FRISCO, TEXAS – A lot of students prioritize their grades, spending nights and early mornings cramming the last few pages of notes for their test. For the 20 years Centennial High School has been open, hundreds of students with high GPAs have been working in these halls. But all that has changed.
During the summer of 2023, Frisco ISD voted to change the entire grading system of the high schools. This was implemented into the 2023-2024 school year.
Now, there are no minors or majors grades, only unweighted or weighted. Unweighted grades do not count toward your final grade for that class, but rather, as checkpoints for their learning. With weighted grades, there are usually five per quarter, that go to that class grade.
However, this has made students worried about their high school days. A lot of students in Centennial prioritize their grades over many things. In fact, Centennial is far above average when compared to other high schools in test scores, as stated in the Great! Schools.org.
Students have outwardly expressed their distaste, as well as compliments of the system. One sophomore, Jayaakiran Bheemarasetti voiced her dislike for the system.
“When my teachers first mentioned the new system, my jaw like dropped to the floor,” Bheemarasetti said. “I find it extremely annoying and harsh on students, especially sophomores, juniors, and seniors, who have all done the old system for so long, only for it to be changed their last few years of school.”
With this new system, it creates some uneasiness amongst the students. Concerns about the future of their GPA and rankings come into question.
“Obviously, Centennial is a really big on the whole grades thing. I am as well. I remember last year, when everyone was only talking about the ranking. It was the only thing people would talk about.
Another student, sophomore Aarna Thoutireddy, showed excitement for the new system.
“Do I think the old system is great? Yes. I mean, I’ve grown up literally doing that system all the time. But, with this new system, I think that I’ll actually be able to understand the concept. The old system was very grade based. I think after I was tested on something, it like never came back up again unless it was for another class like math.” Thoutireddy explained. “But now, with the unweighted and weighted grades, I can actually spend some time with the subject, and fully understand it!”
But, even Thoutireddy had complaints.
“It’s just that, their removing every single safety net we have, which is so annoying. No retests or waterfalls. I think that it really will hurt students.”
One thing that was fixed from the old system, was the lack of understanding students felt around subjects. Some people have stated that this new system has brought them new hope for understanding the topic.
The old system was allegedly comfortable for a lot of students. It was easy cushioning for many students. Students will be adapting to the changes for the 2023-2024 school year, and if you want to learn about any other changes or policies of FISD, you can visit FISD.org.
