From COVID-19 cutting off our middle school experience to junior English options being changed, the class of 2026 — current sophomores — has been through it. While every class has been impacted by the disruptions, the class of ‘26 in particular was screwed over.
When COVID caused an extended spring break which then turned into an online second-half of sixth grade, and a seventh grade that took place through chromebook screens, the class of ‘26 and those around them were in disarray. Students were sleeping during classes with the convenience of being able to hide through a screen, parents were stressing over how to help their children, and teachers were struggling to get students to engage while also trying to be accommodating.
COVID has caused students’ academic performance and grades to decline. According to EducationWeek, “Analyses of student test scores have repeatedly shown severe declines in academic achievement. For example, the most recent scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress long-term trend test saw declines for 13-year-olds between the 2019-20 school year and the 2022-23 school year.”
Thyson Nguyen, a Franklin sophomore, says, “During quarantine, I lost all sense of motivation for school and my sleep schedule got really bad.” COVID’s impact is still seen today in students’ mental health and work ethic.“Being isolated from friends and family is not good for mental health,” says Nguyen. “I still notice the effects that COVID has had on me, especially within my work ethic. I tend to procrastinate a lot and not do my work.”
Amanda Huynh, a Franklin sophomore, says, “[Before quarantine], I was a good student. I did my work on time. [During quarantine], I started not caring at all. I didn’t do my work on time, and my family literally had to sit me down and make me a schedule. They wouldn’t let me take any breaks until I finished at least one assignment.”
For some people, quarantine was a break from the exhausting routine of going to school every day for eight hours, interacting with dozens of people, doing piles of homework, eating, sleeping, then repeating. For others, that routine was necessary for them to succeed and thrive. Lenore Myers, a Franklin sophomore, says, “[During quarantine], I got the worst grades of my life. I’m an extrovert and not having people around was awful. I was so down all the time.”
Not everyone felt that the class of ‘26 was put at a bigger disadvantage than other classes. Ewan Connolly, a Franklin sophomore, says, “I don’t think that our class was screwed over. I actually feel like we got very lucky. … From what I’ve heard, sixth and seventh grade are filler years where we don’t learn very important information.” This is the personal experience of one student, and I’m sure there are other students out there who feel they didn’t miss out on too much, but many of us feel uniquely impacted by some of these events.
Everyone goes through things differently, and middle school can be some very important transition years for preparing you for high school. Andrew Passinger, the principal of Corry Area Middle High School in Corry, Pennsylvania, says, “[Middle school] is an extremely important time in [students’] lives for numerous reasons: social skills development, behavioral appropriateness, and discovering talents, to name a few.” Missing out on part of 6th grade and the whole of 7th grade — which are crucial years — put the class of ‘26 on a different trajectory that affected them by giving them fewer opportunities to develop social skills and to develop their maturity.
In addition to our class’s experience with this global pandemic, we’ve also missed out on specific opportunities at Franklin. Out of the many Advanced Placement (AP) classes offered at Franklin, AP Seminar: African Diaspora was a class offered to 10th-12th graders as an elective before it was changed to AP Seminar: English 3-4 — a core sophomore English class. AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research, both of which are part of the AP Capstone Diploma Program. Because of the sudden decision to change the class from an elective to a core sophomore English class, it’s a disadvantage to current sophomores who wanted to receive the special diploma and take the class junior year.
I am a current sophomore who had planned to take AP Seminar during my junior year, then take AP Research during my senior year, so that I would receive the AP Capstone Diploma. Myers says, “It makes me really frustrated that we [sophomores] don’t have the chance to do Capstone, and that it’s another opportunity that has been taken from us. I was jealous enough that sophomores after me would have an interesting and challenging English option, but I really wanted to take AP Seminar and was disappointed that I couldn’t.”
When I saw on my green forecasting sheet — the color assigned to sophomores forecasting for junior year — that AP Seminar was not an option, I was confused. I asked my English teacher what had happened. She handed me a pink forecasting sheet — the color assigned to freshmen — which listed AP Seminar as an sophomore English option. She then asked the AP Seminar teacher, Elisa Wong, if I’d still be able to take it, to which Wong said yes, but then my forecasting request was rejected by the Franklin admin. Wong says, “I proposed allowing [rising] 11th and 12th grade students to take AP Seminar: English 3-4 as an ELA elective credit next year because those students would miss the opportunity to take the course. Administration said no to that proposal.”
