Minnesota High School Offering Students A Day Off Weekly For Good Grades
Many students around the country have experienced a drop in their grade point averages when they were forced to attend school from home during the pandemic over the last two years. This really does not seem like a big surprise since many students might have a tough time trying to do their school work on their own via zoom.
One Minnesota High School has offered an incentive for students who have maintained a certain grade level, and to motivate other students to try and improve their grades for the remainder of the school year.
As of April 20 Robbinsdale Cooper High School is offering the option for students with passing grades to stay home on Wednesdays while those with a "D" average or worse must come to school as scheduled for more support. The program is called W.I.N. Wednesday which stands for "what I need." The students with a C- or higher grade point average will be the ones allowed to take Wednesdays off.
Dr. Frank Herman who is the principal at the high school said to FOX9 "Right now we’re probably looking at about 50 percent of our student body with D’s and not completes." Mimi Otu who is a Senior said "I don’t like the fact that a lot of the people that I’m close with aren’t here… it feels kind of empty without certain people being there. I probably would’ve had my grades better at the beginning of the year if I knew this was happening."
On Wednesdays at the High School, there is not any instruction from teachers it is used as a study day to help focus on students who may need extra help. The day off for students is optional, and all students are welcome to come to school on that day. For students who do not meet the grade requirement, they will be marked absent if they do not come to school on Wednesdays.
It will be interesting to see if this motivates the remaining students to try and bring up their grade point average at this point in the year, but I can see how the school would feel that they need to try something when half the school has a grade point average of D or below.