Sophomores will receive teacher comments with their report cards in the fall in addition to spring comments at the beginning of next year.

The Faculty Advisory Committee approved two sets of comments for sophomores. The deans feel that extra comments are necessary because 10th grade is a transition year being that it is the first time that the sophomores are at the Upper School.
There are new teachers and classes at the Upper School so parents tend to have numerous questions and concerns at the beginning of the year. 

Parents want to know how their children are doing earlier in the year rather than just finding out about their child’s progress in the spring, Upper School dean Michelle Bird said.

Parents always ask the deans questions about their children throughout the year, so the deans think it will help both students and parents if each sophomore heard from teachers more often and received comments with their report cards in the fall, Bird said.

 “To have parents in the loop means more people are aware of a student’s situation and then there are more people to encourage him or her,” Bird said. The deans also believe that the fall teacher comments will benefit the students.

Students will be able to know their strengths and weaknesses in each class earlier in the year and will be able to improve on them quicker.

Sometimes the sophomores do not take advantage of visiting their teachers after class, so the comments might push certain students to be more proactive about scheduling appointments with teachers, Bird said. 

Although the comments will be a lot of work for teachers, the deans believe that the comments will answer many questions that parents are bound to have during the year, Bird said.