The academic probation policy mandates that every student must have a 2.0 GPA and 85 percent attendance in order to participate in after school activities; activities such as the chorus concerts, Musical Theatre Revue Show, and dance concerts are all considered to be after school and extracurricular. Academic probationers hurt themselves, but more importantly they let everyone depending on them down. I however, completely agree with the academic probation policy.

This is an “accelerated” and “pre-professional” school of the arts. Everyone who is here supposedly wants to be here.  This isn’t any normal high school, just look around, nothing is normal. Students have the privilege of focusing on their arts classes just as much as they do academics. Knowing this, students are completely aware of the fact that they have to maintain good grades in order to be on the receiving end of this gift.  When a student slacks off, they should be stripped of their passion.

Those on academic probation are the only ones at fault, so they deserve it. It’s plain and simple: go to school, turn in your homework, and then you can go to rehearsal. Being lazy and not caring does not qualify a person to perform badly in school. Kids who do this are not only wasting their time, but they are also wasting their peers. If students choose to not treat this institution with the respect it deserves, then they might want to consider another school.

When an arts class demands an out-of-school event for a grade, students are fully aware that grades must be kept in order to participate. Even though it is for a grade, they deserve the punishment.  This isn’t like Independence, Myers Park, or East Meck where someone chooses to try out for the football team or cheerleading squad; where if their grades slip, they are the one who added the extra responsibility to your plate.  This is school of the arts, and every class, every minute, and every educational opportunity must be treated with all of the attention, respect, and devotion you have.  No exceptions, for it divides the true artists from the merely interested.