It was announced at the beginning of October that Genesis, the portal in which Pascack Valley High School students utilize to access their grades, would be inaccessible during the school day in the “Gradebook Pilot Program.” The program was constructed as a pilot to last until this upcoming Wednesday, Nov. 21, but in a recent email sent out by Pascack Valley Principal Tom DeMaio, it was announced that the gradebook will remain closed during the school day.

The pilot came as a result of data that was analyzed by district officials over the summer showing students checking the gradebook upwards of 1000 times in a single school year which translates to checking the gradebook multiple times a day.

It was set to last until Thanksgiving break and then undergo an evaluation to decide whether or not it would be continued throughout the rest of the school year, but, according to DeMaio, “feedback that the administration has received from various stakeholders and in conjunction with the data collected has led to the decision to stay the course and keep the gradebook closed during the school day.”

“We realize this decision is just a small step in addressing the much larger problem of unhealthy grade obsession,” DeMaio said. “The district administrative team, with input from all stakeholders, will continue to look for opportunities to move our culture from ‘grade focused’ to ‘learning focused.'”