With COVID wreaking havoc on education the past few school years, schools are refocusing on the importance of grades. Creekview is no different.  

New principal Mike Santoro has made it clear that he wants students at Creekview to take their grades as seriously as they did before the pandemic. Santoro is passionate about students earning their grades in classes and turning in work on time. 

“It’s not fair for you to get a 90 on something that you’ve earned… some other kid got a 65. And at the end of the semester, we just give them a 72 because we want them to pass; that’s a seven-point jump. Should I go back to all the 90s and give them a 97?” Santoro said. 

When it comes to students and their thoughts on school getting back to normal, some agree that Creekview should be more disciplined with students’ grades. 

“I think Santoro being strict on grades helps students because it holds us accountable for grades and sets us up for success,” Rylie Gramling, sophomore, said. 

Students admit there has not been accountability for some time. 

“I think that we should always be held accountable for our grades, and Santoro enforces that more harshly because students were starting to not care about their grades as much and let them slip away as COVID came,” Mason Irwin, senior, said. 

Some students naturally strive to do their best. 

“I think you should always be accountable for them; even though the pandemic gave more leniency, I feel like you should still want to do good,” Jack Whitty, senior, said. 

The pandemic changed the lives of everyone, especially at school. 

“COVID made things in school a bit easier, and the grading was more lenient because it was a difficult time for lots of people,” Camdyn Thigpen, freshman, said. 

With students and teachers adjusting to life after COVID, people are trying to make it possible to give students a normal high school experience. Many students want ordinary football or sporting games, and those are coming back, but some students do not want a traditional school year in the sense of being held accountable for turning in their work like it was before the pandemic. 

“I mean, there’s an equity and a balance, and that needs to be maintained. And sometimes the only way people learn is by a struggle,” Santoro said. 

Accountability is an important part of high school that Santoro has recognized has been lost, and he is bringing it back to the ‘View.