Photo via yelp.com By Lucy Kay
Staff Writer It's better to try to increase responsibility and freedom in middle schoolers than to decrease the same for high schoolers. Junior high students are captured in this halfway point to prepare them for the springboard of life, known as high school. These four years are when adolescent’s see their adulthood closer and more immediate, while middle schoolers feel their youth is right at their side. The leap of realizing that finding a life on your own is nearer than one thinks is one of the main differences of middle and high school. But are these pre-teens ready to make that commitment? For three years, pre-teens have roamed the same halls, lived by the same rules, with the same kids, the same teachers and have walked through the same doors every day. They were the ‘big kids’ and didn’t seem to be afraid of anything. But then comes the first day of high school, where all the sophomore pray they were not that annoying. With their terrified faces and new backpacks, it's as if the new high schoolers are right back on their first day of middle school. The attendance numbers and grades, decrease on the first month of high school for all freshman. Actions to prevent this matter are not being put into motion. The big question is, are 8th graders ready for high school? 14 and 15 year olds are put in the same building and being educated with 18-year old ‘adults’. These pree-teens, not even able to drive, are expected to prepare the knowledge they will use to propel their whole life. Does that make sense? All in all, 8th graders are still kids, and matters need to be taken to prevent certain decreases in their school performance. These young adults have so much on their minds, it’s hard to focus on what's right. With guidance from upper-classmen and being able to make purposeful decisions, high school can be the place where one makes loads of memories. Image by thebluebook.com By Brianna Anderson
Staff Writer Having the rival schools combine next school year can solve certain problems, but what problems will it open up? If you haven’t heard it in the local news, since early January The LOSD has been discussing whether or not to combine the high schools. How the kids and parents feel on this issue is the actually the same, so why is this even a discussion? A student at Lakeridge Junior High school, Sofia Mier, says, “It might temporarily solve the problems discussed, but create new ones in the future.” This is entirely true. The two schools are rivals, number one. And number two how do they know that more problems won’t come up? If that happens are they going to have us embark in another big change? Other people are taking this side in a more serious-standing up kind of form. As said in a Local Oregon News article, “Lake Oswego parents Maya and David Barba, whose four children range in age from 11 to 19, said they led the rally to show their displeasure with a concept mentioned in the plan.” If this is causing such displeasure with residents of people all over Lake Oswego why is this even a question? There are some benefits for the district though. They wouldn't have to spend as much money on keeping up the other two schools if it was all combined. The money that is saved could be used on remodeling the schools to make them safer and bigger. But the downfalls seem to come rapidly. A lot of staff members that work at either high school face the threat of possibly losing their jobs. Another problem is having very crowded classrooms. For parents and students this is a huge factor. One parent drives from Newberg for her kids to attend the high school. Why would she want to do that anymore? The education wouldn’t be as good with the huge classes, and education is a huge deal in this district. This is a very opinion-oriented subject. You probably already had your opinion before reading this. This article is here to present you with the facts. Let’s just all hope LOSD makes the right decision. |
LJHSLakeridge Junior High School is an award- winning academic institution located in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Archives
March 2016
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