BY TENZIN MOE
English 9/Mr. Davis
Los Alamos High School
Waking up early, staying up late, working on homework for hours and spending an eternity in class. These are the parts of school that many, if not most, students have and always will despise. Unfortunately, with the proposal of the 6.10.5 calendar change ruling, these are parts of life that may become ever more prevalent for the Los Alamos community. This is why it is my belief that the New Mexico Public Education department should not be allowed to make decisions for the state as a whole based on statistics averaged from the entire state’s schools.
Los Alamos High School (LAHS) itself is a highly successful school. The school places 8th in the state and 941st in the country. These numbers may not seem the best, but both numbers place well within the top 1% of both the state and the country. (Los Alamos High School 2024 Rankings). This however does not apply to new mexico as a whole, with that ranking being in very last out of the whole country across multiple metrics (States with the Best School Systems)
With these facts in mind, we now turn to the NMPED and their thinking. As directly stated by Mary Parr-Sánchez (quoting NMPED Secretary Arsenio Romero): “New Mexico has fallen so far behind in public school performance… we rank last in the nation–that kids could use eight days a week in classes–never mind just five” (Parr-Sánchez). This mentality is part of what led to the proposal of the 6.10.5 ruling. 6.10.5 would apply uniformly to the entire state despite the performance of the well performing schools, increasing the hour requirements and school hours for everyone.
The last concern I have is with the concept of extra hours itself. LAHS is already an extremely academically rigorous school, with some comments left by former community members in the past. Several of these comments mention issues about stress, burn out, and anxiety related symptoms associated with longer and earlier school (Los Alamos High School Reviews, School Start Times and Psychological Health in Adolescents). I know that personally, similar problems are experienced by myself as well as people I know. Making school even longer in an attempt to raise grades may increase the stress experienced by students and negatively affect the students as well as the community as a whole.
The efforts of the NMPED to extend school hours in hopes of raising state standards are, in my opinion, misplaced, lacking in judgment, and should not be so readily accepted. While New Mexico does not always perform well, that should not affect the lives of students who are already working hard and holding LAHS up high. With this in mind, the question still remains, should the NMPED really be allowed to make decisions for all students in New Mexico as if we all have the same needs?
Annotated Bibliography
Berger, Aaron T, et al. “School Start Time and Psychological Health in Adolescents.” Current Sleep Medicine Reports, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 21 Apr. 2018, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6195354/.
An article covering the studies of effects on students of early school start times. This article discusses the statistics of the average sleep amounts of adolescents, as well as how their psychological health is impacted by that. This is used to help emphasize the importance of not increasing school hours and the impact of doing so on the community as a whole.
“Los Alamos High School.” USN, US News a World Repost, https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-mexico/districts/los-alamos-public-schools/los-alamos-high-school-12972#:~:text=Los%20Alamos%20High%20School%20is,ranked%20%23941%20in%20the%20National%20Rankings, 6 May 2024.
A site covering the placement of LAHS in public education. Used to help have accurate measures.
“Los Alamos High School Reviews.” Niche, 9 Dec. 2023, http://www.niche.com/k12/los-alamos-high-school-los-alamos-nm/reviews/?rating=Poor.
This source is a review site of the Los Alamos High School by the public. Many of the reviews appear to be from former students and community members. This site was used to emphasize the impact of additional school hours on the students and community.
McCann, Adam. “States with the Best School Systems.” Wallet Hub, 24 Jul 2023, https://wallethub.com/edu/e/states-with-the-best-schools/5335, 6 May 2024
A site ranking the highschools in the United States of America. Used to find the ranking of New Mexico in comparison to the other states.
Mdr Marketing Team. “How Many Schools Are in the U.S.?” MDR Education, Dun & Broadstreet, 26 March 2024, https://mdreducation.com/how-many-schools-are-in-the-u-s/#:~:text=How%20many%20schools%20are%20there%20in%20the%20U.S.%3F,private%20schools%2C%20plus%20adult%20education%20and%20career%2Ftechnical%20schools, 2 May 2024
A site covering the number of schools currently in the United States of America, used to make accurate statements on the placements of LAHS within the U.S..
Parr-Sánchez, Mary. “Educators Decry the Governor’s Veto and NMPED’s New Mandatory 180-Day Ruling” Nea NM, 8 March 2024, https://www.neanm.org/advocating-change/new-from-nea-nm/educators-decry-governors-veto-and-nmpeds-new-mandatory-180-day-ruling, 10 May 2024
A site covering the new ruling of 6.10.5 as well as some of the community’s opinions on the ruling and what should be done with it. Used to find information on the opinions of both the community as well as the members of the NMPED.
“Public Education in New Mexico.” BallotPedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Public_education_in_New_Mexico, 10 May 2024.
A site covering the statistics and information on student education in the state of New Mexico. This site was used to help develop ideas and accurate knowledge on New Mexico data.