With this decision, people in the class of ‘26 would no longer be able to take AP Seminar or AP Research or complete the AP Capstone Diploma. The College Board website said this about the two AP courses and the special diploma: “Rather than teaching subject-specific content, these courses develop students’ skills in research, analysis, evidence-based arguments, collaboration, writing, and presenting. Students who complete the two-year program can earn one of two different AP Capstone awards, which are valued by colleges across the United States and around the world.” Our class would miss out on the benefits and rewards of those classes.
When asked to comment, Zulema Naegele, Franklin’s principal, talked about how administrators “are going to go back and look at numbers of how many rising juniors and seniors are interested in taking AP Seminar” and then they’ll decide on a course of action based off of those numbers. “What we would do is maybe have [juniors and seniors] take the class along with sophomores, so we’re trying to figure out with Ms. Wong: how is the curriculum going to be different and differentiated for sophomores, and [upperclassmen] that are going to be taking the class?” says Naegele. Wong and Vice Principal Amy Gervais confirmed that administration is now planning to allow rising juniors interested in AP Capstone to forecast for the class, and Gervais added that they are working to identify interested students and adjust forecasting.
Portland Public Schools (PPS) also recently made the decision to change the majority of junior English choice classes, which limits students’ ability to choose what they study. At Franklin, this shift leaves us without: Women’s Literature, Dystopian Literature, Social Influencing & Revolutionary Voices, Medical Literacy and Composition, Hip-Hop Literature, and Science Fiction. This left current Franklin sophomores with only three choices to forecast for their English class next year: English 5-6, AP English Language and Composition, and English 5-6: Sports & Culture — which was allowed to continue because it is transitioning to dual credit, an option the district provided to teachers which allowed them to keep choice English classes.
Current sophomores are the first class to miss out on the opportunity that those amazing courses can bring, and future classes will too. Even teachers are feeling sad about it. Megan Humphreys, a junior English teacher and the Associated Student Body (ASB) activities director says, “I’m really sad because one of my classes, Medical Literacy and Composition, that I have developed and put so much time and effort into is [not being offered anymore.] … We do all of the normal English course standards aligned with other curriculums, but in Medical Literacy, we talk about things that are really relevant to students.”
It’s really upsetting and unfair to students to limit our choices. Humphreys also says, “A lot of the students that I have are interested in a medical field job.” Having many English options can help students become more excited about class and could help them discover things that they love, but by limiting that choice, students are kept from pursuing their passions. Nguyen says, “I [was] really interested in taking [Social Influencing &] Revolutionary Voices, and I feel like my opportunity to take an English class that I would’ve been really passionate about was ripped away from me.”
Another decision that has affected the class of ‘26 is that in previous years, sophomores would take the PSAT and juniors would take the SAT. This year, current sophomores took the Pre-ACT, and next year, as juniors, they will take the American College Test (ACT). PPS will no longer be offering the PSAT or SAT due to the Oregon Department of Education switching providers.
The sudden change has brought confusion among many students and parents. Brooke Denisco, a parent of a Franklin sophomore, says, “I read an article and it was like why aren’t there more National Merit Scholars from Portland — which is weird because Portland has the biggest school district in Oregon. … I ended up talking to a vice principal and nobody knew anything about it. It turns out they were confused because they were switching [tests] at the time.”
Denisco continues saying, “I tried to call around because they say you can take the PSAT somewhere else, but it was impossible. I couldn’t find a single nearby school district that had a spot, and that means no one in [the] class of ‘26 can be a National Merit Scholar.” Once again, the class of ‘26 faces bad luck.
With all these difficulties looming over the class of 2026, it feels like all we can do is accept our misfortune. We go to school and we try our best with what we’re given and with what’s decided for us. We must’ve broken a lot of mirrors in our lives.
