Most students are used to scrambling to complete last minute projects and study for tests, having gone through the drill before.  The ninth grade, however, just wrapped up quarter 1 — and the grades that come with it — for the first time.

“[My grades] definitely depend on the class for me, but I’m feeling pretty good overall – for now,” ninth grader Clark Waltz said.

“I like how my grades have started,” ninth grader Lath Akpa said,  “… but I hope to keep them at this level or higher.”

Ninth graders have faced more difficulties as they joined the Upper School, but they haven’t been overwhelmed.

“My stress levels have been very nonexistent…” Akpa said about the quarter.

The ninth graders predicted more difficult classes than in the middle school, but the classes are easier than anticipated for multiple ninth graders.

“[It’s] not as hard as I expected,” ninth grader Annika Findlay said.

“The amount of schoolwork hasn’t changed as much as I thought it would,” said Waltz.  “…but the pace of learning has increased.”

Both Waltz and Findlay were in the middle school, and the lower difficulty level is a welcome surprise for the two ninth graders.  Though the difficulty level has still changed, it has been manageable.

“The work levels have obviously gone up but I expected that,”  Akpa said.

For ninth grader Sameer Bijwadia, the study halls in the Upper School have helped with his homework load, which lessens his stress.

“I pretty good,” Bijwadia said about the quarter.

Others felt that the mentor/mentee program was extremely helpful.

“Having [a mentor] as someone to talk to has especially helped take [off] the pressure of high school…,” Waltz said.

Waltz’s mentor gave a variety of advice, but the best was “Probably to start strong and get a good GPA in ninth grade year, and not to worry too much,” Waltz said.

The quarter also felt short for the ninth graders.

“The middle school is in trimesters, [so] the end of [the] quarter is sooner,” Findlay said.

“It felt like we have only had a couple weeks of school,”  Akpa said. “The fact that we have only had two full weeks made it fairly easy to transition to the school year,” he added.

“[The quarter] has been busy,” said Findlay.  “I kinda feel relieved.”