Tuesday, March 22nd, Gloucester High School administration announced that Terms 3 and 4 will be graded on a pass/fail basis. This a departure from the usual system, through which students receive scores out of 100 percent for each course. 

“Based on a wide range of feedback, research, recommendations, and (most importantly) reflection on the needs of the GHS school community, students will receive a grade of “credit” or “no credit”,” said Principal James Cook. 

This decision follows the multitude of challenges posed by the Coronavirus and subsequent school closure. The Gloucester Public School system closed its doors just after the midway point in Term 3, and has since been operating on a voluntary assignment basis. No work completed up to now has counted for a grade, because many students do not have consistent access to online learning resources. The district has been working to alleviate this issue over the past three weeks. However, it will not be complete in time for the end of Term 3.

“Students will be assessed on term three work assigned and collected on or prior to Friday, March 13,” said Cook, “Students will have an extension until Tuesday, April 14 to complete term three make-up work.”

With Term 4 quickly approaching, administration, faculty, and the Mass DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education), have been working on a system through which they can fairly distribute and collect assignments and resources. Chromebooks are being provided for students without devices and A block teachers reached out to students to assess any challenges to remote learning that individuals might face. 

“Following guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary education, we will be moving from enrichment-based learning opportunities to highly supported, credit-based instruction and assessment [soon],” said Cook.