Within early winter months like January, San Dimas High School students experience a significant drop in grades as they come back to campus after holiday break as they face academic pressures, mental health strains, and larger workloads. Input from counselors and teachers reflect that influences from burnout and a change in motivation all play a part in the decline of grades.
The second students trickle back into classrooms after the holiday season, there’s a clear shift in atmosphere. The drive that students continued from the previous semester plummets rapidly and is replaced by exhaustion and anticipation for the upcoming summer break. Grades slip and attitudes become dimmer, a trend that educators find unsurprising. “Students are either really stressed because they’re getting ready for AP testing, for future AP classes, and even CAASPP testing that ends up burning them out which is a factor,” stated counselor Ms. Bravo.
The change itself is mostly at fault. From shifting sleep schedules, doubled screen time, and lazier routines, when classes resume and students are sent back to strict regimens, they’re faced with higher expectations with minimal preparation. This leads to academic stress and feelings of hopelessness as they struggle to solve one question out of many that they used to brush past before break. “I feel so drained all the time and I don’t feel like doing my work,”‘ expressed senior Charlie Ni.
Mental health is also part of the cycle that envelops students’ abilities to academically perform and diminishes motivation in colder months like January and February as it leads to a rise of seasonal depression, or SAD, that can severely impact a student’s grades.
However, this is not the case for everyone as some students see the new semester as a form of restart. For these types of students, the reset in the grade book and the return to classrooms serves as a clean slate—one that allows them to change up their intellectual habits and forget about any hardships they had the previous semester. “It gives me a chance to renew my past habits and make myself a better student,” revealed senior Nathan Moon.
Therefore, are grades that drop in January a pattern? Trends gathered within classrooms imply that they do, but rather than the schools themselves
being the reason why, the issue is more geared towards routine disturbance and mental health complications. With guidance and encouragement from teachers and staff, alongside personal responsibility, students are sure to get through January with no grade slips.
