Olivia Franklin

Since the beginning of this school year there has been a sharp decrease in the amount of points students have gotten.

According to the Dean of Students, Mrs. Kris Hennings, during the first semester of the 2022 school year, “the whole school had 1041 discipline points.” However, during the first semester of this year, 2023-2024, “the whole school had 776 discipline points.”

Many factors contributed to the decrease of the points given to students, but “all categories of behavior like dress code, misuse of iPad, tardiness, cheating and disrespectful be- havior are all down,which is a good thing,” Hennings said.

The decline in points could be due to the change of rules, such as the polo no longer needing to be worn under the crew necks, “which accounted for a lot of points that were unnecessary,” Hennings said.

At the beginning of each year, Hennings meets with each class individually to remind students of the rules and what’s expected of them. She explains the point system and if any rules have been changed.

Many upperclassmen have noticed a change in their behavior and the amount of points they’ve gotten. Senior Rory Brennan used to get points because she was “often late to school and disruptive in class.”

After seeing how quickly the points add up, she decided to make a change. She became more proactive and “got up early,” so she wouldn’t be late to school. She also realized how her disruptions affected herself and her classmates.

Senior Anna Egermayer used to disregard the amount of points she used to get. After noticing the effect of points, Egermayer decided to make a change. She would often get points forgetting her phone taken away. She realized that checking her phone wasn’t worth the two points. Along with the points from phone usage, Egermayer would also get points for being tardy.

These points added up quickly, and eventually she was almost punished with a Saturday school. Egermayer knew something had to change after “getting nine points and almost being assigned Saturday school.

Students and administration have done a better job commu- nicating. Administration tries to communicate better through the usage of announcements every- day during homeroom or at the end of the day. The announce- ments remind students “what they should be wearing and what they should be doing,” Hennings said. The information shared during announcements is also often shared with parents in the weekly newsletter.

Along with the decrease in points, there has been a decrease in students going to iBlock. During the first quarter, “67% of people that served iBlock only served it one time. 91% of students assigned to iBlock only serve it once or twice, which is a pretty good indication that something’s working,” Hennings said.

This year Hennings imple- mented a new iBlock system. This new system includes monitoring how many iBlocks students accumulate. If students get “ more than four iBlocks, then they’re sent to homework lab,” Hennings said. Homework lab is Monday through Thursday, from 3:15-4:15. During homework lab students are required to work on their homework.

Sophomore Eliora Agbeno- hevi got one iBlock during the first semester. She went once for an American lit assignment. Agbenohevi realized that she “didn’t like having to stay after school.” To prevent going to another iBlock she “uses her planner often,” and checks her Canvas to-do list every day.