Please sign with your full name and SSHS graduation year (e.g., John Doe, 2002). If you were in the IB Program, please include that, as well (e.g., Jane Doe, IB 2004). PLACE YOUR CLASS YEAR/IB WITH YOUR LAST NAME IN THE "LAST NAME" FIELD.

We, as proud alumni of South Side High School, strongly urge the Rockville Centre Union Free School District administration and Rockville Centre Board of Education to re-consider the current policy of requiring all students—regardless of ability and interest—to enroll in International Baccalaureate English and history courses. We hope that lending our voices to the current conversation—given that we have been students in South Side’s classrooms—will provide a unique and important perspective as policymakers engage in this discussion.

We support the views expressed by Zachary Richner in his November 15, 2018, Rockville Centre Herald guest column. The IB curriculum is designed to provide students with an advanced education through rigorous courses. The workload in IB courses is extremely heavy, oftentimes exceeding the workload in our college courses. We speak from experience. While IB courses are appropriate for many students, these courses are not appropriate for many others. Requiring students to enroll in specific IB courses prevents students from aligning their course selection with their abilities and interests. For students facing learning difficulties, the current policy certainly does not provide a free appropriate public education, as mandated by the U.S. Department of Education and the New York State Education Department. And for students with a strong desire for advanced material, these students are held back when the course material is inevitably diluted to accommodate all. Furthermore, for some students, the stress from these courses is unreasonable and not conducive to students’ mental health and emotional well-being. 

As such, we support Special Education Partners' request to change the current “IB for all” policy. We hope that the administration and board will adopt a new policy that expands the definition of excellence at South Side and provides the tools necessary for students to be successful at South Side and beyond.