No Summer Assignments for Montclair High School Students

Taylor Flowers is going to be a senior this year at Montclair High School. Here's what she has to say...

Summer: the most adored word by the student population. A time of no teachers, no 6:30 a.m. alarms, tons of barbecues, going to the beach, and plenty of days to relax.

But once August comes, the pressure is on. High school students scramble to finish countless assignments for that all too important first day. This year at Montclair High School, however, there has been a change; no summer assignments for the sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

What started out as a rumor has indeed become a reality. The rumors started off as: "no senior option for the class of 2011." It quickly changed to: "no senior option because there are no summer assignments." Then it became: "no senior option and we do have summer assignments."

The stories kept growing and growing to the point where we were all confused. But, as the end of the school year came to an end, no summer assignments were posted on the district website for the classes of 2011, 2012, or 2013.

Senior Option is an internship program for seniors who sign up and qualify (you can't be failing a course) where in May they take a leave of absence from school and do non-paid work or documenting an experience. We generally have numerous summer assignments based on our schedules. There is normally an English, a history, and sometimes a math, and foreign language option.

Montclair High School students were thrilled and relieved to find out that their time off wouldn't be bombarded with books and papers. However, the incoming freshman class has a summer assignment that has been assigned to every incoming freshman class prior to them, which they did indeed receive in the spring. The assignment is relatively light and watered-down compared to previous years; they are to read two short stories from A Walk in My World and write a four-page paper based off of before-and-after responses to the stories and the characters' transformations.

We were not given an explanation as to why summer assignments were eliminated from the 2010-2011 school year. But, to be honest, we really don't care why. The rumor about the cancellation of senior option still has the new senior class anxious. But that's high school - nothing but a bunch of rumors. But, for now, we can all relax knowing that these 11 weeks belong to us and not our school work.

Does anyone out there know why summer assignments have been eliminated in Montclair? Please comment!!!