A new year, new material. Another school year has started at Haddonfield Memorial High School and students now have something new to look forward to. This year, the science has gotten a new curriculum. It has been adopted by all teachers across the science department this year, with changes to biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental science courses.

“New curriculum doesn’t affect me that much,” Mr. Gallo told us.  “But it is interesting to see also teach other curriculum besides Chemistry.”

These changes come across the board, affecting all departments when it comes to a new grading policy. The change is 30% of your final grade is for minor grades and 70% is for your major grades. This change has caused a stir among many different teachers as they have felt this new policy leads to issues on how free they can grade.

Dr. Dilks said, “The new grading system can have a major affect on some teachers, with some teachers not previously using the 80-20.”

Others have felt that this new change was needed and that consistency across the grading scale is necessary. Students have shared mixed feelings about the policy, with some worried that one poor test grade could heavily impact their final average. On the other hand, some students feel the emphasis on major assessments better reflects their overall understanding of the material. Administration has stated the goal is to create fairness and uniformity so that every student is evaluated on the same scale. Time will tell how both teachers and students adapt to these new expectations throughout the school year.