At 3:00 P.M. on May 11, teachers submitted students’ final grades for the interim report of fourth quarter, which will be received by students during their W8 classes on May 12.

For the third time, AHS students are obtaining their reports from their teachers instead of having them mailed to their homes. When AHS first employed this tactic for third quarter interims, it was due partly to a time constraint that was a result of the many snow days which set both teachers and students behind schedule. Nonetheless, the technique was utilized because of a financial constraint as well.

“We were the only high school in the county that was still mailing them [the reports] home,” said counselor Lisa Foliaco. By handing the reports directly to students instead of mailing them, “we save over a thousand dollars,” said Cheryl Kraus, the financial overseer at AHS.

The cost to mail home the three sheets of paper that come during interim time is 41 cents per student. The money that pays for those mails comes out of the school’s instructional supplies. Therefore, the money that is saved by handing the documents out directly to students can be put forth to buy textbooks and other things of that nature.

Seemingly, this new method of distribution has very positive effects on the AHS budget. However, it can also be a less progressive from other certain aspects.

“Some students are not giving interims to parents. Some students are losing them before they get home,” said Foliaco. In order to prevent the former from happening, however, Dean of Students Hassan Mims has made callouts to parents, and the date of distribution has been posted on “keep-in-touch” e-mails—e-mails sent to parents which detail upcoming school events.

As a result, a feeling of apprehension is instilled into AHS students. “I’m anxious about getting my interim because it’s guaranteed that my parents are going to see it since they [AHS administrators] call home,” said sophomore Bellal Hussain.

Other students are happy over the shift. “I like it better that the interims are handed to you directly because you see it first and you get [your grades] earlier,” said sophomore Jasraj Singh.

Evidently, the new method of interim and report card distribution works both to the benefit of students, as well as to their disadvantage. Nevertheless, it is a permanent change that will save AHS thousands of dollars in the coming years.