Students at WA, according to colleagues who teach there, are as stressed to breaking points as can be but the school keeps paying lip service to this huge problem and instead doing things like giving the students I student iPass computer web based access to their grades to help cement a culture of students who perseverate on their GPA non stop as is!
Lets stop talking out of both sides of our mouths Westford and made real strides towards dealing with this student problem before it ends tragically.....having a WPD cop walk around with his badge, cuffs, and gun visible isn't helping either. (Before we talk about spending more of our budget by putting cops in other schools as well). Drug use is through the roof at WA lets start dealing in real meaningful ways with real problems

It's all about collecting data and evidence these days and both students AND staff are feeling as burnt as ever. NOT a healthy climate right now for teaching , learning, and development but rather one that pushes data collection at the expense of sanity

According to WA's school profile, WA does not "rank" students. Guess what data was available to students yesterday via their iStudent access? You guessed it...class rank. WA administration should not add to students' stress by publishing class rank and I hope this information disappears from students' report cards soon.

So, Huck and Julie, you're saying that the kids are so stressed out by having to get good grades that they're turning to drugs to cope? So it's not the kids' fault for doing drugs, it's the system's fault for having such high expectations of them?

That's the way to provide good role models for achievement....

So the answer is to lower our expectations? Certainly we should expect our kids to do as well as they can - to work hard, get involved in activities and their community, and be interested in succeeding. Expectations should be set realistically, but high enough that the kids don't just accomplish them without effort. We live in a competitive world, and our kids cannot assume that if they just coast through high school that they will still get a job that will support them when they graduate. Whether college bound or not, kids need to have a work ethic in order to hold a job for any length of time. That being said, I agree that every teen needs an understanding adult to talk to when they're struggling with something, and it can't always be the parents (even with good parenting). How best to provide that opportunity is a major challenge.

Self-harm activities include cutting & misuse of prescription drugs such as Ritalin to aid concentration. If you think high achievers are not amongst abusers, you are mistaken.

I have kids at WA and am horrified at the amount of pressure they are under. It's not all about illegal drug taking, there are also very many kids who have been put on long-term anti-depressants; it sure wasn't this way when I was at school. 

Education today is all about cramming your short-term memory for the next test or quiz. It is then promptly forgotten. Some days my kids will have a test or quiz in almost every single class. Rinse & repeat 3 days later. No time for review; got to keep motoring on through the curriculum. Then, if they do bomb a test, because maybe they weren't feeling well, or they didn't understand a concept, their whole grade takes a dive, GPA with it. Never mind how hard they've worked the rest of the year...  

Personally I would hate to be a kid, or teacher in today's climate. I agree with the comments made by Huck & Winston. 

My kids received their grades via the portal yesterday and there is no class rank on there. Their current GPA is on there. Yes, kids do care to see how their hard work has paid off. Or some cases their slacking off. I agree with Margaret above, its all about realistic expectations, but it is a competitive world out there and we wouldn't do right by our kids to pretend it is anything other than that. Now, that doesn't mean getting your kids all crazy but there is a way to find the balance of parenting and teaching your kids knowing his/her strengths and weaknesses and always doing his/her best. My kids are not the top scoring kids in class, but work hard and do strive to do well. They have many very high achieving friends that do extremely well above the average and they all seem like pretty well adjusted kids.They do also accept who they are and so far are learning to do their best with it. I tend to question how realistic these surveys are, how honest or over honest kids are being with them.

Teachers can see the students class rank but te info is normally kept hidden from students and parents, yesterday the marvels of technology allowed it to be viewed for a droid f time so the students ranking near/ at dead last could see that...way to go WPS you don't rank kids but you do and yolk on your face yesterday.
SC chair Harkness must still be investigating the real number of kids found with dope in the raid last year (first she said absolutely none, then one....silence since)

GPA and Class Rank SAT and AP classes are what education is all about in town, not giving kids a chance to digest material (or lunch which by the time kids get their food most have 10 minutes to eat)
It's a real rat race over there at WA, don't believe me sub teach for a few days and see how stressed out those kids are,

Who is Sean O'reilly? Pretty sure it's O'Leary.

