In a policy change for the upcoming school year the Instructional Coucnil, made up of department chairs, and counselors, met to discuss the cutting of “regular” class summer assignments while the IB/AP and honors classes will still have summer assignments.

This new concept highlights the difference between regular and IB/Honors classes with the new reading requirement. Students taking regular classes are not permitted have summer reading assignments while IB/Honors students are required to.

Sophomore Cece Joseph views the new rule as fitting for the challenge that comes with advanced classes.

“I think it’s okay that IB kids have summer assignments because they need to be prepared for next year and know what the work is going to be like,” Joseph said. “If you sign up for IB you know what’s coming so I think it’s good to have summer assignments.”

Other students, like junior Iris Arrazola agrees with the idea to a certain extent but also acknowledges its flaws.

“I think that is the expectation because the IB and honors students are signing up for rigorous courses but at the same time regular students should have assignments just to keep their minds fresh but of course not as hard,”Arrazola said.

Students with a rather large IB course load, like junior Vicky Luu, view this as a negative.

“I think IB and honors kids should not have summer assignments because they already stress out so much throughout the year,” Luu said. “It is a bad thing because our brains will not remember anything because we are on vacation mode and it is mainly busy work.”

Joseph on the other hand feels that summer assignments, rather than busy work, are designed to keep students minds working throughout the break to prevent them from forgetting things.

“I do not know about most people but I forget about school over the summer and having assignments helps to stay focused and not forget things,” Joseph said. “It will force me to stay focused and set my priorities because I’ll have to find time to do them in between my job and sports and vacationing.”

Junior Karla Mejia, who took multiple IB courses this year and numerous honors classes in the past, believes that summer assignments give those advanced courses an intimidating reputation.

“It seems pretty bad because some kids might just take regular classes for less work when really everyone should be challenging themselves,” Mejia said. “I see it as a bad thing because it just makes IB/Honor classes look more intimidating because of some more work.”

Students with a less challenging course load, like Arrazola, see it as a way to keep the mind active with minimal stress.

“It will give me something to do over the summer,” Arrazola said. “I see summer assignments as a positive concept.”

Due to Mejia’s past work load, summer assignments do not come as a shock to her.

“This doesn’t impact me because I always have summer assignments and it looks like nothing is changing,” Mejia said.

Joseph, on the other hand, has yet to experience the rigor of IB classwes therefore feels less intimidated by the work.

“I see it as a good thing because I’m learning how to take care of my responsibilities and manage time and stay focused,” Joseph said. “Some people might see this as negative and a waste of time but I think it’s a good thing.”