(March 1, 2006) — The whole philosophy behind Clark is that students come here because they want an education that focuses on math, science and technology. According to counselor Linda Doll, however, in recent years fewer students have been choosing to take challenging math and science classes. Instead of taking the traditional and controversial physics class freshman year, some freshmen opt for the easier choice of geo-science. Similarly, some students choose not to take chemistry or go beyond geometry because they don’t need it to graduate. The problem with this continuing trend in mediocrity is that it puts Clark’s prized STAR scores in jeopardy. When students don’t take certain classes they can’t take the STAR test for it. And if one less student doesn’t take the test, then our average as a school is brought down by default. It is partly for this reason that the administration has made a decision that, from now on, students should be “highly encouraged” to take a math and science class every year, despite any past experiences with the class, according to Doll. Understandably, counselors encourage students to take more challenging classes. It not only makes students’ transcripts looks better and improves their chances for admission into college, but it also improves the overall image of the school and helps Clark live up to its name of being a science and technology magnet. But when students have repeatedly failed a subject and have made the decision that they no longer want to take it, they shouldn’t be forced to do so just because they’re not making Clark look as good on a certain piece of paper. It’s perfectly understandable that everyone who attends Clark wants it to live up to its high standards in order to be more appealing to colleges. But if the administration wants Clark to be different from other public high schools in Glendale, the students in the school need to be different. When you’re accepted into a high school, the kind of student you’re going to be it pretty much set in stone by sophomore year. Instead of pointlessly trying to change students or sacrifice their patience and educational well being by making them take classes they won’t pass just to make the school look a fraction of a percent better on paper, what the School Board should do instead is stop accepting students that aren’t coming to Clark for the right reasons. Students should be coming here to get an education that focuses on math and science. They should therefore focus on these areas when planning their schedules. In order for Clark to maintain a high level of student performance, only dedicated and good students should be accepted into Clark, which can be determined by looking at their junior high grades. More likely than not, their past grades will give a good idea of whether they belong here or not.