Notes

HIGHLINE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Academy of Citizenship & Empowerment
4424 SOUTH 188th ST
SEATAC, WA 98188

Highline Superintendent Enfield
15675 Ambaum blvd. SW
Burien, WA 98166

Dear Dr Susan Enfield,

I'm a student at ACE High School District. For me in school some subjects there complicated because some lessons are hard so i get frustrated that i can't understand. Students go through a lot lately like i do one of them isn't passing classes, or being stress and skipping (Etc). It's complicated to accomplish all credits if students don’t do well in school. Also Instead of having 23 credits it should be 20 to 22 credits. Students think that 23 credits is too many credits because mostly to get that much credits for 4 years, students have to have electives and and also extra classes/electives. all this too many classwork is more work and stress and more likely that students may drop out.

School requirements are affecting students because all struggles are distracting students from learning also some students even dropout from school “America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, found that students who fail to finish high school generally face a range of challenges. .. For example, 30 percent of the survey’s respondents reported having been abused, 22 percent reported having been homeless and 18 percent reported having spent time in juvenile detention”(20 percents of teens won't graduate high school here's what their lives are like). Also there's more work and and having to work more than usual to keep your grades up but this affects us by stressing too much stress affects students from their learning. “Our findings indicate that stress in the classroom environment affects children’s likelihood of exhibiting learning problems (difficulties with attentiveness, task persistence, and flexibility), externalizing problems (frequency with which the child argues, fights, disturbs ongoing activities, and acts impulsively), problems interacting with peers (difficulties in forming friendships, dealing with other children, expressing feelings, and showing sensitivity, or internalizing problems (presence of anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, and sadness in the child). These findings suggest that stress — in the form of negative classroom conditions — negatively affects the way children pay attention in class, stay on task, and are able to move from one activity to another.” ( How much does stress affect learning).

A common argument against this position is students should have more than 23 credits so students should learn better and have more opportunities to be focusing in the topic and learning better. Another common arguments against this position is that students should work hard to graduate on time so that they will be able to be graduating on time and passing their classes easy. However , when one evaluates the evidence it becomes clear that having too many credits it's too much for students because of stress and stress is too much for them to handle. According to Leah Levy “The body and the brain respond to stress with a complex cascade of hormones and neurotransmitters. When a child’s senses perceive danger, their hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system releases steroid hormones (glucocorticoids). This includes the primary stress hormone, cortisol, which has a direct effect on the heart, lungs, circulation, metabolism, immune system and skin. The HPA also stimulates the release of catecholamine neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline), which activates the amygdala, which in turn triggers a fearful response. The brain then releases neuropeptide S, which increases alertness and feelings of anxiety” (How stress affects the brain during learning). Therefore credits would reduce lower so students shouldn't have to feel stress and feel all this feelings about school and so students should have more encouragement to learn.

Highline public schools district should lower grades so students wouldn't feel stuck in school and so they won't be feeling stuck in school and able to graduate on time according to William R . Stixrud. That students shouldn't feel how they feel for the stress. “I test dozens of kids every year who are so stressed out that they have trouble learning and keeping up in school. And it’s not just my practice. Research indicates that kids today are experiencing record levels of stress-related mental health problems—and much more stress than their parents realize. This is a big deal, because prolonged stress can profoundly undermine learning, mental health and brain development in young people” (learn now. org).

Thanks you for your time on reading this and honestly if actually lower credits students would feel less anxious less stressed less dropouts and more students being happy on having less work and having a great day on school. And if you do lower grades we would appreciate it for the less work were going to have and the less stress were all going to have.

Sincerely,


Judith Nava