Expectations are simply TOO high at WA and also by many -especially Asian and Indian- parents

There are measures that could easily be put in place immediately to help the situation. First, no homework should be set over vacations. Allow families to relax & spend the time together. Another positive change would be to make the amount of homework reflect the percentage of the grade. Homework is worth 10% of a grade, yet can take hours to complete. Either make it worth a higher % of the grade, which would motivate more students to actually do it, or cut it right back so that those diligent students who try to do it all to the best of their ability, get some relief. Also reduce the amount of homework due the next day, to encourage time management skills, & allow students to have some personal time for themselves between study, (sport) & sleep. Four hours homework, with everything due next day, is too much. Another measure that would help would be to set aside proper review time before finals & mid-terms, & for teachers to stop teaching new content, stop setting homework, & stop setting long-term projects during this review time. Just a few ideas...

When we start seeing these student hospitalizations tragically leading to suicide attempts as is the increasing concern certain posters won't mock a serious issue over at WA as 'normal' anything. Bar is too high and what's giving is the mental well being of our kids.... Behavior risk survey presented last night to School Committee just further substantiation. We have a real problem here let's deal with it.... How about no homework period?

Comments have been deleted for violations of the terms of use.

Since there is no proven association between homework & achievement, I would absolutely support a 'no homework' policy. However, I think this would be a bit of a stretch for most Westford parents! How about we ditch homework, make the school day longer, extend lunchtime, & give all students an independent study period each day for class prep? I agree with Science Guy; we need to think 'outside the box' on this one.

Considering we couldn't tender our teachers a market value contract offer last year I think extending the school day (and negotiating subsequent pay increase) is a DOABLE proposition but no homework, and limit AP classes is a start

WA Students load up on AP and Honors classes and then fry themselves ragged trying to keep up, the problem is that WA moved away from a high school that offered a balance (No Wood Shop, Auto Shop, Child Development, Cooking) and rather added more and more AP AP AP AP AP AP classes, the students get/got the message loud and clear -High Level classes= Ivy League, and the mental health of our kids is the casualty. Lets CUT back the AP and let kids have some 'down time' not spent with stacks of homework every night. Lets let students enjoy their vacations with families without huge 'projects' and papers to work on!

@Jamaal, Do you even have kids at the school? You certainly do not sound like you know what you are talking about. First of all, AP classes are selected.. And they come with some pretty good pre-requisites for a student to even take them, including teacher recommendations. As for offer Auto Body and more career oriented classes, that is what Nashoba Tech is for. As a town why would we pay twice for these classes and a low-enrollment at WA for those types of classes.
Did you go to College? College work is alot of independent study. LOTS of reading and papers and assignments that a professor is not holding your hand through. Which is why WA kids are pretty well prepared. Sounds like you are just jealous at the kids that are able to handle the rigor of these classes. It is quite impressive. My kids are not in AP classes, I think their coursework is way tougher than when I went to school. So hats off to the kids taking on AP classes or even have the willingness to try them. As for class rank, they should just do it. They are not fooling anyone. The kids already know who the smartest kids are in the class, who the not so bright kids are, who tries, who doesn't tries. These kids have been going to school with each other since pre-school. They have it all sized up. As usual a group of people whose child is not the smartest or tries the hardest wants their child to be treated like they are. Well, Sorry the kids already know the score of the game.

I went to WA. I really don't feel like there were "smartest kids" and "not so bright kids". Everybody learns differently and at different speeds. They also come from varied circumstances at home. Just because they have struggled to get good grades steadily does not mean they are not bright. I'm not saying that we shouldn't accommodate the kids who do well and want to be challenged more because they have definitely earned it but lets not promote the idea of exclusion at WA.

