Lauren Bear:

Contrary to administration, students are affected firsthand by the changes made throughout the district and school, which is why their opinions are the most valuable.  Guilford has improved significantly over the last decade in terms of implementing academies, smartboards, and the new field house, yet students still wish to see more upgrades in the future.

Technology is always advancing, and our students deserve the opportunity to keep up with the changing times. Classrooms and school materials shouldn’t be the same as they were 50 years ago.

“I would like to have personal laptops because it would save a lot of time and paper,” said Gabby Bui, freshman. “You wouldn’t need to sign out or worry about saving everything. I could work on projects from home and it would make my work easier to access.”

Along with new technology, students should be exposed to various learning styles. Studies have proven that not every student learns the same way, supporting the call for more adaptive learning methods.

“I would like a more individualized education, more one on one,” said Cruz Pena, senior. “Some kids struggle learning in the typical classroom environment, so this would be more productive for them.”

In addition to improvements inside the classrooms, other parts of the school are long overdue for an upgrade, including the performing arts.

“Band needs new uniforms, because they’re old,” said Edith Arroyo, sophomore. “If they were more modern, we would have more confidence and pride.  People would listen to us and we would have more motivation to play better.”

Kai’terra Ross:

Guilford has progressed in many ways since its opening years, but looking forward, administrators still have a lot they want to accomplish.

“In 10 years, I want Guilford to graduate over 88% of its students, surpass the state average in national testing, and provide opportunities for all students to be college, career, and life ready.” said Mr. Ronald Carter, principal.

Guilford has started a credit recovery program called Edmentum. This program helps student make up the credits they lack in the past years, so that they are able to graduate on time.

“Our goal is have our students graduate on time within the four years,” said Mr. Russell Vanderhyden, EMITT academy principal. “We have provided students who are off track with various interventions to get them back on track. We have a new credit recovery program called Edmentum to help students gain school credits back.”

At the end of freshman year, administrators make sure students have at least 12 credits, and they want students to maintain earning specific amount of credits.

“Specifically for the freshman academy, after the first year of school, students will need 12 credits to move forward to the next year,” said Mr. Corey Shrank, freshman academy principal. “Also, we are looking for a percentage of students on track to graduate within four years.”