Now that the first quarter of the academic year has closed and grades were sent out to students and families, many parents have seen a radical decline in their child’s performance as the COVID-19 pandemic reaches its peak.

In the hybrid model, which moved to full-remote on Nov. 30, students have been struggling to find the motivation to complete assignments on time.

“I don’t have the motivation for anything. I’m just tired all the time,” said senior Morgan Loomis. “I feel like I’m falling behind.”

Junior Aryana Smith has also been struggling to keep up with the workload and believes that teachers need to ease up on assignments. “Assign a reasonable amount of work because I feel like they assign more than one person can accomplish in a single day,” she said.

Administration has also noticed the decline in academic performance.

“We do have an increase in failing grades,” said headmaster Dr. Morris.“Most of this stems from students simply not turning in work. Part of this could be because the hybrid model makes it more challenging for teachers to encourage students to do their work when they don’t see them more consistently.”

Dr. Morris added that he believes that some students still have the mindset of last spring’s asynchronous model of remote learning, which could result in some confusion.

Director of Curriculum Ms. Parkinson said the school community needs to address failure rates.

“There are some areas where students are struggling, such as consistent formative work completion and attendance in Google Meets. These are worrisome trends,” said Ms. Parkinson.

While administration believes the failing grades are problematic, they also believe the students are happy when they enter the building and attend school.

“I think students genuinely liked being back in the building. It is very difficult to recreate the learning environments and experiences that students get when we’re not in the building at all,” said Dr. Morris

Faculty and administration initiated some new ideas to spark motivation in the students. The Student Services Department developed a program called “Getting Organized” where students can meet with teachers and counselors and get themselves back on track with their school work.