn’t a problem for another, so the curriculum is a lot of give and take. There also should be no homework for the class; it should be more fun, or more like a study hall.

Another suggestion is that there shouldn’t be teams. Teams were formed so that students’ English, Global Studies, and IEE teachers would be grouped together. That way, students could visit other teachers for help in SIHS. Also, the teachers can get together and discuss how to help students who are having problems, which is the main reason teams were started. But, with topics to teach in SIHS, students can’t visit another teacher on their team without missing class. Unfortunately, some students don’t have all of their teachers on the same team anyway. These cross- team students are at a severe disadvantage because teachers have tried to overlap projects into SIHS. Originally, students were supposed to take all honors or all CP level classes to eliminate cross-teaming. This idea was unpopular among students and parents and was quickly shot down. Teachers also have problems addressing both overlapping projects and the curriculum for SIHS because of limited time. There are other ways to help students without teams. Personally, as a freshman, I don’t think SIHS is a pointless idea for students. The concept is fine, but teachers need to target the students who need help with poor grades or lagging skills, rather than all of the students. Also, the organization and planning for the Freshman Academy was a little rushed, but the school can make it work with some changes.

Recently, a task force of board members, parents, students (current and graduated), teachers, administrators, and a college professor met to discuss the Ninth Grade Academy and the Success in High School course. It was decided that the Success in High School course is going to be renamed Freshmen Seminar to more accurately describe the course. The course teaches skills and concepts that are beyond success in high school. The curriculum is going to be reviewed and differentiated for the College Prep and Honors level. New changes will be discussed in future articles!