As a new school year begins, several things have stayed the same. However, one big thing has changed: the grading policy. Some believe it poses an improvement from the former grading system with the argument that the new policy keeps it consistent and gives students an incentive to put more effort on assignments. Others argue that the original policy never needed to change in the first place.

The new policy separates grades into two categories: performance grades and practice grades. The policy also requires that all grades get graded out of 100 points.

“I don’t really care for it,” Junior Hazik Aiyan. “I think the old policy wasn’t broken so why fix it?”

Several people oppose the new policy, citing how unnecessary the change was. Whether it is the change in workload or the change in the weight of grades, complaints about the new policy arose in the past few weeks.

“The whole thing just doesn’t make sense to me,”  Reema Al Khayatt said. “If daily work now only counts for 50%, a student could theoretically do every single homework and assignment perfectly and still fail the six weeks if they get a bad grade on a test. It’s making me feel completely unmotivated.”

On the other hand, some see the new policy as beneficial. Some like the consistency between classes. On the other hand, others believe it prepares students for their schooling beyond high school with tests being more impactful on students’ grades. 

“I remember in several of my college classes the entire grade was determined by just a midterm and a final.” AP Biology/Chemistry teacher Jarred Nusz said. “In many ways, everything boils down to performance, and the new grading policy reflects that.”