The first quarter of school ended October 31, 2019. While each student received a report card, many may be left wondering how NC did as a school. The statistics showed that 88% of grades earned by students were passing with 12% being Fs. The statistics for each of the grade levels show a lot about the challenges faced at each stage of high school as well as many of the reliefs at each of the stages. 

     The statistics show that entering high school is a bit of an awakening for many students. The freshmen class, which is also the biggest class, received the second highest percentage of Fs with 12%. The lowest amount of Fs were earned by the senior class with just 9% of grades being Fs. The juniors were just behind the seniors in terms of Fs as 10% of their grades were Fs. 

     Transitioning from freshman to sophomore year may be a challenge for many students. While the statistics only compare each of the classes during the first quarter of this year, they show the sophomores performing the poorest compared to all other grades. The tenth graders took home the lowest percent of As with 35% and the highest amount of Fs with 15%. They also took the highest percent of Bs and Cs and tied for the highest percent of Ds with the freshman class. 

     The poor performance of the sophomores could be attributed to some of the major situational changes between freshman and sophomore year. These include the end of the team system. The team system is the grouping of freshmen into four categories (orange, silver, black and white) and putting them into classes with teachers assigned to their corresponding team. This system encourages freshmen teachers in each of the teams to collaborate and facilitates relationships because students end up having many of the same people in each of their classes. 

     Another big difference is the introduction of an open campus during lunch. This privilege requires students to take more responsibility for themselves and may cause a slight drop in productivity at first. Many freshmen end up completing homework during lunch because they are at school, so going off campus may inhibit the completion of work. However, as shown by the improvement in the grades of juniors and seniors, students do adapt to this change as well as the loss of teams with more time.

     The junior class put on one of the strongest performances rivaled only by the seniors. The juniors took home the greatest percent of As with 48%, just shy of half of all grades. The junior year can be a crucial point in NC students’ high school careers as it is the first year of official IB classes. However, this didn’t seem to negatively affect the juniors’ grades.

      Seniors, as mentioned above, took home the lowest percent of Fs. However, it should be noted that they also received the lowest amount of grades total. This is partially due to the senior class being the smallest, but it could also be because many seniors do not take a full load of classes. By senior year, many students have enough graduation requirements completed that they are able to spend more time doing other activities outside of school. These activities include part time jobs that give seniors the ability to gain real work experience that helps prepare them for their lives after high school.

     The first quarter grades show that there is definitely room for improvement for NC students. The question is now whether or not students will improve over the course of this year or if it will take longer for each of the grade levels to show statistical improvement.