Since the beginning of the school year, the 9th grade class has been vigorously working in order to obtain good grades, but some are struggling more than others.

What students are struggling the most with is adapting to the faster teaching pace set in high school which can affect a student’s grades in a negative way.

“Adjusting to high school and our pace has become problematic and it’s what they have been struggling with,” Jorge Vasquez, high school learning center coordinator, said.

It’s common for freshmen to do poorly when they are beginning high school. Students must face many changes in the way classes and grading works as well as a taking new classes.

“We only had 3.4% of the students failing 3 or more subjects, that’s what we call students at risk,” Vasquez said.

Students struggle with certain classes. Class difficulty increases as students must hand in difficult assignments. An example of a difficult class students struggle with is algebra.

“Students who struggled in middle school definitely feel the pressure even more in high school because we go at a faster pace and we expect a lot of prior knowledge to be carried over from middle school,” Avery Berkowitz, 9th grade algebra teacher, said.

Student responsibility in middle school is lower as teachers are more flexible with assignments, deadlines and improvement opportunities. This flexibility disappears in high school as teachers expectations increase.

“The teachers don’t give you as many opportunities as in middle school, there is more work and it’s very important to be responsible or the work will pile up at the end of the quarter,” David Palacios, 9th grade student, said.

Some of the 9th grade students who are performing poorly academically struggle with developing certain skills. Some of these skills are dedication, responsibility and organization.

“They failed because they didn’t put enough effort, and when they had opportunities to recoup assignments, they were lazy and they didn’t do them,” Palacios said.

Although some students are struggling and they require help, they’re only a small percentage when compared to the whole grade. The majority of students are doing exceptionally well with a gpa of 85 or above.

“Between 65% to 70% of the students are in the students are in the range of high honor role which as a gpa above 85,” Vasquez said.

Although high school can seem overwhelming, it’s only a matter of time until students adapt and begin to improve academically.

“It’s a very good start for the 9th graders, one of the best starts we’ve had in recent years,” Vasquez said.