Everyone knows the all-time school favorite cliche saying: “New year new…curriculum?”. Well, despite it being a rather uncommon phrase, it is a more than possible outcome that we see every successive year of North Atlanta High School, with this year’s huge amendment coming in the science department. This upcoming school year poses as the first of what administration hopes to be many of increased greatness and efficiency, and the science fair has proven to be a great metric of both. However, with every North Atlanta student being asked to complete such a project, IB Science students are now expected to complete their IA and their science fair all in one.
From the outside looking in, this seems like a genius idea of pure sharpness and “two birds with one stone” attitude. However, a great deal of our Dubs seniors seem to think overwise, with a multitude of different aggrevations arising. The main one falls into timing and management, with the projects now being somewhat rushed as the due date gets bumped up by about 2 months. Senior Graham Bauer, an IB Physics student himself, is one of many that has found difficulty in such a soon due date. With the rigor of schoolwork, extracurriculars, and college weighing on his shoulders, he has an enhanced grievance and stress due to the IA and science fair merging. “It’s like I can’t make a mistake on it or else it will be too little too late. The merging is making me worry about if my IA will even be good enough or not,” said Bauer.
With the complaints and worries of students being louder than ever regarding the IA and Science Fair merge, teachers and faculty are making heavy strides and ultimately trying their very best to assist students in solving the aforementioned issue. Just as much as the students are new to this change, the North Atlanta staff have had to be hot on their toes with keeping their science classes on track with scheduled content in addition to the fastened IA in order to keep the Warriors academic reputation in its stellar light. Of those bunch of faculty in the process includes Ms. Costarides, the IB Developmental and Career Program Coordinator. In charge of picking up the bits and pieces and tying all of the loose ends that may occur in the IB Program, Costarides aims to do more of this same not only during this year’s inaugural change, but also for years to come. ”Even though this year is like a test run, the school and I want this to set the standard for many many years to come”, said Costarides
The future is the name of the game for North Atlanta High School, and changes must occur in order to keep up our success here. While they may seem tedious and unnecessary now, over time the staff intend to develop the IB program here every year so that each generation of Dub’s students can progress into college and career with maximum efficiency. With the wrinkles currently being ironed out, time will only prove the success that the great merge has to offer for the IB program: a spiffy one in the current day and an all-time beauty in the future.
