Unexcused absences and failing grades among Oak Park and River Forest High School sophomores are on the increase so far this school year compared to the same period last year, the high school reports.
Juniors and seniors, meanwhile, have seen dramatic declines in those two categories. In this year’s freshman class, numbers are down significantly with respect to absences but there was an up-tick in failing grades.
Unexcused absences among this year’s freshmen class is down 47 percent compared to last year’s group. For juniors, the drop is 36 percent, and among seniors 29 percent. But with sophomores, unexcused absences are up 10 percent over last year. Failing grades, meanwhile, increased 12 percent compared to last year’s sophomore class. This year’s freshman class also experienced a 10 percent increase in failing grades compared to last year’s group. But both juniors and seniors saw a 50-percent drop from fall 2010.
The numbers are current as of Dec. 2.
OPRF as a school has seen an overall decline in unexcused absences and failing grades in the last year. Discipline infractions for the entire school are down 33 percent since fall 2010.
Principal Nathaniel Rouse credits the declines to policy changes the school implemented this year, namely the modified closed campus (MCC). Rouse noted that the declines occurred among OPRF students who moved up a grade, except for last year’s freshmen. He noted that as sophomores, they have had difficulty adjusting to the policy changes. The new MCC policy lets juniors and seniors off campus for lunch under certain conditions, whereas last year only incoming freshmen were prohibited from going off campus.
“Sophomores last year were looking forward to an off-campus experience and did not get that this year,” Rouse said. “Not to say that they are rebelling in any way, but there are some unique and different experiences for them. And freshmen, bless their hearts, they don’t know any better, so they’re coming into a new experience and this is all new for them anyway.”
“But when you think about the incentives and how we’ve developed the incentives, they’re really geared toward juniors and seniors currently,” Rouse added. “So what we have to do is drill down and find a way to address sophomores and provide them with some positive experiences as well.”
Rouse noted that other school measures have resulted in improved student behavior, including the mandatory wearing of IDs by students, something the school historically has been lax on. The school’s new door alarm system, Rouse said, has also helped deter kids from walking out of the building completely un-monitored.
“All of these different procedures have impacted our learning environment in this way,” he noted.