When interviewing CCHS senior Alex Steffens, I asked her if she would have liked to experience the 9th-grade academy. Her response was, “I think there are both pros and cons to it.” Alex went on to say that she is “not sure 9th-grade academy was necessarily the best solution.” That said, when asked if she was overly stressed during her first year of school and whether or not she believed the 9th-grade academy could have helped, she responded, “I was definitely stressed out… So I think it’s great that you don’t have to worry about grades in that first portion because that’s a nice break. But I did really like having a mixed group of new people, so I think that’s the downside of the 9th-grade academy.”

I also interviewed CCHS junior Sarah Annunziata to see what it was like for her during the first year of the 9th grade academy. I asked Sarah if she noticed a significant change between entering her freshman year versus entering her sophomore year, and she explained that she observed a “clear difference,” noting that she “was a lot more worried about [her] sophomore year” with the lack of cohorted teachers and classes.

From my perspective, some aspects of the 9th-grade academy were definitely beneficial. I believe it was helpful to have grades be pass/fail during the first quarter. Without feeling overly stressed, it felt easier for me to shift into this new school and set of expectations thanks to this part of the academy. Furthermore, having the year start out as pass/fail also helped me to figure out how to balance my time in a way that allowed for more exploring of what worked best for me and what didn’t. By removing the pressures of grades, I was able to consider how to best manage my time between sports, socializing, and now the addition of homework – which was much more abundant than it had ever been compared to what had been assigned in middle school. It required a lot of effort on my part to figure out how to balance my time and my schoolwork, all while still trying to get a good night’s sleep, but I felt like the academy helped me figure it out.

I interviewed my math teacher, Mr. Saulnier, who is in his first year here at CCHS. I asked Mr. Saulnier if he thought the Pass/Fail quarter helped to bring down stress levels in his class. He answered that “I find that the Pass/Fail quarter supports students in multiple ways. Good habits lead to good outcomes” and that “it certainly helps to alleviate stress for students who have a tendency to focus on their grades over their process.” As he continued to discuss the academy with me, he also noted, “The only downside I see is if students waste the opportunity and don’t take the process seriously.” I also asked him if he had seen this kind of initiative at other schools, as well as if he thought the 9th-grade academy was more beneficial than similar initiatives at other schools. To this, he responded, “In the age of COVID, I have seen and heard about many creative and innovative ways to support students.” He went on to say, “I am a big believer in the 9th Grade Academy model. It was one of the reasons I wanted to work at CCHS… the Academy model helps create a ‘smaller school within a school’ environment to allow cohorts of students to build strong social bonds in class outside their traditional friend group.”

I also interviewed my English teacher, Mr. Kemeza, who has been at CCHS for nine years. I asked him if he saw any COVID effects in making the 9th-grade academy. He reported: “I would suggest COVID really impacted the way we were doing school for two whole years, so the changes in grades and how we were thinking about success and evaluating school work makes it very hard to disentangle the effects of the 9th-grade academy.” Moving out of the pandemic model, I asked him if he thought the academy was still helpful now, even after COVID. He responded, “Folks are entering this large school from many middle schools – it [the 9th-grade academy] helps students and teachers get to know each other quickly. It remains helpful even while leaving COVID.” Finally, I asked Mr. Kemeza if he noticed students seeming more comfortable with each other in class during the 9th-grade Academy, and he responded, “Yes, I have noticed this. I think it is because it makes a large community into several smaller communities and lets people get to know each other quicker.”