End of The Year Recap: Student Perspectives

Allie Bernstein, 27

Has this year been amazing? Horrible? Or maybe an in-between? No matter your response, you are not alone. As we come to a close on the 2024 - 2025 school year, it’s important to evaluate the students' perspectives on whether or not the school year was a success. When polling the Ensworth High School student body, it was interesting to see what trends came up and what unique takes people had. As you read, think back on your own highs and lows. You might find that your experience isn’t as unique (or as common) as you thought!

Question #1: Overall, how would you rate this school year on a scale of 1-10? (1 being horrible, 10 being perfect)

38.5% of students gave the school year an 8/10, 20% said it was a 7/10, 12.3% said it was a 9/10, 10.8% selected 6/10, and the remaining 18.4% gave it a 5 or lower.

In my opinion, I found these results to be very interesting. The fact that a majority of students gave it a high score of 8/10 shows that many students are happy at Ensworth and had a great year. However, it is worth considering that almost 20% of students gave the school year a 5 or lower, indicating it has not been a particularly good year for them, and they may be unhappy. Overall, these results show that while many students are happy and had a good year, there is room for improvement that can be worked on in the 2025 - 2026 school year.

Question #2: How has your social life been this year? How do you hope your social life will change/stay the same next year?

“It was good but I feel that there is some toxicity throughout the school.”

“My social life has been great! Hopefully it gets even better.”

“My social life has improved drastically (I think it has to do somewhat with driving). I've become more comfortable having a lot of different friends from different groups and worked on hanging out with them more. It's made me feel more connected and happier. Recently I've gone out to lunch, dinner, the movies, and just hung out with people and this interaction has really made my life so much better.”

“Nonexistent”

“My social life has massively imploded this year, my ex took the friend group and accused me of stalking them.”

“I made a friend that I didn't keep. I kept avoiding the same people. But also, I started becoming closer with the upperclassmen.”

These responses show the diverse experiences that high school students have had in their various social scenes this year. While some people seem very pleased with their friend groups and social standing, others are evidently walking away from this year with negative feelings. As Tony Robbins once said, "The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your relationships." If someone has struggled with friendships this year, it definitely could have impacted their view of the school year as a whole. The same goes for seeing the school year in a more positive light if they had a positive experience with friends.

Question #3: Do you believe you have succeeded academically this year?

80% of students responded with a yes, and 20% of students responded with a no.

While it is amazing that a large majority of students can recall at least one academic success, it is concerning that a notable 20% of students cannot. Sometimes Ensworth students can get wrapped up in one low grade, or one particularly hard class, so that it becomes difficult to approach academic success holistically. At the end of the day, if you work hard and try your best in all of your classes, you should count that as a win!

Question #4: Have you learned more in the humanities or STEM classes this year?

61.5% of students responded with humanities, and 38.5% responded with STEM.

This question is definitely subjective, because how can we accurately measure how much we have learned (besides standardized testing)? However, I thought it would be valuable to see if there was a majority on either side. With the majority being in the humanities, this could indicate that students either enjoy content in language/english/history classes more, or students may connect better with humanities teachers and their teaching style.

Question #5: What do you think has changed the most about Ensworth this year?

“There are lots of great new teachers!”

“The people. Not having the Seniors from last year makes me feel like the overall vibe has changed but it also makes the school seem less connected. Last year I felt as though we all kind of had things in common, or that we were all part of the same thing, but now it feels more divided.”

“They cracked down on citations.”

“Ensworth still needs to figure out who they are.”

“Definitely the way people act changed a lot (in a good way)”

“I think it has gotten excessively focused on ai topics.”

“Extra time on all major assessments is great.”

“More strict”

This question had the most variety of responses (and unfortunately, I can’t include them all), but the biggest trend was the belief that Ensworth has become more rule-heavy this year, in comparison to last year. This has a negative connotation to it, and it seems like students did not like the impact it had on this school year. However, many people were enthusiastic about extra time on major assessments, the coffee machine, and the teachers we gained.

Question #6: What do you think needs to change about Ensworth next year?

“I feel like we need a more interconnected community where it is not cliquey.”

“Access lunches need to be longer and there needs to be better quality in food service, as well as more palatable lunches that aren't just chicken.”

“I just think interaction between grade levels. Making a lot more friends in different grades has really helped me. I get to learn new/different things and I'm less inclined to be cliquey when I reach out to others.”

“Becoming a stronger community, I feel as if we as students have no wiggle room to collaborate or share ideas or even ask the teacher why something is the way it is.”

“I think we need more of a voice in administration.”

“PLEASE NO MORE 7 PERIOD DAYS THEY ARE REALLY DRAINING”

This was my favorite question out of everything asked! I was shocked to see such a unanimous response about the changes we need to make within our student community. It is very clear that students want to create a stronger bond next year, and believe it will have a positive impact in the high school. Next year, it will likely be a school-wide goal of working towards unity, and it seems like most people are already on the same page.

At the end of the survey, students had the chance to submit any last comments. Here is one that stood out to me:

“There is an extreme air of intolerance and lack of empathy as well as education on controversial topics. People are increasingly resistant to discuss these topics and use humor and memes as a defense.”

And lastly, an anonymous haiku about this school year submitted by a student:

I go to school now

It is boring most times yawn

I hope for better

Have a great summer, and an even better 2025-2026 school year!