{"id":3672,"date":"2020-04-02T12:33:36","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T17:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/?p=3672"},"modified":"2020-04-06T10:57:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T15:57:20","slug":"pass-or-fail-how-will-students-succeed-amidst-a-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/pass-or-fail-how-will-students-succeed-amidst-a-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Pass or Fail: How Will Students Succeed Amidst a Pandemic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In late March, a bold statement delivered in the form of a petition began circulating among the Grace student body. The Change.org petition titled, \u201cMake Quarter 4 Pass\/Fail\u201d, aims to do just that; convince the Grace High School administration to switch from letter grades to a high pass\/low pass system. Lucas Galarza 20\u2019 and Marc Monteys 20\u2019 co-wrote the petition. Galarza explained his motivations and reasoning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy sister\u2019s school actually was one of the schools to start doing pass\/fail classes, and I just thought why is Grace not doing that at this point in the year and with all the stuff that has happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Galarza and Monteys first acknowledge the many commendable strides that Grace has made towards making our school an equitable learning environment, such as providing students who may not have had access to technology with computers and free tutoring services on campus. However, the two seniors believe that this equality is in jeopardy, as not every student at Grace has access to a secure wifi connection, without which, our current learning system is not possible. Their concerns about this balance are outlined.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen these students fail to perform as before in their classes, it will be of no fault of their own. Students with more access to resources will be heavily favored if we move forward with no consideration for these issues.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the stress of the evolving situation surrounding COVID-19 is undoubtedly affecting every member of the Grace community, changing the landscape of learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is, however, another considerable acknowledgment to be made; how will grades affect college decisions? Specifically for the juniors whose college process has been drastically interrupted. Undoubtedly colleges will take into account these new circumstances, thus the main issue raised surrounds students who had wished to raise their second-semester grade to show improvement throughout the year. Furthermore, students who may not be exceptional test-takers often need their grades to showcase their other outstanding qualities and work ethic. Grades can be a great tool for students to stand out from a massive pool of applicants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the petition already has 277 signatures as of April 2, there are still plenty of concerns beyond those of members of the junior class. Informally, some teachers worry about the challenges of preparing students for the next school year if academics become less rigorous. Others believe Grace should only make such a change if there is universal action among all private schools in Manhattan. However, most do not seem to favor one system over the other. Each student has and will be affected by the current situation, and no matter what, some form of compromise has to be made to ensure the well-being of the student body.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked if he believes the administration will adopt the changes proposed, Galarza said, \u201cit is hard to say. I am hopeful that the changes will be made, and I think to not at least seriously consider making those changes would be a bit irresponsible, but ultimately it is their choice.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite whether or not you are in favor of this petition, it is clear that this is an unprecedented moment in the school\u2019s history, one that may require unprecedented action.<\/span><\/p>\n

Link to petition:<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/grace-church-students-and-families-make-quarter-4-pass-fail<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In late March, a bold statement delivered in the form of a petition began circulating among the Grace student body. The Change.org petition titled, \u201cMake Quarter 4 Pass\/Fail\u201d, aims to… Continue reading “Pass or Fail: How Will Students Succeed Amidst a Pandemic?”<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":3679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[200,7],"tags":[668,667,666,665,664,650],"appful":[],"class_list":["post-3672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recent","category-school","tag-4th-quarter","tag-change","tag-pass-fail","tag-petition","tag-quarantine","tag-zoom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9uEnr-Xe","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Grace-Church-School-NYmetroSchools-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3672"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3688,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3672\/revisions\/3688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3672"},{"taxonomy":"appful","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/appful?post=3672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}