Fresh on the paws of the police dogs GHS administrators want to unleash on their students comes news that – duh – grade pressure is keeping students away from subjects that interest them. So now the school is considering “unweighting” the grades accorded to some classes, in the hope that those students surviving police surveillance will study subjects that challenge and interest them. That’s a good idea, but is probably a non-starter in today’s hyper-atmosphere of Ivy League-or-bust mentality.
Today’s NY Times reports that A-type personalities at Princeton are freaking out over grade deflation. I’d bet that these kids, with their parent’s money, will prevail and all “As” will return to campus. Too bad for them: I always enjoyed taking chances in getting educated, and deliberately sought out the difficult courses: hard rock mineralogy, Shakespeare from a political science perspective, etc. The grade I am most proud of is the B+ I received from B.U.’s Dr. John Silber, who taught me Plato in 1976, the summer I graduated from the school up the street, Boston College. It didn’t help me get into law school (although Dr. Silber’s letter of recommendation did) but I would still trade my wait-list letter from Yale for the experience of tackling a difficult subject under a demanding professor like John Silber, every time. If Greenwich High will unleash its students’s imaginations while, I hope, keeping the police dogs leashed, I think our children will be well served.