To say this school year is a little bit different would be quite the understatement. In an attempt to ease the stress of online schooling, Annandale will be using a “rolling” (otherwise known as “cumulative”) gradebook for the rest of the school year.
Principal Shawn DeRose describes the new grading system in the Sept. 27 Annandale Community Insider: “The final grade is determined by a combination of all assignments and assessments given throughout the year (not an average of quarter marks). The grade posted at the end of each quarter will be a ‘snapshot’ of students’ current progress in the course.”
This means that there will be no quarterly grades per se, as the grade book will use all of the work you do all year long. “A rolling gradebook allows for progress towards a final mark that captures the total picture of student grades, regardless of length of quarter or number of assignments in each quarter,” DeRose said.
Some students are optimistic about the change.
“I think it’s a great idea,” sophomore Chelsi Lilli said. “I’m not stressing about my first quarter grades or scrambling to fix them. It takes a ton of the stress away from online school. As long as you stay on top of your work, you’ll be fine.”
Other students, however, aren’t taking the change so positively.
“It just preemptively stresses me out for later on in the school year.” junior Kyle Ho said. “I feel like if my grades stumble later in the year, it will be really difficult to get them back up.”