The year of 2020 was a hard year for everyone, but little did people know that the outcomes of academics would have a drastic change.

During the school year of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, students had the option to do online school, but in the 2019-2020 school year, students were forced to do online school during fourth quarter because there weren’t other options for school.

Now flash forward to the present, teachers, admin, principals and even students are seeing a decline in their grades and test scores. This issue isn’t only in LPS schools, it is nationwide. 

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, U.S. students in most states have experienced troubling scores and difficulties in math and reading since the pandemic began.

Compared to other national averages, LSE is relatively high, but also we are seeing this decline of grades and test scores.

In the 2019-2020 school year, during the second-semester when the pandemic occurred, 13.7 percent of students failed a class in LSE alone. Then, during the next semester in the 2020-2021 school year, that number spiked to 20.26 percent.

That 6.56 percent change could be because of many reasons rather than just the pandemic.

According to LSE Education Coordinator Colleen McBride, other factors could include political and social unrest, as well as hybrid learning. 

LSE Principal Tanner Penrod also believes that relationships between students and their teachers were strained and/or because of home life being stressed out with the pandemic, and the stress of the jobs being lost during the pandemic whether it was a parent losing a job or the student itself. This can cause problems in the students academic life, which is what we are seeing now.

However, both McBride and Penrod said that if you’re noticing and experiencing these problems in your grades or test scores, know that there are many resources to help you, such as Knight House after school to do your work or Knightly Success, which has to be assigned by your teacher. Along with those, departments such as English, Science and Social Studies have programs after school where you can get assistance.

If you need help with anything school work wise or even mental health wise, you can always get help from your counselors.