@ D.B Not trying to promote the idea of any exclusion. However way you want to say it. Not everyone is of the same intelligence. Not everyone has the same drive in doing well in school. Not everyone has the same opportunity/home life to do well in school. Whatever way you want to put it. The kids still know who the smartest kids are in the school and who aren't. I never said why they were or weren't. The point is hiding the class rank to make them all feel special or try insinuate they are all the same smarts is undermining the kids that are really smart, work really hard and maybe they have had the best home life to help them achieve that. It should still be recognized and respected. WA does like all public high schools have leveled classes and gpa is based on the grades you receive in that class/level. AP- Honors- CP1 and CP2 classes. They already have differentiated the kids abilities. That is ok. TO your point because they all learn at different speeds and abilities and circumstances. The kids already know that their classmates/friends that take AP classes and Honors and do really well think those kids are pretty smart. The kids are ok and very accepting of each other. So my point is quite opposite of any exclusion.

My daughter did have a child development class last year and it is the one where you get to take home the "fake" baby for a weekend and take care of it. I think it's a great class to have. You should see the faces of people at the mall looking at a teenage mom walking around with the child especially once they realize the baby isn't real. Yes, she purposely went to the mall and to Red Robin just to get the looks. Yes, my daughter was one of the ones who saw her class ranking during the short period of time it was shown.

oh yeah - I'm glad that the officer is at the school and really hope that it helps to cut down on the day to day drugs that go on there.

Word on the street is more dope than ever at WA even with officer friendly over there....if WA says 'we don't rank students' and then students find out they are ranked and teachers can see that rank, how do you think the kids feel? Talk about a easy way to loose trust and undermine authority...lies and half truths!
Kids know the back stairwells are the ones where the stoners gobo get hiiiiiiighhhhhh

Anyone at 8th Grade transition meeting tonight? Mr Antonelli himself raised the issue of recent student hospitalizations, & voiced his concern for the students' mental well-being. He mentioned that they are looking at ways of providing some down time for students. The themes of balance & realistic expectations ran throughout the evening. Time & again we were advised not to push our kids too hard. The school is evidently worried, & is doing something to tackle the problem. They started tonight, by trying to educate incoming parents. I am reassured.

Grades are so inflated at WA its not even funny, god forbid little Johnny or Suzie get a C, they got all As at Stony Brook, that teachers inflate grades rather deal with helicopter parent headaches. Truth, everyone thinks their kid is above average at WA so the grades don't reflect average

School Comittee withholds teacher steps and hires more new teachers with that money, boy that's rich! Westford Teachers better start standing up for yourself soon or this group will eat you alive.
Harkness was quoted in Patch last June as saying she planned to do all in her power to rebuild trust, maybe Andrew can ask her, now a year later, what she did to that goal

Molly, it is a big deal if class rankings are available to students. In this era of out of control bullying and then the retaliations of them kids are killing themselves, schools are being shot up. Kids are dying. If everyone knows who the smart kids and the dumb kids are why not just post the report cards as public info? What is with the arbitrary line at overall "rank" as opposed to some other stuff being obviously private.

You are also not considering the feelings of the kids who don't do as well, many times though no fault of their own. Learning disabilities, problems at home, brain development differences all play a role. Why would it be ok to expose those who might be having some of those issues to the rest of the student body. It's absolutely unnecessary, it's divisive, and it opens a wide door for bullying. It doesn't matter if they secretly know who the smart vs the not so smart are. Putting a quantified, published record of it out there can do nothing but harm.

I was in all AP classes from about 7th grade on. I noticed a change in how I was treated. I had to work very hard not to be ostracized as a "geek"

It seems like you might not have a problem with the ranking because you may be one who likes to benefit and use it. The way you addressed Jamaal was condescending and pretentious. There is no need for that. He always brings up very good points, in an appropriate manner. We need more discourse from reasonable people like him.

Jamaal, I know how it is going. It's just gotten more contentious, immature and petty. I'm not at liberty to discuss details, but nothing has changed, in fact, when they know they aren't on the public's mind as much anymore, they just grind the salt further into the wound.

Hopefully the union now will see them for that they are. Last time they tried to take the high road and be reasonable. It's obvious this administration has no appreciation for that or just doesn't repond to it.